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Are catnip and treats like it safe for cats? Here’s how they affect their minds and moods

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mia-cobb-15211">Mia Cobb</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anne-quain-12802">Anne Quain</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a></em></p> <p>Cats kept indoors can <a href="https://safeandhappycats.com.au/">live a good life</a> when they get access to a variety of positive experiences. Examples include performing natural behaviours, feeling safe at home and using their full sensory capabilities, including their sense of smell.</p> <p>Plants such as catnip, cat thyme and silver vine are potent smelly stimulants that can affect cat minds and moods.</p> <p>Ever wondered if these mind-altering substances are safe gifts for our feline friends? And importantly, is it OK to provide these, or is offering catnip to a cat like offering alcohol to a child?</p> <h2>Catnip, cat thyme and silver vine, oh my!</h2> <p>Owners who are concerned about their cats feeling bored and frustrated might offer them fresh or dried catnip (<em>Nepeta cataria</em>), silver vine (<em>Actinidia polygama</em>), cat thyme (<em>Teucrium marum</em>) or other plant materials such as valerian (<em>Valeriana officinalis</em>) and Tatarian honeysuckle (<em>Lonicera tatarica</em>). These last couple <a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-017-0987-6">could offer an alternative</a> if your cat doesn’t respond to catnip.</p> <p>Toys filled with the leaves or extracts of these plants can cause apparently euphoric behaviour in domestic cats (as well as big cats like leopards and jaguars). Not all cats respond this way to these smells, which is <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-022-01369-1">believed to have a genetic basis</a>.</p> <h2>Are these treats safe for cats?</h2> <p>Cats have a highly developed sense of smell. Some plants release chemical compounds to deter insects or to attract predators of insects that might otherwise destroy them. This includes <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aba0721">nepetalactone</a>, an ingredient isolated from catnip and silver vine.</p> <p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/why-cats-are-crazy-catnip">it has been argued </a> that exposure to nepetalactone leads to an increase in feel-good hormones in cats. It may also act as a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abd9135">natural mosquito repellent</a> (note that it does not repel all mosquitoes and is not effective for flea or tick control).</p> <p>This may be why sniffing catnip, silver vine and some other plants causes cats to roll on their backs and rub their chins, cheeks and bodies on the plants. Other <a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-017-0987-6">observed behaviours</a> include: licking, shaking their head while carrying plant material in their mouth, drooling, kicking the plant material with their hind feet, and a “wavelike” motion of the skin over their backs as muscles contract and relax.</p> <p>These responses <a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-017-0987-6">generally don’t last long</a>, usually seconds to minutes, before cats relax or resume their normal behaviour.</p> <p>Rather than becoming addicted to these substances, cats are more likely to become habituated and desensitised, with the plants having less effect over time. When sniffed, these plants <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)01925-9">appear</a> to have <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-022-01369-1">no adverse effects</a> on cats.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yNUz4zQTA1E?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Cats (and a dog!) react to the active compound in catnip and silver vine, nepetalactone.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Is it ethical to alter the minds of our cats?</h2> <p>When considering how to improve the lives of animals we care for, we tend to focus on whether the benefits outweigh the potential harms.</p> <p>Despite some marketing claims that these plants activates the brain’s opioid system, delivering a “natural high” for cats, there is no evidence these substances actually alter the minds of cats in the same way as alcohol or other drugs alter the minds of humans.</p> <p>The marketing of these cat treats as “kitty crack” or “<a href="https://www.meowijuana.com/">meowijuana</a>” and silver vine sticks as “<a href="https://www.nekopiapets.com.au/product-page/joycat-cat-cigarettes-silvervine-stick">kitty cigarettes</a>” is likely to deter some people from offering their cats <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-022-01369-1">this kind of olfactory stimulation</a>.</p> <p>Unlike offering alcohol to a child, though, the evidence suggests our cats are OK when given access to these treats. These items won’t induce psychosis and won’t lead to addiction or withdrawal symptoms. And we don’t need to worry about our cats operating heavy machinery or making important decisions under the influence of mind-altering substances!</p> <p>Provided they can walk away at any time, it seems reasonable to let them opt in to a fun time.</p> <p>In fact, we harness the power of cats’ sense of smell in other ways by using <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6435919/">synthetic feline facial pheromones</a>. This can help reduce fear, anxiety and distress in cats. These substances can come in useful in settings such as multi-cat households or when moving house.</p> <h2>How to make sure your cat has the purr-fect time</h2> <p>Offering a range of smells (olfactory stimulation) is just one way to ensure your cat has a varied and interesting life. Here are some tips:</p> <ul> <li> <p>offer cats choices to interact with treats and toys – don’t force them</p> </li> <li> <p>rotate the toys and experiences on offer, so every day offers something fresh</p> </li> <li> <p>offer items that cats can scratch – scratching posts and corrugated cardboard are popular items</p> </li> <li> <p>if you are concerned your cat has swallowed part of a toy or seems unwell, check in with your vet.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Given the short-lived effects of these plant-based olfactory stimulants on cats, it is important that we <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159119301054">optimise their environment, lifestyle and interactions</a> with humans to improve their welfare. We can’t just rely on catnip or silver vine to give our cats a good life indoors – it’s really up to us!<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214947/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mia-cobb-15211"><em>Mia Cobb</em></a><em>, Research Fellow, Animal Welfare Science Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anne-quain-12802">Anne Quain</a>, Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-catnip-and-treats-like-it-safe-for-cats-heres-how-they-affect-their-minds-and-moods-214947">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Cats love it but mozzies don’t

