Cats in Question by John Seidensticker

Author:John Seidensticker [Seidensticker, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-58834-546-2
Publisher: Smithsonian
Published: 2016-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

DO WILD CATS LIKE CATNIP?

That domestic cats go wild with a whiff of catnip is well known, and our awareness of this accounts for the sale of a lot of cat toys. Less well known is that catnip actually sends only about half of domestic cats into a frenzy of rolling, rubbing, and head shaking; the other half are indifferent to the herb and its active ingredient, a chemical called nepetalactone. The presence or absence of a dominant gene determines whether or not a domestic cat will respond to catnip. But why this herb induces a state that most closely resembles a female cat in estrus—although both male and female cats respond the same way—remains a mystery.

Scientists have tested how some other cats respond to catnip and have obtained mixed results. In captivity, tigers are indifferent to it, as pumas and bobcats are, even though hunters claim catnip oil bait attracts pumas, bobcats, and Canada lynx in the wild. Scientists trying to collect hairs for DNA analysis found that a commercial bait whose ingredients include catnip attracted pumas to rub stations, where they left behind a few hairs. However, they noted that unless the bait stations were refreshed regularly with novel odors, the pumas began to ignore them.

On the other hand, lions, snow leopards, and jaguars respond like domestic cats, and leopards show a weak attraction. As in domestic cats, males and females respond equally in the species that respond to catnip at all. People who keep servals as pets report that these cats enjoy catnip, but they have not described the cats’ response.

Catnip, or catmint, is an herb native to Asia and Europe and is widespread in North America, where it was introduced long ago. But other plant chemicals are now known to produce a similar ecstatic response in domestic cats. For instance, a chemical called actinidine, from a kiwi relative called Actinidia polygama, works even better than catnip.

Offering novel scents to cats in zoos has become a part of programs designed to enrich the lives of these animals in otherwise fairly dull environments. Cats show interest in many spices, including mace, allspice, cumin, nutmeg, clove, and peppermint as well as musk in various perfumes, but not with the same intensity as some cats respond to catnip; their interest in these other scents wanes with familiarity, which seems not to occur with catnip. Cats’ responses to perfume inspired scientists to use perfume, specifically Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men, to attract ocelots to camera traps. And it worked! The ocelots responded like cats in estrus. A female cheetah at the Bronx Zoo also found Obsession irresistible; for as long as 7 minutes, she would roll and rub against objects sprayed with it.

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