Why do cats love catnip so much? Researchers have found a possible evolutionary answer to this adorable feline phenomenon!
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Sources:
advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/4/eabd9135
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480656/pdf/canvetj00079-0049.pdf
bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-017-0987-6
Image Sources:
www.istockphoto.com/photo/maine-coon-kitten-on-white-gm1126981190-296885680
www.istockphoto.com/photo/impatient-cat-asking-food-gm1040405006-278524384
www.istockphoto.com/photo/cute-tabby-cat-sniffing-dried-catnip-gm1143329867-307010982
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_070906-8819_Nepeta_cataria.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Actinidia_polygama_02.JPG
www.istockphoto.com/photo/fisheye-cat-rolling-in-catnip-gm1178809065-329624433
www.istockphoto.com/photo/white-cat-with-catnip-mouse-gm1093103238-293346682
www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/253761.php
www.istockphoto.com/photo/cat-and-nepeta-cataria-gm1097317452-294660107
Animal Park at the Conservators Center (www.animalparknc.org)
www.istockphoto.com/photo/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-close-up-a-mosquito-sucking-human-blood-gm604022000-103738665
www.istockphoto.com/photo/mosquito-on-cats-nose-gm91703101-6902231
www.istockphoto.com/vector/mosquito-icon-on-black-and-white-vector-backgrounds-gm699087038-129486315
www.istockphoto.com/vector/cat-silhouette-pet-animals-set-gm1141896184-306103509
www.istockphoto.com/photo/dna-sequence-gm143175623-19334089
We Had Catnip All Wrong
9 255 Vistas 946 mil
The theory of evolution is just that a theory....and in my opinion and other people who enjoy science and the scientific method it’s a very weak theory based upon falsified presumptions.
Zzzzzz... Did you have catnip in the video?
Are you a cat person ? Or a spider person ? Look at that cat stretching himself to comfortable laziness. You don't ever see a spider stretch out it's limbs to sleep on the side (how the hell do they sleep anyways o0 they certainly don't have eyelids oo). Personally, I'm a dog person, I wag my tail every time I see my girlfriend XD
Hmmmm ... how did they measure that the reward center of the cats' brains were stimulated?
Isn't catnip in the mint family which is used as a mosquito repellent?
Sweetheart this is a good video I liked everything but you need to tell your stage makeup people to give you a little bit more foundation because your acne is showing thru.
-"Tough day at the office?" -"Ugh, tons of paperwork like you wouldn't believe!... We are researching catnip so I had to be around all these cats while they rolled around in the stuff! Anyways, how was your first day at the sewage treatment plant?" :D
Whisky is Irish nip
Hipster girl saying "in the history of ever" made me cringe.
I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!
so why don't we use the catnip as a mosquito repellent?
I love how they tried to underplay animal experimentation with “definitely the least fun part of the study” lol good one
Hey, look at ticks, not a nonstarter for cats like mosquitoes.
Catnip is just cat marijuana
And only now i discover i chose the completely wrong field. Sml
So basically you are telling us story that you don't have the final answer for as to how and why, and yet you consider that as news?
I don't understand why there HAS to be a reason for the feline response to catnip. Why do us humans respond to so many substances the way we do? No reason, no benefit, we just do, it's probably the same with cats and catnip or silvervine
My cat gets wired with catnip. Runs around scratches, bites, it's terrible. We avoid catnip if we can.
So this is all still a theory, yet the video title presents it as fact. :/ I hate people claiming to be scientists these days. No integrity.
Well, if you also smell like catnip makes good hunting scent cover. Considering how musky lions can smell, probably helps a lot.
cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick bait. entire video for "we have do to more research" i hate what youtube has turned into.
“...more research needs to be done....” Really?? Does it?
Lemurs do the same with millipedes, I wonder how many other species get high for the sake of insect repellent.
Legalize Nip
I feel like if cats were smart enough to roll around in plants to ward infestations off, they’d occasionally roll around in rosemary. But no, so..
Why do they scream for food they won’t eat? Maybe because they have tastebuds and they don’t wanna eat the same garbage every day? Get that cat some real life chicken, or cod. Occasionally.
Hi, my name is Mister Whiskers Fuzzbeef and I have a catnip problem. I've been catnip-free for thirty days now...
so not only did she come to say we have it all wrong. . . . but also they have no idea what it is either. . and still looking
Have read that Catnip induces a sexual response. Note kittens not yet sexually mature usually ignore catnip.
yeah I thought so.
it's a good theory... but why do cats act weird then? the rolling around in it I get.. but why the change?
