For a lesson in euphoria, look no additional than a home cat twined round a twig of silver vine. When provided a snipping of the plant, which incorporates chemical substances just like those present in catnip, most domesticated felines will purr, drool and smoosh their faces into its intoxicating leaves and stems, then zonk out in a state of catatonic bliss.
But the ecstatic rush won’t be the one cause felines flock to those vegetation, new analysis suggests. Compounds laced into vegetation like silver vine and catnip may additionally assist cats keep off mosquitoes, equipping them with a DIY pest repellent that’s way more enjoyable to use than a greasy coat of DEET.
Other papers have pointed to the insect-deterring results of catnip and related vegetation. But the new study, printed Wednesday within the journal Science Advances, is the primary to attract a direct hyperlink between the vegetation and their protecting results on cats.
“It’s a really interesting observation, that such a well-known behavior could be having this unappreciated benefit for cats,” stated Laura Duvall, a mosquito researcher at Columbia University in New York who wasn’t concerned within the examine.
Botanically talking, catnip and silver vine are distant cousins. But each comprise iridoids, a set of chemical substances that appear to potently tickle pleasure circuits in cats.
To pinpoint the evolutionary roots of this plant-feline connection, a workforce of researchers led by Masao Miyazaki, a biochemist and veterinary scientist at Iwate University in Japan, corralled a menagerie of cats — some home, some wild — and monitored their responses to an iridoid extracted from silver vine, which thrives in lots of mountainous elements of Asia.
Presented with scraps of paper dosed with iridoid, a lot of the cats initiated a ritualized rolling and rubbing. Some cats had been so keen to have interaction with the compounds that they climbed up the perimeters of their cages — a few of which had been almost 4 ft tall — to anoint themselves with chemical-soaked paper secured to the ceiling.
The chemical appeared to carry related sway over huge cats at zoos, together with a leopard, two jaguars and two lynxes.
After watching the cats’ cavorts, Dr. Miyazaki and his colleagues felt sure the chemical substances had been offering some profit. Taking cues from previous studies on the insect-repelling qualities of catnip, the researchers subsequent rubbed silver vine iridoids on the heads of a number of home cats, or allowed the felines to use the substance themselves, and positioned the animals inside attain of dozens of thirsty mosquitoes. The bugs nipped on the faces of unanointed cats, however largely snubbed the felines that had gone gaga for the vines.
The origins of the so-called catnip response have bedeviled animal behaviorists for years. Experts had beforehand suspected a hyperlink to play or mating behaviors, which additionally induce bouts of frenzied feline rolling. But the brand new findings counsel that cats, who can contract heartworm infections from mosquito bites, may additionally glean some medicinal advantages from their botanical tussles, stated Mikel Delgado, a cat conduct skilled on the University of California, Davis who wasn’t concerned within the examine. It wouldn’t be the primary instance of an animal smearing itself with plant compounds to bolster health.
Still, the case isn’t but closed, stated Sarah O’Connor, a biochemist on the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany who research catnip, however wasn’t concerned within the new examine. There should still be different causes that cats go loopy for iridoids. And researchers nonetheless aren’t positive why the chemical substances ship cats, however not different animals like canine or mice, into such a tizzy.
An apparent subsequent step could be to see if cats lured in by the vegetation fare higher within the wild than their iridoid-indifferent counterparts, Dr. O’Connor stated. Natural mosquito repellent “is a compelling explanation,” she stated. “I think it needs more evidence to prove it.”
Until the bug-rebuffing qualities of catnip and silver vine are clearer, Dr. Delgado stated she wouldn’t suggest the vegetation as pure repellents for both cats or people.
Dr. Miyazaki was extra optimistic. In a one-off experiment, he slathered his arm with iridoids and caught it in a mosquito cage. The bugs steered clear — however feasted on an untreated limb. “We hope to use it for humans in the future,” he stated.
