Photo: Purina Pro Plan
Science is working to make sure you can snuggle any animal you want to.
Now, after more than a decade of research, Purina Pro Plan has found a way to transfer this exciting discovery into a cat food that can benefit cat owners, and potential cat owners, with cat allergies, who are looking for a way to bond more closely with their felines — without discomfort.
In April,Purina Pro Plan LiveClear, “the first and only cat food that reduces the allergens in cat hair and dander,” according to Purina, will be available for purchase.
“Eighty-six percent of cats had a 30% reduction, 50% had a 50% reduction, and on average there was a 47% reduction of active Fel d 1 on cats’ hair starting with the third week of daily feeding. This means that Pro Plan LiveClear neutralizes enough of the allergen so that cats who typically disperse moderate or high levels of active Fel d 1 from their saliva now disperse low or moderate levels of active Fel d 1 from their saliva,” Dr. Ebenezer Satyaraj, Ph.D., an immunologist for Nestlé Purina who worked on the food, told PEOPLE about the food has had during testing.“I like to think of it as the red/yellow/green levels you see on the Weather channel when it comes to environmental allergen counts. LiveClear is neutralizing enough of the cat allergen to move from a red or yellow count to a yellow or green count.”
Purina Pro Plan
But it is not only human comfort that Purina Pro Plan has in mind. The pet food company says they chose to release this new food only after they were certain it didn’t negatively impact cat health.
The hope is that this food, paired with other allergen-reduction strategies, will bolster the bond between cats and pet parents with cat allergies — and will help more felines find homes.
“37 percent of households with sensitivities to cat allergens have had to change their lifestyle to accommodate their cat, a significant increase over those without sensitivities (22 percent). In addition, 26 percent of households with cat allergen sensitivities stated that cat allergens have caused huge problems in their life. We also know that in their efforts to manage cat allergens, they’re limiting their interactions with their cats – whether that’s keeping them contained to certain rooms, keeping them out of the bedroom, or limiting the time they spend with them,” Dr. Satyaraj said. “They’re also spending more money, time and energy on cleaning and cat maintenance than those without sensitivities. The impact even goes beyond the owner/cat relationship: about a quarter of households with cat allergen sensitivities say their personal relationships have been strained due to cat allergens, with 11 percent having had to end a relationship or friendship due to the strain of cat allergen sensitivities.”
These are a sample of cat allergy hardships Purina Pro Plan is hoping to ease with their allergen-reducing cat food, and Dr. Satyaraj has one of his own.
“Personally, this particular area of study around managing cat allergens through pet food had intrigued me once my wife and I learned that my daughter was sensitive to cat allergens,” he said. “She had always wanted a cat, but due to her sensitivities, we were not able to have one. It was my hope to one day help find a way for cat lovers like my daughter to be able to experience the joy that cat ownership can bring.”
Thanks to the work of Dr. Satyaraj and many more minds at Purina, little dreams like this might be possible.
To learn more about Purina Pro Plan LiveClear, visitPurina Pro Plan’s website.
source: people.com
