catnip's effect on cat behavior
catnip's effect on cat behavior
Understand how catnip triggers excitatory reactions in cats and how kitty litter (fuller's earth) along with additives like baking soda, artificial scents, and antibacterial agents absorb foul-smelling cat urine.
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Transcript
Cats, cats, cats-- they're everywhere, and especially all over the internet. And while cats spend most of the days putzing around, lounging, and poking things with their paws, there's actually quite a lot of chemistry that can be learned from--
Whoa! You have no idea what you're doing. Sorry about that, folks. Here we go. So anyways, what better place to start than how they get high?
One of the finest joys for cat owners is the feline insanity that comes from catnip. Catnip is actually a plant called Nepeta cataria, which is closely related to mint. Its psychoactive quality comes from this molecule, which binds to olfactory receptors in a cat's nose, triggering a handful of neurological responses quite similar to how cats react to sexual pheromones. But scientists haven't actually figured out what it is about nepetalactone that makes cats go nuts.
This kitty high lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and doesn't affect all cats. Sensitivity to catnip is an inherited trait. Interestingly enough, it's not just house cats that are affected. Research has also shown similar responses in tigers, leopards, and other big cats.
Now, on the topic of smelling things, cat owners know that cat pee is a potent household stench. This is in part due to a compound found in it called felinine. When excreted, felinine is broken down into a remarkably volatile sulfur-containing compound called MMB. Male cats use MMB as a pheromone to let female cats know that they're feeling frisky.
Cats actually use a whole spread of different pheromones and techniques to send chemical messages, one of which may be surprising to some cat owners. Cats are known to rub up against objects to spread pheromones located in glands found in their face, tails, paws, and lower back. These chemical markers help establish territory between cats and even let cats feel comfort and familiarity with objects at home. When cats rub up against you, they're sending you love but also telling other cats in the world that this human is mine.
With all this talk about scents and odors, you gotta wonder how our noses can tolerate indoor cats and their accompanying olfactory offenses.
The answer is simple-- kitty litter. Basic kitty litter is actually a mix of clay minerals that are capable of absorbing their own weight in water. Also known as fuller's earth, this stuff was originally used to clean up oil and scum on factory floors. It also works as a partial deodorant. Normally, bacteria found in cat feces convert a compound in cat pee called uric acid into stench-ridden ammonia. Fuller's earth helps by sucking up extra water that, when mixed with ammonia, produces rank-smelling acids. Nowadays, baking soda, artificial scents, and anti-bacterial agents are also used as olfactory shields for cat owners' noses.
Because it's often a challenge to isolate and remove waste in fuller's earth, calcium bentonite is also used to make litter clump. This stuff is much more efficient holding together all the happy little prizes your cat leaves for you, making it much easier for you to scoop and toss. More recently, deodorizing kitty litters rely on silica gels to form porous crystals. These specialized crystals absorb cat urine and allow for moisture to evaporate off, moisture being one of the big cat-alysts to stenches in your cat box.
Whoa! You have no idea what you're doing. Sorry about that, folks. Here we go. So anyways, what better place to start than how they get high?
One of the finest joys for cat owners is the feline insanity that comes from catnip. Catnip is actually a plant called Nepeta cataria, which is closely related to mint. Its psychoactive quality comes from this molecule, which binds to olfactory receptors in a cat's nose, triggering a handful of neurological responses quite similar to how cats react to sexual pheromones. But scientists haven't actually figured out what it is about nepetalactone that makes cats go nuts.
This kitty high lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and doesn't affect all cats. Sensitivity to catnip is an inherited trait. Interestingly enough, it's not just house cats that are affected. Research has also shown similar responses in tigers, leopards, and other big cats.
Now, on the topic of smelling things, cat owners know that cat pee is a potent household stench. This is in part due to a compound found in it called felinine. When excreted, felinine is broken down into a remarkably volatile sulfur-containing compound called MMB. Male cats use MMB as a pheromone to let female cats know that they're feeling frisky.
Cats actually use a whole spread of different pheromones and techniques to send chemical messages, one of which may be surprising to some cat owners. Cats are known to rub up against objects to spread pheromones located in glands found in their face, tails, paws, and lower back. These chemical markers help establish territory between cats and even let cats feel comfort and familiarity with objects at home. When cats rub up against you, they're sending you love but also telling other cats in the world that this human is mine.
With all this talk about scents and odors, you gotta wonder how our noses can tolerate indoor cats and their accompanying olfactory offenses.
The answer is simple-- kitty litter. Basic kitty litter is actually a mix of clay minerals that are capable of absorbing their own weight in water. Also known as fuller's earth, this stuff was originally used to clean up oil and scum on factory floors. It also works as a partial deodorant. Normally, bacteria found in cat feces convert a compound in cat pee called uric acid into stench-ridden ammonia. Fuller's earth helps by sucking up extra water that, when mixed with ammonia, produces rank-smelling acids. Nowadays, baking soda, artificial scents, and anti-bacterial agents are also used as olfactory shields for cat owners' noses.
Because it's often a challenge to isolate and remove waste in fuller's earth, calcium bentonite is also used to make litter clump. This stuff is much more efficient holding together all the happy little prizes your cat leaves for you, making it much easier for you to scoop and toss. More recently, deodorizing kitty litters rely on silica gels to form porous crystals. These specialized crystals absorb cat urine and allow for moisture to evaporate off, moisture being one of the big cat-alysts to stenches in your cat box.