Whats in catnip that drives cats crazy?
Catnip can turn a usually reserved and haughty feline into a playful, drooling kitten after just a few sniffs. It’s primarily the scent of catnip (not the taste) that cats react to. The pleasure factor in catnip is the chemical compound nepetalactone, which seems to have a mildly hallucinogenic effect on cats. Nepetalactone is similar to a chemical found in the urine of female cats, and this may be why unneutered males have stronger reactions to catnip than females and neutered males. Some speculate that nepetalactone stimulates the region of a cat’s brain associated with sexual behavior. It’s not just domestic house cats that have an affinity for catnip — even lions, pum