I feel bad for the control group who got all the mosquitoes :/
Japanese Researchers basically came up with a way to get paid to play with cats and I can't fault them for that. Meowvelous.
My cats eat it
I never give my cats catnip or silvervine. It’s a gateway drug.
Still no mention of different responses for different metabolic pathways of inhaling or smelling catnip and ingesting catnip and having it broken down in the stomach and intestines. As cats have an upper effect when smelling, but more of a downer effect from eating it.
All the little kitties were singing this song there’s a skeeter 🦟 on my peter knock it off there’s a dozen on my cousin can’t you hear them a buzzing.🤔
Pretty sure cats just like getting high
So humans are drugging their cats without their consent?
"what cannabol does to humans" lol
So the cats that didn't roll around in catnip a thousand years ago probably died of mosquito born illness and the cats that got pleasure from it lived
Me watching this video: "please be Rose, please be Rose, please be Rose" *ROSE APPEARS IN SCREEN* ME: "YES I'M SHOWING A CAT VIDEO IN CLASS!!" My students love seeing your videos in class!
Sitting here getting my cat high on catnip while I indulge in some humannip ;P
I like her PacMan earrings.
2:22 she should have meow meow land
Capuchin monkeys do something similar with citrus plants... They chew them up and rub them all over their body in order to ward off mosquitos
Hopefully the studies are going to be fun for the cats too
It's great as a mosquito repellant, digestive aid and helps you sleep.
It didn't evolve -- it was designed.
3:10 Cats are everywhere , even in your DNA. Mos Quito' Repellant, interesting . . . Meow. SPOILER TO VIDEO BELOW! Catnip , and silver vine , must get. Repel Mos Quito' I must. (just imagine this wrote by some cat out there.)
Huh, this is neat! :)
Of course they were Japanese researchers!
Puppydogs are cooler.
Two phenomena that have nothing to do with one another. There are millions of chemicals in nature, one or another is bound to make you feel good while having nothing to do with "evolving" along with you so you can compete for food or reproduce. That same chemical probably does other things, like repelling mosquitoes.
This proves nothing 😅
Japanese love cats too much. True story.
I love how people have mispelt cat mint over the last 200 years. It's cat mint as it's a mint.
Now do "Spankies" on cats!
Alright... so... Cats are basically doing the human equivalent of huffing insect repellent, but if the insect repellent was harmless.
No one else picturing a cat in a box of mosquitoes 🦟 🐈 📦
Dream up the purrfect experiment...
Please tell me about liquid metal robot please please please
catnip= cat marijuanas
The cat in the thumbnail looks like me after a month long bender.
Acacia rats are better than cats. As are dogs and squirrels.
Nepetalectone
Kitties!!!!
My cat pees on me while im gaming to get my attention. Or when he crys to go outside. Then i let him outside and he still crys then runs off like a crackhead. He crys when his bowl isnt over filled. Ughhhh needy. Stands on my phone when im laying in bed as well. Ugggggh
My cats do not give a poop about catnip haha
Curious if similarly to mosquitos, if that compound is equally repulsive to fleas.
I’m not buying it about the mosquitoes.
Really?... all questions answered, great conclusion...
wonder if they could turn this into an insect repellent for people, just with the warning that cats might find you delicious if you use it...LOL... well as a cuddle buddy.
What if we put catnip in the Colorado grass?
Odd that apparently no other branch of animals would have this behavior.
Correlation is not causation. Evolution doesn't work like that.
I had a cat that lived 21 year. When my cat was around 19 years old, and having some tummy troubles, I was told, by my vet, that cat nip could help her. So, daily, I gave her a good pinch of cat nip to eat...and it did help keep her food from coming back up. Her name was Ashley, and she passed away in 2005. So I do know there is some real medical benefits to catnip.
My cat actually had a very strange response to catnip. He got extremely agitated and nervous. He seemed terrified of everything and basically run up the walls for a few seconds. I wonder what was up with that
bad trip
I’d be interested if fleas also avoided cats who have the chemical transferred too 🤔
All the way up to the point where 'mosquitoes landed on the cats with nepwhatsitsolactol less that on cats without it' Ummm. Yes but since when have mosquitoes *EVER* bothered cats?
