Evaluation of different techniques for washing cats: Quantitation of allergen removed from the cat and the effect on airborne Fel d 1

Time course of Fel d 1 extraction from 0.05 gm aliquots of cat hair with borate-buffered saline, pH 8 (filled squares); water (filled triangles); shampoo, pH 7 (open circles); and 1 mmol/L HCl, pH 3 (open triangles). Values represent the mean of 10 samples.

Airborne Fel d 1 (nanograms per cubic meter) derived from cats in a 30 m³ room before (filled triangles) and 3 hours after (open circles) washing by immersion in 30 L of water. Values represent the mean for three cats. *Total allergen removed by washing (in milligrams). Bars represent 1 standard deviation from the mean. Airborne levels were significantly reduced 3 hours after washing (n < 0.001).

Airborne Fel d 1 (nanograms per cubic meter) derived from two cats studied separately in a 30 m³ room before (filled triangles) and 3 hours after (filled circles) washing, followed by rinsing. In one case a progressive reduction in airborne allergen levels was detected (A), and in the other the decrease after washing was not maintained 1 week later (B). *Total allergen removed by washing (in milligrams).

Airborne Fel d 1 (nanograms per cubic meter) derived from two cats studied separately in a 30 m³ room before (filled triangles) and 3 hours after (filled circles) washing, followed by rinsing. In one case a progressive reduction in airborne allergen levels was detected (A), and in the other the decrease after washing was not maintained 1 week later (B). *Total allergen removed by washing (in milligrams).