Hello, I’m Dr. Karyn! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
With 5 cats ruling my home, I’ve little or no doubt about my position. Well timed provision of meals, water, and leisure is anticipated, however there are occasions that I really feel a bit bit like their seller, with catnip being their drug of selection.
Statistically, solely round 60% of cats reply to the intoxicating results of catnip, and that determine is mirrored in my family, with Alex, Cyril, and Zelda being each drawn to and affected by catnip; Clutch and Zazzles have no real interest in the stuff. Zelda, specifically, will begin meowing aggressively if it’s been a number of days since her final ‘repair’, and the sound of opening the catnip tub is met with equal, if not larger, enthusiasm than the sound of the meals container.
Just lately, I used to be tasked with making some selfmade cat toys, and the catnip crew have been solely too joyful to assist take a look at them out.
However as I watch the wide-eyed antics of my intoxicated felines, I can’t assist questioning – am I enabling an dependancy?
The Ins and Outs of Catnip
Catnip, additionally recognized by its scientific identify, Nepeta cataria, is a member of the mint household. These vegetation produce the chemical nepetalactone which repels bugs, however appeals to most of the feline persuasion. This chemical works its approach into your cat’s pleasure heart by the use of a very delicate olfactory organ situated within the roof of their mouth, referred to as the vomeronasal organ (VMO for brief). If you happen to’ve ever observed your cat pulling a comical grimace when they’re sniffing one thing, that is referred to as the Flehmen response – or as we used to name it in my home, “smelly face” – whereby they draw scents and pheromones into the VMO. From right here, your cat can glean an absolute mass of details about the world round them.
One of many extra essential items of knowledge processed by the VMO is to do with intercourse, just like the presence of competitors or the receptiveness of females. So the messages reaching your cat’s mind seem like just like arousal, which actually explains the blissful response! It’s only a disgrace that solely 60% of the cat inhabitants will get to get pleasure from it.
Can Cats OD on Catnip?
The catnip plant is just not poisonous to cats, but when they ingest an enormous quantity they could develop some disagreeable gastrointestinal unwanted side effects. I’ve by no means seen this in my cats.
I often bulk purchase my catnip in a 1-ounce tub, which could not sound like a lot, however is the equal of 3-4 herb jars, and it often lasts for a number of months…except the cats handle to interrupt into the container.
So far, the one draw back my cats have skilled to this deal with is a few occasional eye irritation, a consequence of rubbing their face too aggressively towards the carpet!
Am I Enabling Addicts?
I don’t assume so. Though their ears prick up after I open the drawer containing this intoxicating deal with, and the opening of the bathtub brings 60% of my cats to swarm excitedly round my toes, they don’t spend the remainder of their time on the lookout for extra, in a determined seek for their subsequent ‘repair’. Though Zelda does get a tad demanding if she feels it’s been too lengthy since her final dose, she is just not utterly consumed by her want for the ‘nip.
And if I can present some additional amusement and enrichment of their lives, I’m completely going to do it. I simply want there was a approach for Clutch and Zazzles to expertise the identical bliss I see in Zelda, Alex, and Cyril’s glassy, dilated pupils!
