Catnip Works for (Most) Cats, but not so much for humans #Caturday #cat #science
Catnip gives about 80% of cats a “high,” and it’s the only recreational drug society sanctions for your pet.
The plant produces a chemical called nepetalactone in microscopic bulbs that coat its leaves, stems, and seedpods. When these fragile bulbs rupture, they release the nepetalactone into the air. The chemical binds to receptors inside a cat’s nose… to alter activity in several areas of the brain, including [an area] involved in regulating the animal’s emotions.
Catnip produces a very definite, repeatable response. A cat will pretty much do the exact same thing every time it smells it. The cat isn’t rubbing their face and rolling in the catnip to get more of it, but simply because getting high by inhaling the catnip compels them to do so. vox.com
Studies (by scientists and by myself, using my own kitties) show that not all cats appreciate catnip. Some look at you with a puzzled but tolerant expression as you wave catnip under their noses. And, despite the implication in the Vox article that drugs for humans effect all people, I also know for a fact that some recreational drugs do nothing for some people. (So I’m told, by reliable sources.)
But no matter your predispositions, it seems catnip won’t send humans on a trip:
As far back as the 1600s, Europeans used the plant as a mild sedative, brewing tea with its leaves, making juice from them, and even smoking or chewing them. At various times, the plant was believed to cure colic in infants and excessive flatulence, hives, and toothaches in adult. vox.com
I bet there’s one question popping into your mind about now: if my kitty cats love catnip, what about their wild cousins? There’s a You Tube for that. (Of course there is.)
Hey, all you citizen scientists. As compelling as this video is, what would you need to add to make a better experiment? A control! Give a bag of non-catnip dried weeds to these cats too (after they recover) and record their reactions. Makes a better experiment, though probably not a better video. But you could try the experiment on your own pet cat.
