Ban it!

July 31, 2014 • 6:42 am

Think of the second-hand effects: cat staff getting SCRATCHED! And it could lead to other countries adopting catnip!

From you youTube notes:

Watch more short films curated by Sundance Institute: youtube.com/screeningroom

Written and Directed by Jason Willis. Starring Giovanni Dominice, Neil Kight and Terry Easley.

h/t: Aneris

19 thoughts on “Ban it!”

  1. For those who don’t know, catnip is in the mint family, along with oregano and thyme, and it’s tasty for humans. Use fresh ‘nip for culinary purposes where you might substitute oregano or thyme for one another.

    I understand it has mild sedative effects on humans, especially when brewed as a tea. I imagine a pot of catnip chamomile tea would probably be good preparation for a catnap on a lazy winter’s afternoon.

    b&

    1. Oh, so this baggie full of green stuff is just your “tea”, is it? I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me, sir.

  3. My previous cats (Freti, died in 2008) and Kveldulf (died in 2012) were absolutely crazy about catnip. My current cats, Isa and Samone, are totally indifferent to it. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact that the former pair were males and the current pair are female.

    1. I’ve had cats that are indifferent, but in my experience most cats are quite sensitive to it. I’ve also noticed that some appear to go crazier than others, so I wonder if there are different “degrees” of sensitivity, or if maybe the different behaviour is related to each sensitive cat’s individual personality.

      1. According to the Wikipedia article on Nepeta cataria, roughly ½ to ⅔ of all cats are sensitive to catnip, and that large species (except for lions, which are less sensitive) are about the same. I get a kick out of the thought that all it might take to turn a Panthera tigris altaica into a moggie going all gurfy over getting a few cuddles is a big pile of catnip.

    1. I had recently learned that sensitivity is thought to be due to a dominant allele.

  6. Ha! I haven’t been back to the “legalize” thread yet, but it looks like part of my comment is made fun of. Since I had all of a few minutes to jot down first impressions the quality of it likely deserves that. [I’m vary of smoking. Some particles, especially from smoke, are carcinogens. Of course there must be a dosage under where you say it isn’t a local problem, just a population problem. Like particles in cities. And another, possibly, where repair mechanisms prevent cancer.]

    Or else it was too good and jokes was the only possible response. =D

    Let me joke back, since no analogy is a perfect equivalency by definition:

    If scratches is a problem, you should ban CATS! Obviously catnip is endemic and doesn’t heed bans or national borders, while people can be swayed and heed national borders.

    Just think of Antarctic, adopting cats. It is far away, but before it is too late, won’t anybody think about the poor pandemic penguins!?

  7. At the risk of being branded a party-pooper, I confess that I’m conflicted about the use of catnip. While its effects on kitty behavior are certainly amusing to humans, it’s never been clear to me whether it’s all that much fun for the cat.

    Says Wikipedia (my emphasis):

    Consuming much of the plant is followed by drooling, sleepiness, anxiety, leaping about and purring. Some growl, meow, scratch, or bite at the hand holding it.

    This corroborates my own observations, and in my view is not unambiguously the behavior of a cat having a good time.

    So why do cats go for a plant that has these effects on them? Because they like it is certainly one possibility. Or maybe they like a little bit of it, but don’t know when they’ve had too much until it’s too late. It’s also conceivable that the plant is manipulating their behavior for reasons of its own that have yet to be discovered.

    Pending answers to these questions, and having suffered a few bad trips and avoidable hangovers myself, I prefer to err on the side of caution and limit my cat’s exposure to catnip.

    1. We would keep our catnip in a cloth bag, so ‘Chin Chin’ could not eat it.

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