Why Do Cats Like Catnip?

Catnip! Cats roll in it, rub their cheeks on it and paw at it... but what is it about this stuff that gets our feline friends caught up in such a frenzy? Hosted by: Olivia Gordon Special thanks to Animal Wonders Montana for letting us use a clip from their episode "Catnip Experiment": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmW9Lh-Ff0g ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters -- we couldn t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Kathy & Tim Philip, Kevin Bealer, Andreas Heydeck, Thomas J., Accalia Elementia, Will and Sonja Marple. James Harshaw, Justin Lentz, Chris Peters, Bader AlGhamdi, Benny, Tim Curwick, Philippe von Bergen, Patrick Merrithew, Fatima Iqbal, Mark Terrio-Cameron, Patrick D. Ashmore, and charles george. ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2011-1090.ch004 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11043684 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00987747 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480656/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347266801008 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3834921 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22354638 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02858923 http://pets.webmd.com/cats/catnip-effects-on-cats http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/04/30/5.things.catnip.mnn/ http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/catnip-effects-humans Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AShorty-on-catnip.JPG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACatnip_%2C_Nepeta_cataria.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANepetalactone_chemical_structure.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGillie_stalking_the_catnip_(2587001371).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACatnip-effects.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASilver_Vine_(Scindapsus_pictus)_1.jpg