vendredi 30 novembre 2007

Friday Cat Blogging

OK. You all know that I love cats. I'm nutty about cats. Cats offer the perfect confluence of elegant and silly. But now my cranium just combusted again, because after actually going to a link advertised on WWRL, the New York Air America affiliate that was nestled among the ads for work-at-home scams, ambulance-chasing attorneys, profit-from-foreclosure cassettes, and build-your-marriage programs, was an ad for this:

LIFESTYLE PETS has produced the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. These cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love and companionship of a household pet without suffering from allergic symptoms.


Sounds good, right? The name "Lifestyle Pets" ought to set off alarms right there, but if you read further, you find this:

Starting with proprietary genetic testing technologies*, the LIFESTYLE PETS team began by focusing on the particular gene that produces the Fel d 1 glycoprotein. The process uses gene sequencing to detect naturally occurring genetic divergences in cats. LIFESTYLE PETS then targeted those divergences that could potentially produce kittens with a change in the structure of the Fel d 1 allergen produced by the gene. Using sophisticated bioinformatics to manage feline breeding programs, the final stage resulted in cats with a divergent gene that produces a different version of the Fel D 1 protein - and a GD cat that no longer triggers the autoimmune system of people allergic to cats.


Weird, perhaps, and you have to wonder what kind of unintended consequences there might be from this kind of Frankenfeline, but still...

Then you cut to the chase:

For 2008, LIFESTYLE PETS will introduce a new hypoallergenic breed, the CHAKAN GD, based on the Siamese (priced at $11,950) and the ASHERA GD, a hypoallergenic variant of its exotic ASHERA (priced at US$28,000). CHAKAN GD and ASHERA GD kittens can be ordered now for delivery in late 2008.


$28,000???? For a CAT? And I thought I was crazy for spending $150 for a cat condo to replace Maggie's window perch because her annoying habit of launching from it onto the bookcase was loosening the window sill.

I'm sorry, but if you have $28,000 to spend on a cat you have entirely too much money. Far better to find one here.

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