Siberian for allergy sufferer?

I used to own 2 lovely cats but had to give them up due to gf's allergies.  She loves cats but gets itchy eyes and stuffy nose when in the proximity of cats.  We didn't know she had allergies at first, it seemed to have developed and intensified over several months.  We had a longhair that I rescued from a farm as a kitten, and another shorthair I picked up off the street, my vet said he was 4 at the time.  Not sure what breeds they were, but gf was much more allergic to the shorthair than the longhair.  I had to give them up and needless to say, both ended up poorly.  A friend that took the longhair from me apparently let it outside and it just took off, never to be seen again.  It was only 1 year old and had always been very timid, I don't think he could have survived in the tough outdoors. Makes me sad to think how terrified he must had been and what could have happened to him. The shorthair was almost 10, and no one would adopt him so I had to surrender to a shelter.  Being elderly and with a collapsed ear, I'm afraid he was euthanized, but not sure.  

I heard Siberians are good for people with allergies and furthermore, female and lighter colored cats are even better.  Maybe a female light colored Siberian would work for us?  Our longhair was solid white and the shorthair was a toby with black tripes, many there is some truth to the color thing?  Any allergy sufferer here with Siberians?  Please share your thoughts.  The last thing I want to do is to have to give up another cat.  Also, how would one find a good breeder?  How do you know if the person is responsible and not running a kitten mill?  I have never bought from breeder before.  

There is really no way of knowing if a kitty will trigger allergies or not.  Most people are allergic to a protein found in saliva and oil on the skin so I don't think the color of the kitty would make a difference.  The Siberian generally has less of the protein in their saliva and skin oil which is why they can sometimes be tolerated by people who have allergies.  There is no guarantee however.

Some people with allergies have posted some of the things here that they do to make it possible to have kitties in their home.  Many wipe down their kitties every few days, either with pet wipes or a cloth dampened with plain water.  That gets the protein from their saliva off the coat so it doesn't continually build up on the coat.  Many allergy sufferers don't allow their kitties in the bedroom so the room they sleep in is free of allergens.  Frequent vacuuming helps keep  the dander with the offending protein in it from building up in the home.

Bottom line, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic kitty.  Some kitties just seem to be better tolerated but it is individual to the kitty and the allergy sufferer.

An idea just occurred to me, maybe I can talk to a shelter about our condition, and ask if we can adopt a cat on a trail basis.  If gf develops allergic reaction (I think this happens quickly now, within days if not hours), then I take the kitty back for another, and so on.  Since cats produce varying level of allergen, this may be a better approach than buying one from a breeder, although I'm not sure if shelters would be open to this idea.  Hate to pay $1000 for a new kitten when so many others are on death row anyway.   

Here are some articles on living with cats if you are allergic:

https://www.petfinder.com/cats/living-with-your-cat/cat-allergies/

https://www.petfinder.com/cats/living-with-your-cat/cats-for-allergy-sufferers/

Siberians are often lower in FelD1 so many allergy suffers can do well with the breed. I have allergies and live symptom free with 2 queens and their litters of kittens. However, i try to breed only with low allergen cats. Some are siberians have higher levels- there is saliva testing that can be done. Visiting and spending time playing with the kittens is the easiest way to tell. People who get asthmatic and have multiple animal allergies (rabbit/horse) are more likely to still react. I don't show my cats because I get too many symptoms at shows. As Siberians get popular there are a lot of scams be ware of anyone who doesn't share pictures, pedigrees, cat registries. Be ware of shipping and asking to meet in parking lots. I have had customers who came to me after loosing deposits to scammers when those red flags were present.