Active and passive responses to catnip (Nepeta cataria) are affected by age, sex and early gonadectomy in male and female cats
Luz Teresa Espín-Iturbe, Bernardo A. López Yañez, Apolo Carrasco García, Rodolfo Canseco-Sedano, Maribel Vázquez-Hernández, Genaro A. Coria-Avila. Active and passive responses to catnip (Nepeta cataria) are affected by age, sex and early gonadectomy in male and female cats. Behavioural Processes, Volume 142, 2017, Pages 110-115, ISSN 0376-6357. See original source. DOI.
Abstract:
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a popular plant among cat owners because in about 60% of felids elicits active behaviors such as rolling over, grooming, motor activity and vocalizations. Herein, we assessed the display of active but also passive responses, such as time in sphinx-like position, and consequently hypothesized that 100% of cats respond to catnip. Accordingly, sixty domestic cats of different age (infant, juvenile, adults), sex (males, females) and gonadal status (early gonadectomized, gonadally intact) were placed in a cylindrical chamber (1.20×1.40m) during 5min and then exposed to 500mg of dehydrated catnip for another 5min. Behaviors were videorecorded and scored. Results indicated that about 20% of the cats (adults and juvenile only) displayed active behaviors (i.e. rolling over), whereas 80% displayed passive responses at any age (sphinx-like position, decreased frequency in vocalizations, and decreased motor activity). These results suggest that all cats respond to catnip but they express it actively, passively or with a combination of both types of responses, which mainly depends on age and sex, and early gonadectomy to a much less extent. We discuss the possible implications of brain maturation on this dichotomy and speculate on the role of opioidergic system on the catnip responses.
Keywords: Nepeta cataria; Catnip; Domestic cat; Gonadectomy; Age; Opioids
Highlights
- Only two thirds of adult cats are believed to respond to catnip (Nepeta cataria).
- Responsiveness is mainly based on “active” behaviors, such as rolling over.
- Herein we assessed active and passive responses in cats of different age, sex, and gonadal status.
- Few cats responded actively, but almost 100% did it passively (sphinx-like posture).
- We discuss brain maturation as the cause to catnip response.
Abstract
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a popular plant among cat owners because in about 60% of felids elicits active behaviors such as rolling over, grooming, motor activity and vocalizations. Herein, we assessed the display of active but also passive responses, such as time in sphinx-like position, and consequently hypothesized that 100% of cats respond to catnip. Accordingly, sixty domestic cats of different age (infant, juvenile, adults), sex (males, females) and gonadal status (early gonadectomized, gonadally intact) were placed in a cylindrical chamber (1.20 × 1.40 m) during 5 min and then exposed to 500 mg of dehydrated catnip for another 5 min. Behaviors were videorecorded and scored. Results indicated that about 20% of the cats (adults and juvenile only) displayed active behaviors (i.e. rolling over), whereas 80% displayed passive responses at any age (sphinx-like position, decreased frequency in vocalizations, and decreased motor activity). These results suggest that all cats respond to catnip but they express it actively, passively or with a combination of both types of responses, which mainly depends on age and sex, and early gonadectomy to a much less extent. We discuss the possible implications of brain maturation on this dichotomy and speculate on the role of opioidergic system on the catnip responses.
Introduction
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a popular plant among cat owners because it elicits a predictable “playful” behavior in most felids. Only a small portion of the plant (about 0.001–0.3%) cointains the oil nepetalactone, which is reported to produce the behavioral effects (McElvain et al., 1941, Bol et al., 2017). Studies indicate that 2/3 of cats exposed to catnip may display behaviors such as rolling over, chin and cheek rubbing, head shaking, pawing, floor scratching, persistent sniffing, licking and chewing of the catnip source (Todd, 1962, Todd, 1963, Bol et al., 2017). The effects start immediately after exposure and last only for about 5–15 min, followed by a refractory period of non-responsiveness during several minutes (Todd, 1963). It has been argued that such responsiveness does not to depend on sex or gonadal status (gonadally intact vs. gonadectomized), but only on age, although those observations were obtained from cats gonadectomized in adulthood, not at early age (<3 months) (Todd, 1963, Grognet, 1990). A similar response is observable in some large felids, being lions and jaguars extremely sensitive to the behavioral effects (up to 60 min) compared to tigers, cougars, bobcats and oncilla cats that express little or no response (Hill et al., 1976, Resende Lde et al., 2011).
Several years ago it was argued that responders (65% of domestic cats) may have a predisposition to react to catnip, presumably because of an inherited dominant autosomal gene (Todd, 1962). Such classification was focused on the display of “rolling over” behavior, and the coincidence of such response to the one expressed by their ancestors. Some years later Hill and colleagues observed large felids and suggested that the expression of rolling over behavior is an insufficient criterion for determining responsiveness since it ignores other frequently elicited passive behaviors (i.e. lying/sitting) (Hill et al., 1976). Accordingly, former studies considered that catnip response occurred when cats behaved actively via rolling over, chin and cheek rubbing, head shaking, pawing, floor scratching, persistent sniffing, and licking. However, we believe that many cats referred to as active non-responders may indeed be passive responders if they display explicit passive behaviors (i.e. more time in sphinx-like posture) starting soon after exposure to catnip. In addition, passive catnip responses may be observed when regular baseline activity is decreased (e.g. less motor activity, less grooming, less vocalizations). Thus, in this study we hypothesized that all cats can express a response, which may be either active, passive or mixed. In addition, we hypothesized that regardless of the type, the response would be affected by age, sex or early gonadectomy.
Section snippets
Subjects
A total of sixty domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus), pending for adoption in a local animal shelter at Veracruz city, Veracruz Mexico, were used for this study. All the procedures were approved by an admission committee of the Graduate Program in Neuroethology, Universidad Veracruzana and were carefully controlled to minimize distress according to the official Mexican norm NOM-062-ZOO-1999.
Results
As expected, all cats responded to catnip with either active or passive behaviors. The ANOVA showed an increase in rolling over F (1, 58) = 13.99, p = 0.00; sphinx-like position F (1, 58) = 73.99, p = 0.00; and grooming F (1, 58) = 53.12, p = 0.00, and a decrease in vocalizations F (1, 58) = 30.87, p = 0.00; and motor activity F (1, 58) = 19.07, p = 0.00 (see Table 1). These behaviors, however, were mainly affected by the cats age, and sex (Table 2). For instance, rolling over behavior was mainly affected by age …
Discussion
The present study indicates that exposure to catnip did induce both active and passive responses in domestic cats from a shelter. Active effects were observed through an immediate increase in the frequency of behaviors such as rolling over and grooming; whereas passive effects were observed with more time in sphinx-like posture, less vocalizations and less motor activity as compared to baseline levels. To some extent, all these responses were affected by either age, sex or gonadal status….
Conclusion
The response to catnip can be classified into active or passive, depending on the display of behaviors. The former was mainly observed as increment in the frequency of rolling over and grooming, whereas passive responses were mainly observed via a decrease of motor activity, less frequency of vocalizations, and more time spent in sphinx-like posture. Active responses were observed in adults, but not in infants.
DankNips “Takeaways” of this study:
Although the full study is not available to the public, from what we can gather it shows that prior misconception about the effects of catnip being sexual are disproven as gonadectomy (AKA spaying and/or neutering) would prevent the effects of catnip however no such evidence is apparent, suggesting no correlation. Therefore the receptors are not the same as sexual receptors but only alike in the sense of being pleasurable for the cat. This is more like a natural high such as what a human gets from foods like chocolate.