This clip, which appeared on Ms. Gabby, is one of the great cat videos of all time. The cat is named Togepi, it’s a 9-month-old Tabby-Bengal Mix, and it appears to be watching Psycho. I’ve never seen such an intent cat, even one watching a bird. Don’t miss this one!
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Postize has 16 pictures of cats baked on catnip. Here are a few of my favorites:
This series is the best one:
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Finally, boingboing has a piece with four Instagram videos (which I can’t embed) showing a Turkish man named Sarper Duman playing the piano with the cat on his lap, completely blissed out. Here’s a screenshot, but click on it to go see the music loving moggie:
h/t: Rick, Taskin, jj
Especially note the changing size of the pupils of the scaredy cat.
Do we know what the psychoactive constituent of catnip is? What receptors it binds?
It all starts with Nepetalactone, a chemical in catnip. Affects about 70% of cats. Better explained on line.
Thx, just checked a few. Some sense from ~20yrs ago that it binds an opioid receptor, but this current review doesn’t mention that.
Many years ago our local PBS station used to air “Wild America” each evening at 6:30. A cat I had at the time LOVED that show. No matter where she was in the house, she would come into the living room as soon as we turned the TV on, and she would watch the whole show, mesmerized.
I had another cat who loved the Twiddle Bugs on Sesame Street. He would only watch when they were on, and when the show cut to another segment, he would leave.
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My cat used to love the BBC Spring Watch series ‘The young foxes’. Also snooker.
Pupils dilate to respond to darkness, but the pupils in the psycho cat seem to change size as rushes of emotion wash through the cats brain. It would be interesting to hook up and EEG machine to see what the heck is going on in there.
I’m wondering if catnip could possibly do cats any harm?
Impressive pupils indeed
She’s not watching Psycho though – the audio has been added later [signs: no echo in that living room & the sound is too ‘full’]. The movie audio clips have been matched to the kitty’s reactions, such as door slamming at the point where kitty bobs her head.
She’s reacting to a fluffy toy on a stick, or maybe a laser pointer spot on the wall or IF it is the TV, it’s something that would interest her such as birdies IMO
I was hoping no one would mention that. 😉
I don’t know if it causes permanent harm, but my observation is that it can cause considerable temporary discomfort and distress if overindulged (just as humans can drink themselves into a state of profound discomfort). So I’m somewhat dubious about the ethics of getting cats baked for the sake of human amusement.