Growing catnip

Growing seeds (these are tomato seeds) photo Lucy Crosbie.

Growing catnip from seed is easy and buying the seeds is easy too. A quick search of the internet tells me that in the USA you can buy catnip seed from Roguelands Seed Company. Seed are of course ideal for sending in the post, small, light and durable, so I'd buy online. RoguelandsUSD and GBP so they must ship abroad. Their catnip seeds sell at $1.99 or £1.08 per packet. There must be many outlets in most countries. Or you can go to a garden center. They are probably more likely to stock it in the spring but see below.

Make sure that you buy common catnip Nepenta cataria (as opposed to the ornamental variety).

Catnip is a perennial herb and part of the mint family of plants. A perennial plant is one which lives for more than 2 years and it does this buy growing back from its roots in the spring, having died the the previous winter. An annual plant is one which seeds itself annually and regenerates that way.

Trees are also perennials. So they can have short lives of a few years or extraordinarily long lives of many thousands of years in extreme cases.

Catnip grows to a maximum of about 2-3 feet. The leaves are fragrant and mint like in appearance. Catnip is an herbaceous perennial (not woody).

As catnip is found in Europe and the Mediterranean regions (and is a weed in America) it doesn't mind dry conditions or wetter conditions. In fact you are not to cosset a perennial too much and growing catnip is easy. The don't need much attention in the growing season and they are happy in poor ground. They are hardy plants.

If you buy catnip pre-grown in a container, then plant it as you would any other containerized plant. Dig a hole deep enough to take the plant and the compost and water well once planted.

For seeds, the simple answer is, you'll find out how to do it on the back of the packet! You can grow seeds indoors or out. You should sow perennial seeds in the autumn to see them grow in the following spring. If you sow them in the spring you are likely to see them the following spring. However, apparently if they are planted about 2 months before the last frost they'll come up that year.

Use fresh compost, either specialist compost for seeds (sterile compost) or multipurpose but ensure the pots are clean - hygiene is important. You moisten the mix slightly and then press in the seed. Add more compost to cover it and then keep warm and covered with plastic. Anywhere that it warm in the home will do. A fridge works by heat exchange so the back of a fridge is warm as the fridge fluid passes through cooling pipes there. These pipes give off heat so the top of a fridge is a decent spot. Or you can buy a heated propagator. This is like a little incubator providing a cover for the plants and heating from below. You only want the best quality catnip for your cat now don't you.....!

Once the seeds come through the compost sun is required for the catnip to grow. Keep the compost moist and then plant outside when the plants are sufficiently mature. Once the growing catnip is about a foot in height it can be picked. The cut stems are then left to dry out in a suitably dry and airy place. Once dry you can break off the leaves and crush them to make the catnip for placing in a suitable container for your cat to play with.

Of course your cat probably will play in or around the catnip that is growing in the garden if you planted them there. You can see growing catnip in the garden in the top link above.

For more information you can visit any garden center and as I said information should be on the packet.

---

- Links -

what catnip looks like
cats on drugs

---

As catnip is a common weed in the USA try tracking it down and pick it!


Growing catnip to what catnip looks like

What does catnip look like

To the question what does catnip look like? This is the answer:


Cat with head in catnip - photo copyright ChageAUS reproduced under a creative commons license.

Here's another picture of the plant:


Catnip photo copyright Jim Somerville (creative commons license)

The effect!! :--


The effect of catnip on a cat. As the photographer ( copyright bonsaibutterfly) says not all cats enjoy the same effect. Photo reproduced under creative commons license.

Catnip is then a plant. A pretty ordinary looking plant in fact. It's "real" name is "Nepeta". This plant can be found in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is a common weed in North America. The plant produces small white, pink, blue or lilac flowers.

The plant can be broken down by steam distillation to produce an oil that is used in insect repellent (mosquitoes, cockroaches and termites, apparently).

As for cats, catnip contains a chemical called Nepetalactone (an organic compound) which is picked up in vapour form by the cat's nose. Basically it is a chemical that has an effect on the brain of about 75% of cats. It would seem that the susceptibility to being affected by catnip is inherited.

So, now I know the answer to the question, "What does catnip look like?". And what it does and how it does it. See more by clicking on this link.

What does catnip look like to cats on drugs

Inbreeding Depression

I am studying inbreeding depression. The statement seems to say that inbreeding can cause depression but what it means is that inbreeding can result in a greater occurrence of two harmful recessive genes meeting and becoming active (homozygous condition). The word "depression" in this instance means a depressed or substandard immune system and depressed or substandard body functions as a result of the coming together of these "bad" genes. That's how I see it anyway.

