  Linear superpositions of macroscopically distinct quantum states (sometimes
also called Schr\"odinger cat states) are usually almost immediately reduced to
a statistical mixture if exposed to the dephasing influence of a dissipative
environment. Couplings to the environment with a certain symmetry can lead to
slow decoherence, however. We give specific examples of slowly decohering
Schr\"odinger cat states in a realistic quantum optical system and discuss how
they might be constructed experimentally.
