Altaïr, my cat, my king, my GOAT

As promised, this is an entire page dedicated to my cat, and cat pictures. I will be interspersing this page with infodumps about my cat and our life together.

Name: Altaïr
DOB: 9/12/2021
Likes: Cuddling, being around people, feather toys, minnows, pork and beef, pumpkin food, cold hard surfaces
Dislikes: Most seafood, chicken hearts, soft or warm surfaces, being separated from anyone in the house

_{Altair's namesake.}

Altaïr is a brown "mctabby" purebred Siberian forest cat. He is about 4 years old at the time of writing, and he is roughly 14 pounds. He is currently my only cat. And the only cat I've had as an adult! I got him because I'm actually mildly allergic to cats, and while a "mild" allergy might sound like a weird reason to go in on a hypoallergenic cat, my combined allergies were so bad as a child briefly living in the south that I was hospitalized for severe allergies. I'm allergic to pretty much everything that's not regularly edible to humans.

While I was living in the south as an adult, my allergies were so severe I would regularly lose my voice for weeks at a time so if I got a cat I had to make sure that I could actually keep them. I tried to make up for my cardinal sin of going with a purebred by actually volunteering for a special needs cat shelter that you should totally donate to. and doing a LOT of research about ethical breeding.

The Siberian Cat breed

So, obviously the name is a dead-giveaway about where the breed are from. Siberian cats are what's considered a 'land-race' meaning that the breed was not bred through human selection but instead naturally occuring after the domestic cat species interbred with local wildcat species. While I couldn't find normal studies about the specificity of how much wildcat DNA they have or what specific local cat species they're mixed with, some studies show that the siberian cat has been shown to produce less FED1 protein than other domesticated cat breeds. FED1 is the protein in cats saliva and dander that creates the most common type of cat allergy (cat dander) while other types of cat allergies do exist they are less common. While there are no truly "hypoallergenic" cats, the genetics of the Siberian are less likely to cause a reaction amongst sufferers. Some breeders do offer testing, though it is expensive.



My personal theory is that this genetic trait is likely a quirk of specific adaptations to the cold, my favorite dog-breed which is also from the same region: Samoyeds actually are also loosely 'hypoallergenic' in a similar manner. My guess is that it may have evolved as a social trait to convince humans to give them shelter from the extreme siberian weather. Both breeds are especially known for their sociality. You're not going to shack up with some animals you're fucking allergic to!

Siberians became a formalish breed on and off during the 20th century but did not get full international recognition until the fall of the USSR in the late 80s partially due to trade embargos with western Europe and the US. However, within the USSR Siberian cats were especially noted for their mousing abilities (the extra big ass paws help), and were regularly bought into cities like Leningrad as pest control when other measures did not work. Particularly after WW2's beseigment of Leningrad in which a particularly bad rodent infestation took hold in the museums.

I landed on the Siberian breed because they are a relatively healthy breed with nearly no regularly occuring health health problems (besides HCM which is common even amongst regular domestic cats and is tested out by most responsible breeders), their low-propensity for allergen production, and their personalities.

being able to put my face straight into that big fucking belly of fur without dying of allergies is a big plus.

If I'm being honest though, I also just like their little bodies. Well, they're the 3rd largest breed in the entire established canon of cat breeds. (Behind their close cousin the Norwegian forest cat and the size kings and queens that are Maine Coones.) To adapt to the siberian tundra, they have the only triple coat in all of the domestic cat species, with shorter front legs and longer backlegs to jump in and out of the snow quickly.

More about Altaïr + me

His breeder was another autistic and queer woman who specifically specializes in therapy cats! Her whole family is the same way and she suffers from chronic illness, so I felt really comfortable with her. I came across some insane breeders even ones registered through TICA (which if you're considering a purebred is your first place to research for registered breeders). I saw an insane breeder from Louisiana with her website plastered with anti-communist propaganda that had big ass pictures of Trump everywhere.....

I consider Altaïr pretty much the turning point of when things in my life actually started getting better, little by little. We've been through a lot together - but after I got him I quickly was able to make advancement in my career and moved away from the state I hated. So far we've moved 3 times, and I'm hoping this is the last, but he's been a real champ through all of it, he's been on planes and buses and trains with me. We drove 5 hours just to get him! And he was very good during that time as a kitten.

He's an incredibly talkative cat. He often responds when spoken to, I often jokingly talk about politics with him when he yells at me and needs his own seat next to me next to the computer where he slumbers peacefully while I type, game or draw. You can often hear him in the background of a discord call or regular call.