cats!

not the musical ::shudder::, but a new kind of cat has been "engineered"

the new york times called them the "holy grail of the pet industry"

what are they talking about? why hypoallergenic cats of course.

now people like me who have horrific cat allergies can put our names on a 2 year waiting list, undergo an extreme testing period (likened to one parents have to go through to adopt a CHILD), and then pay a mere $4,000 to receive one of these "lifestyle pets".

“You’re not just buying a cat; it’s a medical device that replaces shots and pills,” said Megan Young, chief executive of Allerca. “At the same time, this is a living animal, so the well-being of our product comes before our customers. This is not some high-priced handbag that you put back on the shelf if it doesn’t match.”

"For the past few months, Allerca’s small pool of hypoallergenic cats have been busy reproducing. Their breeding facility cannot be visited and “is at a secret undisclosed location,” said Ms. Young, Allerca’s chief executive.

At 10 to 12 weeks, every Allerca kitten is neutered before it is delivered. The company insists this is mainly to prevent feline overpopulation. But every Allerca cat carries the dominant hypoallergenic gene and, in theory, could produce copycat hypoallergenic kittens."

oh wow, this is just great. sign me up. this is clearly the only solution for people with cat allergies....oh. wait a minute...i mean, i guess people who are allergic to cats COULD JUST NOT GET A CAT instead of ordering a geneticly altered one.... hehe.

new york times article here.
thanks to sara for passing it along :)