ForestWind Siberian Cats
Adding a little love to your life!
How to Order a Fur Sample
We appreciate your patience and understanding. We want to do our very best to ensure that if you adopt a kitten from us it is a successful adoption for you, and for the baby kitten.
Therefore, it is important to assess your personal reactivity via a fur sample from the parents of the kitten(s) you plan to adopt. Before adopting a kitten to an allergic family, we require at the minimum a fur sample challenge.
Samples are sent to the address listed on your kitten request form. Phone numbers and addresses are verified. Fur samples are 25 USD (payable by postal money order or PayPal),
of which $20 dollars will be applied to your kitten if you adopt with
us. Five dollars covers the cost of a mailing envelope, postage, and
effort. Request your fur sample by sending your address and money order to us at:
How to Check Reactivity with a Fur Sample
Dear Siberian Cat Lover,
We know you are excited about receiving your ForestWind
Siberians fur sample for allergy testing, but please take a minute
to read over this letter in order to ensure the most effective assessment for you.
Thank you for your patience if you waited for this sample! Collecting an "allergy sample” takes more
time than you might imagine. Although Siberians are not “non-shedding cats,”
they are definitely low-shedding cats!
The first time we collected fur, it took over a week to collect enough hair for
just two samples!
We send a mixed sample of our adult boys’ and girls’ fur. Additionally, the paper towel we include is wiped over our cats’ back and neck to pick up oils and dander. In this way the towel can also be used to determine sensitivity.
Be sure to expose the allergic person(s) to the fur for extended periods of time, and to repeat this exposure several days in a row. Sometimes people are fine the first time, but as the allergen level builds over successive days they become reactive. The last thing you would want is to conduct too a brief exposure, be excited, assume the allergic person is fine, adopt, and then as the cat grows older find that reactivity begins.
Start the assessment by sniffing the sample. If there is no reaction; continue by rubbing some fur on the inner wrist and on cheek. Check for reactivity over the next hour. If there is no reaction, the next step is to put some of the fur onto a pillow and then sleep with that pillow for several days, adding a new bit of fur each night. This provides a lengthy period of increasing exposure as the nights pass. If there is no reaction to this stepped exposure, you will want to – if possible for you– meet a Siberian cat live and in person to further check your allergic response.
There is nothing better than actually interacting with the live animal, and best yet the parents of the kitten you hope to adopt. However, fur/dander exposure is a good way to begin to assess reactivity.WARNING: If you have extreme allergies – any type of reaction which closes your airways, etc – DO NOT test with a fur sample. Discuss with your allergist the best way to assess your reactivity, and only conduct that assessment WITH your physician. We assume no liability for your exposure or any medical problems that arise with from it. This assessment is conducted at your own risk. Please be practical and determine yourself if this is a sensible step for you to take!
Warmly, and with best wishes for a successful challenge,
ForestWind Siberians
