Why do cats love valerian and why can not they even smell valerian

So, why do cats love valerian? And do they love it? Maybe pulling muzzles to the cherished bottle to at least sniff, if you can not lick, they are not motivated by love of this "drink", but something else? Let's remember that well-known to all of us valerian is a tincture of rhizomes of valerian officinalis on 70% ethyl alcohol. This alone should alert the owners, because ethyl alcohol, getting into the cat's body even in small amounts, can negatively affect its nervous system.

Someone can say: "How much there is that spirit!" Yes, there will not be a lot of alcohol in the cat, but it's not big! His weight is forty times, or even fifty-eighty, less than the weight of an adult male. So in recounting his drops turn into our glasses. But this is only one side of the problem that does not answer the question of why cats love valerian. And they "fool", not only if the valerians are filled, but even if they just sniff.

Recall that the second component of the tincture is the rhizome of the plant, whose name in Spanish means "health". Indeed, valerian helps with many diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, as well as with spasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Due to the presence in the rhizomes of valerian essential oils and alkaloids. The components of the oil are bornil isovalerate, borneol, limonene and others. To the uninitiated these names will say little. Initiate - well aware that a rattling mixture of chemical elements entering into the essential oils of valerian, adversely affect the very important neurotransmitter systems of the brain, responsible for many functions.

The mechanism of their impact is too complex. It can only be said that it is similar to the mechanism of action of cocaine, which is also an alkaloid. A cat is not a man. It is unlikely that she can tell what visions her valerian reception has caused. And whether she experiences euphoria or not - we can assume, looking at her behavior. Often animals swing on the floor, loudly meow, can not coordinate their actions. It is very difficult to speak about the pleasure they experience at that moment. Especially seeing how the unfortunate cat can not stand on its paws, "fit" into the wide-open door or reach for the bowl with water.

But the fact that valerian causes addiction in animals is a fact that has been scientifically confirmed. Only this fact again does not answer the question of why cats love valerian, and whether they like. Addiction in this case is caused not by taste qualities of the tincture, but by disturbances in the work of the nervous system, which ultimately can lead to schizophrenia and to the death of the animal. Here again, we see a complete analogy with cocaine. It is unlikely that there will be a drug addict who will say that he loves the drug for being insanely delicious.

Why, then, is the valerian for cats so attractive, if it is so harmful? Do animals really crave poison for themselves? There is an opinion that the smell of tincture acts on the genes of cats and seals. If this is so, then there is nothing you can do about it - the call of the genes is invincible. Where are the genes of our seals called so that they turn from quiet and affectionate pets to inadequate? And their genes are called to multiply, more precisely, to mate.

Valerian vapors, not to mention the drops (negligently spilled by us) from the table, cause biochemical processes, due to which in the body of males, a certain amount of male hormones are released. When this happens naturally, the animal behaves in a similar manner, but somewhat differently. In any case, a prolonged sleep does not flow and on the paws is confident, because the cat's body was fully prepared for reproduction. When the release of hormones is caused by a chemical drug, the cat suffers more than it gets pleasure. This can be determined by his look, at will to put his head under the stream of water. In a normal state of similar desires at cats it is not observed. In some animals, large doses of valerian in the body caused a nervous shock, vomiting, and irreversible impairment of perception.

Valerian for cats is also harmful and dangerous. The organism of females reacts to this substance in approximately the same way as the body of males. It is determined that in the chemical composition of the cat's valerian and urine there are common elements that cause a spike in hormonal disorders in females. That's why they start to swing on the floor, meow, tearing away somewhere to run.

It turns out, to the question of why cats love valerian, you can answer: "Because it has an exciting effect on them, according to the type of action of Viagra." This is confirmed by the fact that small kittens, whose puberty has not yet come, this wonderful drug does not cause the slightest interest.

But what is interesting, valerian in its fresh form, and not in tincture, can have a curative effect even on cats. Sometimes you can see how they tear off the roots of Valerian paws , get them out of the ground and eat. No craziness in cats after this is not observed. And they use grass, most likely when they have stomach problems.