Cats and valerian

Written by admin on July 24, 2009 – 12:45 pm -

According to Wikipedia:
“An unusual feature of valerian is that the essential oil of valerian root is a cat attractant similar to catnip. The active compound in valerian for this is actinidine. Cat attractants might mimic the odor of cat urine which is caused by 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol (MMB). Anecdotes state that valerian is also attractive to rats, so much so that it had been used to bait traps. Some versions of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin have him using valerian, as well as his pipes, to attract the rats. This might be related to the change of aversion into attraction to cat urine in rats infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

Valerian’s effect on cats is featured as a clue in two works by Agatha Christie.”

This is a funny episode where my cats discover my husband’s valerian, which he uses for his sleeping troubles.
The effect was even longer than shown in the video, they spent all day sniffing the blanket, sleeping and purring happily.

Duration : 0:2:59

Tags: cats, effect, funny, valerian
Posted in Unusual Urine Odor | 4 Comments »