1.25x playback speed, thank me later.
we aint figured out plants yet but we totally know how the universe was created yep mhmm
So it isn't a reaction like how opiates affect humans dopamine system and brings on pleasant euphoria and separate benefit if pain relief (or tge other way around)......NO.... the cats had to "evolve" to desire this chemical to ward of biting insects. It can't be that this chemical just has a reaction--just because. Humans can eat chocolate but it will kill dogs and cats. Different chemicals affect different species differently. Doesn't mean any evolution for a purpose has to be involved. What does the 2nd instance of the chemical that causes the mosquito repellant have to do with the 1st reaction of "goofy" cat behavior in cats? So what they are saying is for some apparent "reason" over inestimable amts of time, most of the cats that were not exposed to the mosquito repellant chemical died (even though cats don't die from regular mosquito bites anymore than humans) so that only the cats that desired the cat nip etc plants "evolved" to enjoy being bitten "less" by biting insects....Right..... Try to make it way to complicated. Some chemicals react in one species this way & another that. Not that hard to fathom. But if it was a done thru a grant I guess they had to come up with an "acceptable" scientific ( complex) answer!!
Just like global warming - it was all wrong.
Right, so Silver Vine is a mosquito repellent and the possibility exists that cats expose themselves to it to repel mosquitos. I do not believe this is the reason, however. I would bet a lot of money on cats loving Silver Vine just as much if it actually attracted more mosquitos to them. It's obvious they love Silver Vine and Catnip and it makes them feel good. I would look in the other direction for a reason. For instance, both plants may have acquired the chemical/s to attract cats for the simple reason that the cats will help survival, moving spores across greater distances will give a better chance that they will thrive in their environments. Cheers
This useless video explained nothing...
What a misleading title.
ARE YOU TELLING ME I CAN BOTH ATTRACT CATS AND REBEL MOSQUITOES BY RUBBING MYSELF WITH CATNIP?????
So DIY bugspray?
Cat genes: C A T T A C A
What a nothing video. Only takeaway is maybe catnip keeps bugs awat
How do i apply for the job to play with 🐱🐈⬛ all day?
I have two cats, one loves catnip, the other is repulsed by it. Guess it's the Brussel sprout issue us humans have, a genetic disposition to either loving them, or hating them.
Also, wouldn't the reward center activation have an excellent impact in mating prospects, like a really good cologne? A cat who rolls around in catnip would smell like catnip to other cats, and would thus attract other cats to the "catnip" all over them, so if they were looking for a mate...
Come on we don’t need a study to clearly see catnip is cat pot. 420, kitty. 👍🏻
this is like the shittiest most uninformative video i have ever seen
So, how does this evolve again? Like, I get that we find a correlation between Catnip and Mosquito repellant. But, how does it evolve? That's the part of evolutionary biology that they can't figure out. More than likely, the traits were chosen by God, as the chance of such a gene mutation happening naturally, and then only being found in cats, is so astronomically high that it might as well be impossible. You might get one instance of it ever occurring throughout all of history, if it's by chance. Instead, we try to explain an entire world where things like this, and much more wondrous, have happened. And even if there are a few other species that do this, it's nearly impossible to account it to evolution. There'd have to be millions of years worth of cats rolling in catnip prior to this happening, and then one of them magically develops a reaction to it. And then all the cats want to mate with that particular cat, with that particular genetic marker. It just starts to break down, really. For the marker to even occur, why do the genes decide to evolve in such a way? It can only be intelligence that gives them the trait. For it to evolve, it evolved because of the need. And that's why it's hard for me to believe in science apart from the Living God. Like, scientists are reversing cause and effect. They're like, "The cat evolved this," without questioning how the gene would develop naturally by chance. Or really any of it for that matter. It's impossible, unless something intelligent is dictating how these traits get passed on. Like isn't it putting the cart before the horse, to say that the thing evolved simply because of the need? That they evolved that way because it's a mosquito repellent? Well, how do the genes know it's a mosquito repellant, and then decide to manifest to help the cats? And really, we have billions of other species with even more unique and specific mutations. It's almost impossible to believe in evolution, without first believing in an Intelligence. And I happen to know that intelligence is named Jesus. Also, why don't we ask why humans developed the biological response to Opium or Marijuana? Like, this whole thing falls apart again. It gets answered when you account that God created the Earth, and wanted there to be medicine.
Unfortunately scientists studying animals often end up dissecting them. Or worse
Ugh, thanks for my stupid thumbnails for little to no payoff
the smell of bleach makes cats nuttier than catnip