Allerca - the company that claims to breed and sell hypoallergenic cats - may have just exhausted at least one more of its nine lives. I learned this week that the company has skipped out on filing three years' worth of state taxes, and recently penalized a customer and told her they would refund her deposit because of comments she wrote on The Scientist's website.

The story begins with an investigative feature I wrote about Allerca earlier this year. The company claims to have developed "the first scientifically proven" hypoallergenic cats, but had never published any proof. Allerca's also had a troubled past and a few customers have complained to me about their experiences with the company.

The latest complaint about the company came from Deborah Muldower, a customer of Allerca. Muldower wrote a comment on The Scientist's website December 11th stating that 18 months after putting down her deposit, she did not have a cat and the company did not return her calls. Then, according to Muldower, Allerca emailed her: "In light of comments made to The Scientist Magazine, we have decided (as permitted under our terms and conditions) to cancel your order and planned delivery that was scheduled for January 18,2008." The company promised to send her a refund. I couldn't confirm the correspondence with Allerca because the company did not return my phone call as of this posting.

But it seems like Allerca has bigger problems than one customer describing her negative experiences on our website. According to the California Franchise Tax Board's spokesperson Theresa Gray, "Basically, they haven't filed taxes since 2004." Allerca was suspended from doing business in California until the company files and returns its taxes. According to the the Delaware Division of Corporations, Allerca was incorporated in the state, but dissolved in November. According to the company's website, Allerca is now a part of Lifestyle Pets, which is currently incorporated in Delaware.