Cats, Catnip and the Catnip Gene

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

In Cecil’s article What is it with cats and catnip? he makes no mention of the catnip ‘gene’. As I’ve heard it there is a gene present in cats that has them respond to catnip. If the cat lacks this gene then they ignore catnip.

Even if the ‘gene’ theory is bunk certainly there is anecdotal evidence to support the notion that some cats are different in this regard. I have a friend who has two cats. One goes nuts over catnip and the other couldn’t care less. I have heard the same story about some cats ignoring catnip from others as well.

What’s the Straightdope on the catnip gene?

2

This may not have anything to do with catnip at all, but it might; worth looking into anyway.

I didn’t know catnip was a member of the mint family until reading this article, and I was reminded of another kind of mint that is, shall we say, a bit questionable, however, not illegal. Salvia’s a mint plant that, when smoked, gives the user an extremely hallucinogenic experience for a short while; very, very intense but brief. You can order this stuff over the 'net, and due to it’s categorization biologically (i.e., it’s almost the same thing you might put in tea or chewing gum), it is not illegal at all. And no, I’ve never used this stuff, personally. Anyway, I was thinking that the two might be related, catnip causing cats to act crazy because of some chemical reaction they have with said catnip. Just an idle thought I had; maybe someone can look into it and let me know if there is some actual connection, or if I’m just thinking stupid thoughts.

3

My own little pet peeve - not illegal where? To which legal jurisdiction do you refer? Do you mean it’s legal in Burkina Faso?

4

For the past two years, I’ve planted catnip at one end of my herb garden, but the neighbourhood cats simply ignore it. On the other hand, they rub up so much against the mint, that I have to wash it endlessly before using it (in fact, for this reason, I hardly ever do use fresh mint).

5

By the way, I don’t think Salvia is sort of mint plant, as a previous poster stated: its complete name is Salvia divininorum, which puts it in the same plant family as sage (salvia officinalis).
On the other hand, catnip is in the mint family.

6

Sorry about the initial setting-off of the pet peeve…I was referring to American legality.

and regarding the plant’s relation to the spices we’re talking about, both of us are actually right. (btw, I got this info from the Salvia Divinorum Research and Info Center’s FAQ; www.sagewisdom.org) The salvia in question is a member of the sage genus, having over 900 individual species. The sage genus, by the same token, is a member of the mint family, hence my original confusion. So, it’s related to the common mint, more closely related to sage.

7

The column can also be found on pages 8-9 of Cecil Adams’ book «The Straight Dope (1984; reissued 1986, 1998)».

8

From Feline Husbandry: Diseases and Management in the Multiple-Cat Environment, by Neils C. Pedersen, published by American Veterinary Publications, 1991, page 304:

“Response to catnip is apparently a genetic trait. Only 50% of cats respond to catnip. There appears to be no difference in the proportion of responders among females and males, intact and neutered animals, and different breeds. Age is a factor, however. Kittens under 2 months of age usually do not respond to catnip, and may even fear or avoid it.”

Dr. Pedersen also says: “Most felids apparently respond to catnip. This plant has been used on occasion by hunters in North America to attract bobcat or lynx. Lions, leopards, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, and several of the small wild felids also respond to catnip.”

And further down the page: “It was initially thought that a cat’s reaction to catnip was a co-evolved function and that perhaps the plant used the cat for seed dispersal. However, felidae can be found both in the southern and northern hemispheres, while the plant is indigenous to the southern hemisphere. Thus, felids display the catnip response even though they were not always exposed to a natural source of nepetalactone during their evolution.”

The last paragraph may be due for some re-evaluation - although mitochrondrial comparisons between all species have not yet been made, various accidental and deliberate test breedings indicate that ALL cat species, despite what appear to be major differences in appearance and size, are still very, very closely related. Lions, tigers, and leopards are able to interbreed and produce offspring, although all of the offspring are sterile. Many of the small felid species are capable of producing offspring by mating with both domestic cats and each other, in some cases producing fertile hybrid offspring. Even some of the South American cats (which have a different chromosome count from the rest of the cat species) have successfully produced (sterile) offspring when mated with domestic cats. Therefore, the ‘catnip gene’ may be very, very old, harkening back to a single common feline ancestor.

I think the recent discovery of catnip’s ability to repel insects might also warrant another look at the relationship between cats and catnip.