Inheritance of the catnip response in domestic cats.

A ESSENTIAL oil, nepetalactone. was isolated from the catnip plant (Nepeta cataria) by McElvain et al.-' 3i 4 and Meinwald. McElvain demonstrated with lions that the oil is the substance which is responsible for the attraction of cats to the plant and the only constituent capable of inducing a response. This familiar response has been broken down into four components, viz, 1) sniffing, 2) licking and chewing with head shaking, 3) chin and cheek rubbing and 4) head-over roll and body rubbing. None of these automatisms is unique to catnip, each of them apparently belonging normally to sexual or ingestive behavior. These components almost invariably appear in the above sequence. In fact, among 58 responding cats, all tested with dried leaves, only three individuals deviated from this sequence and omitted the licking and chewing with head shaking. These animals went immediately into the rolling phase, which seemed to be exceptionally violent. Component four may last from three to six minutes before all response is extinguished. Additional behavior patterns noted occasionally are claw sharpening and washing, both of which occur as displacement activities in the ethological sense in sexual behavior. Among responding animals the response may occasionally be inhibited for obscure reasons, necessitating repeated testing of non-responders before drawing conclusions. Also, the response is not manifested in kittens under six to eight weeks of age and may not develop fully until three months of age. In fact, catnip often produces a distinct avoidance response in young kittens which is gradually replaced by indifference in non-responders and by heightened curiosity in responders. Whether nursing is in any way connected with inhibiting the response has not yet been determined. In one case a sixto seven-week-old nursing kitten gave a total response, but this seems exceptional. A distressed or enranged animal may still respond, and neutering appears to have no effect on behavior towards catnip.