Is Catnip a Drug for Cats

Catnip was actually called Nepeta when it was first discovered, which is a magical Chinese medicine. Even many people did not discover the effect of Nepeta on cats at the beginning, because it has excellent medicinal value for humans!

And why does catnip have such a magical effect on cats? According to the reaction of humans using catnip, catnip is actually not much different from mint. We have only seen people who feel quite cool after drinking mint, and have not found that they are so cool that they lose their minds.

So what is its unique effect on cats? The main component of catnip volatile oil is terpenes, but for cats, it is actually nepeta lactone that is more effective!

The definition of nepetalactone is: nepetalactone has two cyclic structures, cyclopentane and cyclic ester, and the two form terpenoids. The structure and effect are similar to valerin (valepotriate). In addition, it has a variety of isomers. 4aα, 7α, 7aα-nepetalactone is an active chemical substance contained in Nepeta catari, which has a special effect on approximately 75% of cats. The cat's response to this substance is related to genes, and the location of perception is the olfactory epithelium.

For humans, nepetalactone has many milder effects. It can be used as weak hypnotics, anticonvulsants, antipyretics and antibacterial drugs, and can induce emesis when the dose is high. In other words, the effect of catnip on cats is closely related to the effect of nepeta lactone!

However, everyone will feel particularly worried about the cat's reaction to catnip, because cats will have similar reactions after inhaling catnip: sneezing, chewing, rubbing, rolling, meowing and other behaviors. It also drools, which makes us inexplicably associate cats with catnip and "drugs."

Catnip contains a large amount of nepeta lactone and cellulose. Like cellulose, the role of cellulose is to carry some cat hair accidentally licked into it and excrete it from the body. A certain amount of nepeta lactone can induce vomiting. This is very important for cats. Because the predatory nature of cats means that cats need to take a lot of risks to get prey, and sometimes they may accidentally eat some toxic items. Just like the idyllic cats in the countryside in our impression, sometimes they will go to the mountains to eat some herbs and the like, and catnip is actually one of these herbs.

But compared to other herbs that treat diseases and save cats, catnip is not actually a good medicine, but a bit like tobacco and other items that help relieve mental stress.

Cats use catnip reasonably, but if they are frequent, the cats themselves will react uncomfortably to catnip! The most obvious is that the cat has lost interest in catnip, which is actually the rejection of cats after excessive stimulation. Therefore, if you give cats catnip, it is usually enough once a month, but too much is not good.