Anti Gravity: Full of Sound and Furry; December 1997; Scientific American Magazine; by Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Cats, it has long been held, have nine lives. Some six million Americans, with but one life, unfortunately have it made miserable by allergies to cats. Two thirds of these red-eyed, sniffling mouth-breathers share a survival strategy with small rodents--stay away from cats. The others, however, have decided that a feline-free existence would be catastrophic. Now comes a study showing the efficacy of a measure that might decrease respiratory distress, but with peril to the rest of the body: cat washing.

"Prior to our study there was some controversy in the literature regarding whether cat washing actually had any beneficial effects," notes study coauthor Judith Woodfolk of the University of Virginia Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center. In what probably looked like some kind of medieval witch trial, Woodfolk and her colleagues dunked a bunch of cats. In a more modern sequela to said dunking, they published their findings in a recent issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.