i would like to add some -
*Ivan * is NOT the only cat who likes olives.
MY late cat, Muchtar (“head-of-the-town” in Arabic),
was CRAZY about green olives.
Not Spanish olives, but Israeli.
There must be something in Mediterrenian olives, that trigger some cats.
About 30% of the cats i know like them.
My cat used to have catnip-like “high” when he touched them.
I must stress, it was NOT hunger.
He used to play with the olive, bite it, rub its juice all over its face,
play “cat soccer” with it, all over the house, and only when the effect was over,
he used to nibble at it a bit, dissappointedly, as if trying to get some more of the
fun, if possible.
I was very dissappointed to discover that the cats i own these days,
grandchildren of my former cat, do not give a damn about olives.
I guess it has nothing to do with genetics, then…
My family used to own an olive-preserving factory, so i’m familiar with the process.
Green and black olives are (after being processed) acidic, and fragrant.
Certain spices are used, which resemble catnip. One of the is Oregano.
If you ever smell a bag of catnip, notice how it smells like stale Oregano.
Cats LOVE acidic food.
A map of a cat tounge shows that it has large areas of sour-sensitive buds.
Also, olives are small and slippery, perfect for playing with, and cats can’t resist it.
But it COULD be something in the olives themselves. Not a very popular field of research, i know, but it IS possible that a very known catfood company HAS researched it,
I’ve seen many cats who are ADDICTED to this expensive brand of catfood, addicted so badly, that they refuse to eat anything else, and are willing to starve
despite having a plate full of other catfood in front of them !
When you mix that brand with some other stuff, they pick it out, leaving the other
stuff in the plate. Amazing.
One last remark -
Valeriana is still used to calm people, the pill is called Valerian.
I know one guy who used to take it,
and he let his cat lick it,
and the cat got catnip-high.
No harm to cats in this - cats (unlike us) have a built-in protection against overdosage.
Young cats actually HATE Catnip.