> From:  Geri Weitzman <[log in to unmask]>
> Hi,
 
Hello ;^)
 
> I've heard that people who are allergic to cats are often not so to ferrets,
> and I was wondering what experiences people have had with this. I would muchly
> love a pet, but alas my SO and I are both unable to share living space with
> anything feline.
 
This is in fact the very reason my SO and I were drawn to ferrets in the
first place.  My wife Lisa is allergic to both dogs and cats, and our
fish tank just wasn't cutting it in the non-human household member
department.
 
We did a lot of research into ferrets, and discovered that they do not
have the dander that dogs and cats do (as far as I can tell, dander is
part of the fur which escapes the animal and floats around in the air :-).
To test her allergies, we went to the house of Carol Keith, who is very
active with the Loudon Area Ferret Fanciers (LAFF) and tries to find
homes for adoptive ferrets. She has many, many ferrets in her home, quite
a few of which are whole, non-descented critters. She was kind enough to
allow us to visit her home for several hours, with much playing/cuddling/
sniffing of ferrets.  To make a long-ish story shorter, my wife had
no adverse reactions to the ferrets, so we decided to welcome one
into our home (and are now working on obtaining another; geez, these
guys are addictive ;-).  We are both very glad we did!
 
> Thanks,
Hope this helps; ferrets are wonderful creatures to have around the
house, and I hope my wife's non-allergic-ness to ferrets will be a good
omen for you and your SO...
 
--
Jeff Jones    uunet!virtech!jcj
Virtual Technologies, Inc.
46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160  Sterling, VA 22170  (703) 430 9247
Proud human belonging to Mojo...
 
[Posted in FML issue 0220]