The Science Behind Catnip: Effects and Uses

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Transcript

Catnip explained, what is it, how it affects cats, is it safe, how can you use it, and why would cats have evolved to be affected like this? Welcome back to What the Science, Crazy Kitty Edition. The effect of catnip was first described by a British botanist named Philip Miller back in 1768, in his book The Gardener's Dictionary. Fun read, catnip contains a chemical called Nipedalactone, and its effect on cats is actually only through smell, not taste. When a kitty gets a whiff, it triggers the release of a chemical called beta endorphine, An opiate, similar to how humans feel a rush of pleasure from certain enjoyable activities. The cat's reaction? Rolling, rubbing, and a general display of bliss. It used to be thought that only around two-thirds of cats, including lions and bobcats, get affected by catnep. But a recent study found that this applies more to the active response, the rolling over and meowing. But they found that for the cats that don't have that active response, almost all of them still have the passive response, which is basically them looking stoned. But whenever we see a pre-programmed behavior, however funny, it means that that evolved to give And in this case, when cats rub themselves on the leaves of catnip, the compounds that get transferred to their fur actually act as insect repellents, especially for mosquitoes which carry deadly diseases. Which brings us to a practical takeaway for you. This study compared using catnip oil to DEET as a mosquito repellent. You know, the very toxic stuff. They found the catnip to be better than DEET at low concentrations and equivalent to it at the higher ones, for the first two hours at least. Just be ready for some weird responses if you start diffusing it around Felix.

Additional notes

A leafy pleasure with a purpose! Repeat after me: “Sniff, roll, and repel!” I am DEFINITELY going to start using this… And chaos shall reign… 😈 📚 Sources: DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9135 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0721 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.06.008 PMID: 17423611 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2009.00809.x PMID: 30728370 #science #edutok #stem #catnip #cats #creatorsearchinsights

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