One of the great challenges for cat breeders is how to breed cats that are consistently in line with the breed standard while maintaining a high level of health. Inbreeding improves the chances of getting the appearance right but increases the chances of health problems creeping into the population. Inbreeding is effectively breeding from too small a population of cats. If you breed more widely using a bigger population you "water down" the chance of two nasty recessive genes meeting. It takes two recessives for the effect of the recessive to be shown so if you can keep them apart the harmful effect will never be shown.

It seems that cat breeders get outbreaks of genetically inherited diseases at which point reactive measures are taken as a matter of urgency. This is probably because breeders strive in a competitive market for the best and perhaps sometimes go too far down the path of inbreeding. The negative results of this then gradually start to show. It then it gets around the breeders and they take reactive measures.

It is better, obviously, to always take proactive steps and breed cats within a sufficiently large population. We must not forget the most important thing of all. We cause suffering to cats if we inbreed too much as some cats will have inbreeding depression. It is not just about winning the show prizes and getting a reputation as a good cat breeder. In fact, I would have thought that in the long term the cat breeder winning the prizes may gain a reputation for breeding unhealthy cats. It's back to long and short term objectives and goals. The long term is always better but harder.

One underlying cause of inbreeding depression is possibly the fact that a number (I don't know the percentage) of cat breeders are not totally up to scratch on genetics. This is a very complicated area - the most complicated part of cat breeding but absolutely central to it. I should imagine that few cat breeders are highly competent in the area of genetics in cat breeding and this is understandable.

I believe that there are too many instances of inbreeding depression (it is worse in dog breeding apparently) which indicates a need to raise standards in cat breeders' knowledge and a need to set good practice standards and enforce the standards. Cat associations should set and enforce standards and provide forums and classes to train in the area of cat genetics.

Gene Frequency

This is one term that comes up when talking about cat genetics and is useful when discussing inbreeding depression. I think the term "frequency" is a little misleading. Gene frequency means the percentage of genes of a certain type (say gene "a") in a population of cats of that demonstrate or have the potential to demonstrate that gene.

Taking a population of 50 cats, there will be 100 places on the chromosomes (50 cats x 2 sets of chromosomes per cat) where the genes can be found. If there are 20 "a" genes in this population of 50 cats, the gene frequency will be 20 out of 100 or 20% (20 divided by 100 multiplied by 100, making 20%).

You can work backwards and work out the gene frequency in a cat population that is suffering from a particular disorder. You can also work out the percentage of cats carrying the gene producing the disorder.

If 20 cats in a population of 100 (20%) suffer from a particular genetic disorder, the gene frequency of the recessive gene causing the disorder is the square root of 20%. 20% can be rewritten as 0.20 (point 2) so the calculation is the square root of 0.2. This is 0.45 or 45%. You can work out square roots using Google. Search for "square root of .2" and the answer comes up top of the page!

You can also work out the percentage of cats in this population of 100 that carry the gene (heterozygous carriers). The math (maths) is this:

(.45 x .55) multiplied by 2 = .49 or 49%


Source: Pawpeds - Ulrika Olsson

Inbreeding Depression to too many cat associations

Cats on Drugs

Cat on Drugs - yes but it's catnip a natural "drug" - photo copyright Woolve.com(new window). This is a British Shorthair cat I would say. And he's called Virgil. Virgil just got spaced out on catnip. Cool man cool, let's chill out man.....Catnip works by pleasantly stimulating a cat's pheromonic receptors. Pheromones also affect the behavior of people (sexual arousal etc.). Catnip is the common name for Nepeta a genus of flowering plants found in Europe, Asia and the Meditteranean regions (and other areas).

Is it right to put cats on drugs? (I mean man made drugs). I'm talking here of drugs to alter behavior in an otherwise healthy cat. A lot of people are on drugs and there are some who think that too many drugs are dispensed. It's a kind of quick fix. Prozac is the classic. If you want to feel better (and nearly all of us do!) take some Prozac. But it is not as easy as that, is it?

With people we can at least ask the person how they feel and generally obtain an accurate diagnosis. After all for behavioral issues (i.e. the person or cat is healthy physically) you really have to interview the person or cat :) to get to the bottom of the reason for the so called behavioral problems.

We also have to ask if the behavior of our cat is abnormal. It may look abnormal to us and it may cause us problems. In other words it may disrupt our lives and take time to manage. But is it abnormal from the point of view of a cat? Cats are reactive and they act naturally.

It may be that your cat has become aggressive towards a new cat. I don't think that could be called abnormal and, if not, is it right to administer a drug like Prozac to calm her down? What is happening here is that we are calming her down to suit us. We are trying to change the character of the cat. It is a bit like declawing. We want a cat but on our terms so really we don't quite want a cat but a modified cat. A kind of human-cat-robot.

