Washing the cat requires shampoo

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To the Editor:

In response to the cat washing study of Nageotte et al,¹ I wish to disagree with the Editor's Choice statement that this study appears “to have provided the final answer” to the value of cat washing for reduction of indoor cat dander levels.²

Every self-respecting cat-owner (myself included) who bathes his cat uses a shampoo. For the same reason that I do not just rinse my thinning head of hair with water in my morning shower, I would never consider just immersing my cats, Boots and Zoe, in water and toweling them off as done in this and other studies. Shampoo cuts surface tension and emulsifies, allowing removal of dirt and dander from the hair and skin and resulting in true cleansing. The water baptism method used in this and other studies is like spraying water on a dusty country road—it temporarily moistens the antigen, promoting its adherence to the skin and hair. The next day the cat is dry again and dander is free to become airborne.

Repeated experiences in patient homes where cats cohabitate with human beings with cat allergy have shown that properly shampooed cats are less allergenic to their human housemates for several days after bathing. Before I stop recommending cat-shampooing to my patients with cat allergy who love their cats more than their noses, I must see a study of the effects of real-world cat washing—with appropriate cat shampoo—on airborne dander in subsequent days.

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References 

1. Nageotte C, Park M, Havstad S, Zoratti E, Owenby D. Duration of airborne Fel d 1 reduction after cat washing. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006;118:521–522
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2. Leung DYM, Nelson HS, Szefler SJ. Washing the cat: the final answer?. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006;118:294
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