With International Cat Day on August 8th 2026, and with a lot of cats loosely within the Asynt team family, here’s a look at the chemistry of catnip.
What is catnip?
Catnip is a plant from the mint family – sometimes known as Cat Mint – but we typically buy it as a dried component to a cat treat.
The effects of catnip
It’s a well known fact that catnip can send our feline friends a little loopy, but why is that? The leaping and rolling around, rubbing themselves on things, headshaking and general chaos is down to a single chemical in the plant; nepetalactone.
“Nepetalactone and its isomers make up 70-99% of the essential oil that can be obtained from the catnip plant – 4aα,7α,7aα-Nepetalactone is the specific isomer responsible for the catnip effect.”
Andy Brunning, Compound Chem
Infographic from Compound Chem
This chemical enters through the nasal cavity – after which it binds to the protein recepters, stimulating neurons to affect the brain. This triggers both the amgdala (emotional responses) and the hypothalamus (behavoural responses).
The strange thing is, though, that not every cat experiences the euphoric reaction described above. Only 70 to 80% do, and only once they reach sexual maturity.
Compound Chem go on to say:
“Nepetalactone doesn’t just affect domestic cats, either. It also has documented effects on lions, tigers and leopards, and additionally it can have effects on selected other animals.
Notably, it can be used as a mosquito and fly repellent, and in humans it can act as a mild sedative and anti-spasmodic agent. It doesn’t affect humans in the same way as cats, as the human brain is physiologically different from that of a cat.”
There are some great videos on YouTube of lions experiencing the effects of catnip, like this one: https://youtube.com/shorts/FST5v7frD2s?si=pCyA0-GtY2R4e1Lv
As a ‘cat parent’ it’s interesting to know why our cats behaviour is affected by the chemistry of catnip. We hope you and your cat have a wonderful International Cat Day whether they’re enjoying this particular treat or not!
