Good News/Bad News for Cats

The good news for the 60,000,000 (yes, 60 million) homeless and feral cats in the US is: Genetic Savings and Clone, the California company whose mission was the cloning of pets, has gone out of business after cloning only two cats. The company had recently lowered the price to clone a cat from $50,000 to $32,000, but that didn’t seem to sway people.

It turns out that cat people aren’t as loony and obsessed with their furry companions as Genetic Savings & Clone had planned. The only bummer is that, in my opinion, Genetic Savings & Clone is a fabulous name. Maybe they can use it for something else. Perhaps they could do something really good for the world, like clone the Dalai Lama.

Oh, so that’s unethical?

On the bad news side for our overburdened shelters and sanctuaries, and stray and feral cats, is ALLERCA, a "lifestyle pet company whose mission is to connect people with pets according to their lifestyle," as their website states.

Great! So if I have two large dogs and I would like a cat who is good with dogs, then Allerca can find me a kitty in need of a home at a shelter within, say, 15 miles of my house, who is spayed or neutered, and if all goes well with my dogs, I can adopt the kitty for under $50? Is that what the fine folks at Allerca do?

No?

Okay, I don’t get it. I thought they could connect me with a pet according to my lifestyle.

Wait. What was that? Lifestyle is a code word for what? Allergy?

Here’s the scoop:

ALLERCA has produced the world’s first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. And for 3,950 US dollars, you too, can have one produced just for you. And they’ll even throw in mandatory spaying or neutering (they wouldn’t want you to benefit from their invention, they don’t want to add to the existing cat overpopulation crisis), and a microchip. And if you want it now, now, now (they call it "premium placement") you can pay an extra $1,950 to get it as soon as possible. The wait time for a non-premium placement ALLERCA kitten can be up to two years (it’s currently one year), but that extra two grand gets that down to a few months.

Now, is it me, or is that insane? And mui creepy?

Let’s deconstruct:

• What ALLERCA customers might not know, is that children who grow up with cats and dogs are LESS LIKELY to develop allergies, and high amounts of cat allergen, in particular, has preventive effects against allergies and asthma, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
• Every single genetically modified animal has had genetic defects, and most–98%–abort their fetuses. We have no idea what is going to happen down the road when we remove the gene (protein Fel d1) that makes people sniffle, water up, and sneeze. It could have a legitimate function in keeping the cat–a cat–and a healthy one, at that. Frankencats are virtually guaranteed to have physiological and other problems that researchers cannot control (and don’t yet know about). Furthermore, scientists have only removed protein Fel d1 to produce the cats, and maybe there are other components that cause allergy symptoms.
• There are many nonshedding dogs, and dogs are less likely to cause allergic reactions than cats. If you’re so obsessed with a small, furry creature, adopt a poodle mutt on death row at a shelter.
• If you must have a cat, there are things you can do to minimize your reactions. Here’s a list.
• Exactly how many unsuccessful attempts at breeding Frankencats were there, and what happened to them?
• $4,000 can buy a lot of food for hungry people, and it can neuter or spay hundreds of cats.
• I could use an extra $4,000. My property taxes are due soon and they’re HUGE!

Go to www.petfinder.com if you really want a pet.