Most people know about catnip and its supposedly intoxicating effects that it on cats. What other herbs or substances entice cats?
What’s the canine equivalent of catnip, and are there any herbs or substances that entice dogs?
I had a cat that went absolutely crazy if I was eating olives. He really yowled his head off. If I gave him one, watching him try to eat it was an experience. Cats have the wrong type of teeth fopr eating olives. Watching him try to chew it, as it kept falling out of his mouth was hilarious.
You know those crinkly plastic bags you get at the grocery store?
Well, my cat has an almost obscene love for them. He licks them. And licks them. He likes the “fresh” ones best. I have no idea what it is that he finds so deliciously lickable about these bags, but if that isn’t fetishistic love, I don’t know what is.
My cat does the same thing with my backpack. If I set it on the floor, within seconds she’s licking it furiously. I affectionately call her a little pervert.
My mom has a Maine Coon with the same fetish. He get’s vicious if you try to wrench his precious plastic bag away. I always figured he was planning on using it for autoerotic asphyxiation. :eek:
Meat.
So what the heck is it about these plastic bags that some cats like so much? I was pretty willing to dismiss my cat’s behavior as uniquely bizarre, since he’s a little freak anyway, but obviously there may be more to it. Are they coated with something tasty? It doesn’t seem to matter what was in the bag; it does seem to matter how long the bag has been sitting around. I can only guess there is some substance on/in new grocery store bags that cats can smell and taste, that this substance is volitile to some extent, and that cats may find this substance a source of kinky pleasure.
My nearly 6 year old pit bull nips blankets. You’ve seen how a dog will nip at itself in a way we associate with trying to crush a flea? My boy lays down on his belly, sphinx style and does that to blankets and pillows. While he is doint it, he does not seem aroused, but concentrated and studious. I have no idea why he does it.
Bleach. I had to stop using bleach in the laundry because the smell of any bleach on my hands made my cats flip out. They’d grab at my hands, purring like little chainsaws, licking and rubbing obsessively. I would even find them in the laundry basket trying to hump towels (dried and folded) that had been cleaned with bleach, which is apparently the Spanish fly of the cat world.
My husband used to have a chocolate lab named Pip. Apparently if you ate ice cream anywhere in this dog’s vicinity, he would sit and watch, mesmerized, panting faster and faster, and his…um…weenie…would slowly grow to epic proportions just watching you eat ice cream. My husband said it was a way to kill your appetite quickly.
My dog (and most of the barn dogs) go nuts for the hoof trimmings when the horseshoer comes. Also of catnip-like obsession are cowpies, the fresher the better and long-dead roadkill. Lovely.
Oh, you meant things I could actually buy for him? Snooters, those smoked pigs ears and Chew Hooves - smoked cow hooves. Those are good.
I grew up with cats and dogs. Constantly. We always had at least one of each, often more. And I still keep a cat, being especially fond of their personalities.
I think cats are especially prone to this kind of behavior… uncertain whether its some sort of pica or OCD, or whether it’s a more sexual or emotional fetish, but it definitely seems much more common among indoor cats and emotionally abused cats.
Classic example: I once had a girlfriend who was one cat short of being a cat lady. (“Three’s the limit,” I’d tell her. “One more and you’re officially a cat lady.”) All of them were indoor cats, and all three of them were neurotic. The house was too small for three cats, and they sniped at each other and climbed things and destroyed things and peed on things.
One cat had a fetish for a blanket. It would nurse on the same spot of the nap of the blanket for hours on end. And if you took the blanket away or locked her out of the room the blanket was in, she’d yowl and howl and cry and scratch at the door to the room… pathetic.
Another had a fetish for cleaning products. Cleanser, dish soap, shampoo, bar soap… anything. It all had to be locked up. Otherwise she’d lick it until she got sick… pathetic.
The third had a fetish for socks. Not necessarily clean or dirty socks. Just socks. She’d dig them out of the hamper or clean laundry piles, retrieve them off of dressers or tables, carry them around the house like kittens, hoard them under the couch, and leave them lying whereever… and this was the most well-adjusted cat.
My girlfreind was convinced this was normal cat behavior. I could not convince her it was not. I grew up with cats and the only ones that I saw develop these kinds of habits were the ones that were nuts. In general, the more the cat was treated like something other than a cat, and the more it developed neuroses and fetishes. Try to treat a cat like a person and it goes insane. Treat a cat like a cat, and it’s healthy. You don’t have to let the cat outdoors, but it’s far easier than creating an artificial substitute for exercise and stimulus.
My friend has a Russian Blue that was abused as a kitten and adopted by a local vet as an “office cat” for three years before my friend finally adopted her. The cat was never allowed outside, and kept in a kennel at night. But it was allowed to roam the waiting area during business hours, and got to encounter other people and cats. This cat is extremely well adjusted, and smart… and exhibits no neuroses or fetishes other than being a slut for attention.
And dogs, well, dogs are just prone to that stuff by their nature. Cat fetishes are symptoms of neurosis. Dog fetishes are symptoms of dogness.
Seriously, there’s no herb that stimulates dogs?
I’ll pose these inquiries with cat and dog specialists.
The major active ingredient in catnip (Nepeta cataria) is nepetalactone. I once read that it causes the response that it does because it resembles a component of cat urine, but all that I could find is that it’s a response mediated by the olfactory system. About 70-90% of cats in a population have a dominant gene that allows them to detect nepetalactone, and they respond characteristically when they smell it. I couldn’t find the exact reason for this, but it must be because of a resemblance to something cats would encounter elsewhere.
There’s more information about nepetalactone (including a structure) here.
Dr. Starfish Seriously, there’s no herb that stimulates dogs?
I’ll pose these inquiries with cat and dog specialists.
cannabis?
Cat poo is also a favorite. So, if you own both, just buy treats for the cat. Your dog treats will be free – just give access to the litter box. 