Bengals Top the Hypoallergenic Cat List

Do you have allergies? Then you might start sneezing when you even think about getting a Bengal cat. But even if you live in fear of an itchy throat, watery eyes, or a runny nose, fear not! You still have a chance at bringing home a Bengal without problems. Some cat breeds are actually pretty well-suited to allergy sufferers. Did we mention that these hypoallergenic cats are pretty adorable, too?

We’d be lying if we told you there wasn’t a caveat. Even a hypoallergenic cat comes with no guarantees about how you and your allergies will react. But the hypoallergenic cat breeds do shed less, or have less of the most common allergens, in their saliva and dander.

Everybody loves Bengal cats for their beautiful looks. (They came about by breeding a domestic cat with an Asian Leopard cat, and you can definitely tell by looking at a Bengal!) iHeartCats reports that there’s another reason to love the Bengal. This breed numbers among the hypoallergenic cats you can safely consider if you or somebody in your household suffers from allergies. As Mom.me reports, that’s because Begnals have fine fur. Bengals don’t groom themselves as often or for as long as other cats. So their fur contains less allergen-rich saliva. Plus, they don’t shed as much as other cats, so the dander in their fur doesn’t spread as much as it would with other cats.

As PetMD reports, there really aren’t any “100 percent hypoallergenic domestic cats or cats that are completely non-allergenic.” Because all cats produce some amount of dander, you won’t find a cat that’s guaranteed allergy-free. But because the Bengal cat produces or spreads less dander, or has less of the Fel d 1 in their saliva, they often make good cats for people with allergies.

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