<p>At the risk of becoming the Pied Piper of cats, you could use the garden herb catnip as a non-toxic insect repellent – and scientists have now nutted out why it wards off mozzies and other irritating bugs.</p> <p>The active ingredient nepetalactone in the mint-like herb (<em>Nepeta cataria</em>) selectively activates the irritant receptor <em>TRPA1</em> (transient receptor potential ankyrin 1) in certain insects, according to a study <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00217-7" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal <em>Current Biology</em>.</p> <p>The protein is best known as the “wasabi receptor” (many people will be familiar with the eye-watering sensation caused by the Japanese horseradish), but although humans and other animals have it, catnip doesn’t affect us in the same way.</p> <p>More intriguingly, tear gas – which contains mustard oil – activates the same irritant receptor in both mosquitoes and humans, says co-senior author Marco Gallio from Northwestern University, US.</p> <p>“But it may not be a good insect repellent,” he adds, “as it makes people miserable too.” Even better, catnip doesn’t seem to deter bees (although aphids don’t mind it either).</p> <p>Importantly, it’s particularly effective at repelling mosquitoes, which pose a major <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/bacteria-v-mozzies-bacteria-holding-their-own/" target="_blank">public health problem.</a> Some studies show it to be as effective as chemical repellents such as DEET – <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36814-1" target="_blank">if not more so</a> – which many cannot afford or avoid due to concerns about toxicity.</p> <p>And its use is not new. As lead author Nadia Melo, from Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues note, Pliny the Elder described several medicinal uses of it in his encyclopedia <em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/pliny-the-elder/pliny-the-elder-natural-history/" target="_blank">Naturalis Histori</a></em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.livius.org/articles/person/pliny-the-elder/pliny-the-elder-natural-history/" target="_blank"><em>a</em></a> back around AD 77.</p> <p>In the ninth century, they write, <em>Bald’s leechbok</em> “reports catnip as effective against everything from bedevilment (mix leaves with ale, chant 12 masses) to shoulder pain (pound leaves in ale, drink by fire)”.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p140820-o1" class="wpcf7"> <p style="display: none !important;"> </p> <!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></div> </div> <p>In humans it was known to be soothing and calming, while for cats, rolling in it seems to evoke euphoria – apparently it gives them an opioid-like hit – and it’s thought the aim is to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/search/mozzies+vs+moggies/" target="_blank">help them deter mosquitoes</a>.</p> <p>But it’s long been observed that mozzies and other insects are not nearly as keen on catnip – the team notes its historical use as a repellent against “pesky small creatures”, as referred to by Johannes Franck’s <em>Speculum botanicum</em> in the 1600s, and others.</p> <p>Adding some modern molecular science to this, the collaborative experiment by Melo and colleagues at Marcus Stensmyr’s lab in Sweden was quite thorough.</p> <p>First, they tested Pliny’s claim that catnip repels scorpions by allowing four <em>Heterometrus cyaneus</em> to choose a pot to hide in, one of which contained catnip. The scorpions all chose the pot with catnip, “displaying no apparent distress”. To be fair, the authors say the plant Pliny refers to as <em>Nepeta</em> may have been a different herb.</p> <p>They continued with a vast array of experiments with different arthropods ranging from ticks, mites, aphids and planthoppers to bees, wasps, weevils, beetles, flies and mosquitoes, finding evidence to support the notion that nepetalactone is an irritant.</p> <p>Then they used cultured cells expressing the <em>TRPA1</em> genes – a molecular mechanism for “pain” and response to irritants <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2017/october/wasabi-receptor-for-pain-discovered-in-flatworms/" target="_blank">discovered</a> by Gallio’s lab – in flies, mozzies and humans to test if they are activated by catnip and nepetalactone.</p> <p>Finally, the team tested catnip on mutant mosquitoes and flies without the <em>TRPA1</em> receptor and found they lost their aversion to the herb. “<em>TRPA1</em> mutant mosquitoes in particular do not avoid catnip any more at all,” says Gallio. “Cool.”</p> <p>Now they’ve shown why catnip works and is so powerful, he says their study further supports its widespread use as a natural, safe repellent, accessible in poor countries afflicted by mosquito-borne diseases. “Great because it’s cheap and it grows like a weed.”</p> <p>What can you do to avoid excessive feline affections while warding off the pesky bugs? Not a problem, says Gallio: “We like cats.”</p> <!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=140820&amp;title=Cats+love+it+but+mozzies+don%E2%80%99t" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></p> <!-- End of tracking content syndication --> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/cats-love-it-but-mozzies-dont/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/natalie-parletta" target="_blank">Natalie Parletta</a>. Natalie Parletta is a freelance science writer based in Adelaide and an adjunct senior research fellow with the University of South Australia.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

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