Examples of when a cat's behavior can become difficult are: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), nervous travelers, anxiety causing poor litter habits, introducing a new cat into the family. For dogs it seems that some can naturally have reactive dominant male issues. This is normal and requires training and the person to be the dominant animal in the pack. A lot of bad dog behavior is due to the person who keeps the dog not demonstrating enough dominance (i.e. being the pack leader) and the dog takes over. It would be wrong probably (unless it is the last resort) to give a drug to the dog under these circumstances. Apparently the answers are in a book called "Control Unleashed" by Leslie McDevitt.

As to PTSD this is (as far as I am concerned) a dramatic and sudden retraining/reconditioning of the brain due to a sudden traumatic event. It can be very hard to train it out so I think drugs are useful under these circumstances. They give a chance for time to heal. Provided we know our cat is suffering from PTSD (and I don't know how you diagnose that in a cat), I think drugs like Prozac or Xanax can help (obviously with great care and on a veterinarian's advice). There are occasions when cats on drugs is OK.

Cats on drugs is probably OK and even sensible when you need to give some sort of tranquillizer if your cat is traveling. As long as it is only for that purpose I think it makes sense. My cat is nervous and the best solution is not to travel! Or be with her as much as possible which I am able to do. Not everyone can though. As alternative to hard drugs is for example Rescue Remedy, which works for humans and cats (I believe).

It is very unwise for anyone other than a vet to give any drugs to a cat particularly dugs that we consider very common place and safe such as aspirin. Aspirin can be fatal to a cat for example. Tylenol can also be fatal. There are many others.

The bottom line is that we have to ask ourselves if we are altering natural behavior to suite ourselves. And if not whether we can train the problem out (if it is a problem for the cat). Cats on drugs should be a last resort I think.

Update: this is a message from a fellow blogger, which adds to this discussion:-

I found you page about catnip, and I have a different take on this. I'm a biology prof, btw! I don't think that response to catnip has to do with pheromones. I haven't detailed this yet in a post, but if the vomeralnasal organ is removed (it is responsible for pheromone responses) then cats still respond to catnip.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3834921?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

My theory is that cats use catnip as a natural insect repellent.

http://teh-kitteh-antidote-anecdote.blogspot.com/2008/09/unified-catnip-theory-revealed.html

Best wishes,

Melody/ thatvg

Source:http://maxshouse.com

Cats on drugs to home page

Tiger population

Artwork copyright Vijat Shrimali (Shrimali Vijay) and reproduced under a creative commons license.

The Tiger population is falling dramatically in India. Is there anywhere in the world where wildlife that is endangered is rising in population?

India has a large human population and is growing rapidly economically. This spells trouble for an animal like the Tiger that needs a lot of space and to be left alone.

According to the Indian Times, the Tiger population is falling in the reserves, where numbers already seem precariously low. For example, in the Indian State of Hyderabad Tiger numbers have dropped from 122 to 102 since 2005. That represents a bit less than a 20% decline in 3 years. On that basis, unless something changes, within about 15 more years or so (lets make it a conservative 20 years or at 2028) the Tiger will be extinct in Hyderabad State. And lets not forget that in 2028 India will be one of the super powers of the world (or close to it). This can only translate into more problems for the Tiger unless some of the wealth generated is used in serious conservation and enforcement.

We don't want to see India going cap in hand in 30 years to some zoo asking for genetic material to allow the country to clone a Tiger as they have become extinct. This is what has happened in Pakistan with respect to the Cheetah. They asked Iran for help cloning cheetahs and Iran refused (thanks Iran that's nice of you).

The picture in India is the same throughout - a decline. We are always going backwards on conservation. In the Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary (in Andra Pradesh) an important sanctuary, the Tiger population has fallen to 9 from 18 over 3 years. On that basis, the population will be about 1 in about 1o years. Another disaster in the making (or already made in fact).

The BBC report an overall decline in India from 3,642 to 1,411 over the last 6 years. That's more than halved in 6 years. On this basis there will be a Tiger population in India of about 70 within 30 years. In other words they will be in zoos or zoo-like small sanctuaries.

Assuming these figures are accurate (and it is probably difficult to obtain accurate figures), what are the reasons for this decline? It seems to be the usual poaching (this is an education based problem) and urbanization (population and wealth growth in other words). The authorities do little to enforce protection of the Tiger probably because of kick-backs on the sale of Tiger pelts.

What is particularly shocking is that 40% of the world's Tigers are in India!! As usual China is in large part to blame as they like to buy Tiger skins, which can be sold for $12,500. China has a bad human rights and an appalling animal rights record. Sadly, this world is not ready to commit to the preservation of this fine animal and when we are it will be too late.

From Tiger population to Cheetah facts