Talk:Nepeta

Food and drink Unassessed

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Food and drink, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of food and drink related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Food and drinkWikipedia:WikiProject Food and drinkTemplate:WikiProject Food and drinkFood and drink articles ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale. Food and Drink task list: edit history watch purge To edit this page, select here Here are some tasks you can do for WikiProject Food and drink: Help bring these Top Importance articles currently B Status or below up to GA status: Agaricus bisporus (i.e. mushroom), Beef, Bread, Curry, Drink, Food, Ham and eggs, Soy sauce, Sushi, Yogurt Bring these Top Importance articles currently at GA status up to FA status: Beer, French cuisine, Sugar Bring these High Importance articles currently at GA status up to FA status: Apple, Burger King, Fish Participate in project-related deletion discussions. Delete unrelated trivia sections found in articles. Please review WP:Trivia and WP:Handling trivia to learn how to do this. Add the {{WikiProject Food and drink}} project banner to food and drink related articles and content to help bring them to the attention of members. For a complete list of banners for WikiProject Food and drink and its child projects, select here. Provide photographs and images for Category:Wikipedia requested images of food Consider joining this project's Assessment task force. List any project ideas in this section Note: These lists are transcluded from the project's tasks pages.

Plants Unassessed

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Plants, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of plants and botany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PlantsWikipedia:WikiProject PlantsTemplate:WikiProject Plantsplant articles ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Cats Unassessed

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Cats. This project provides a central approach to Cat-related subjects on Wikipedia. Please participate by editing the article, and help us assess and improve articles to good and 1.0 standards, or visit the wikiproject page for more details.CatsWikipedia:WikiProject CatsTemplate:WikiProject CatsCats articles ??? This article has not yet received a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Removed the section where it is said to be an insect repellent, studie have actually shown that this is not the case.Sikkema 13:22, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't find the Cookbook link to be appropriate; the "recipe" in question is used in-context as part of a complete article. Andrew Rodland

I agree. Removed. A reference for the recipe would be good, of course - David Gerard 15:32, 19 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Either I don't get it, or somebody has its geography painfully thorough mixed up. There is no Mediterranean region east of China, unless you circle the globe.

Regarding the statement "A diabetic cat can also experience complications from catnip.[citation needed]" the only reference to this I've found is at http://www.cat-toy.net/article/5952/catnip where it says "Diabetic cats will have a severe reaction to catnip. Make sure that your cat has no allergies that can be related to catnip or any other ingredient in catnip products." The author/source of this article is not mentioned though so it wouldn't be a good source for the claim. Can anyone find a better citation for this? The claim seems very plausible (if my cat had diabetes I definitely wouldn't have catnip around) - I just haven't found a good reference for it yet. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Thewonky (talk • contribs) 18:34, 24 May 2007.

I have swapped the organisation of paragraphs in this section as it was not very clear to the casual reader... byo 03:13, 22 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Has anyone done a study to determine if there is a linkage in the attraction of cats to catnip and the repellant qualities of the plant? It seems genetically beneficial to be attracted to a plant that repels certain insects, for health reasons... A study could check for linkage between breeds of cat and location of origin and compare the ones that are susceptible to catnip to those that aren't.. .showing linkage between cats that live in insect-ridden areas or, no such link, just a crazy thought, I dunno... but reading about it would be very interesting. JudgeX 05:35, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some of the text in the article looks remarkably like the text in howstuffworks.com (link at bottom of article). Who is copying who? --Publunch 14:47, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Does anyone know if it is safe/affordable/a good idea to give catnip to one's cat, as a treat of sorts?

Quoting from this fine fine article: "Cat owners do not need to worry about allowing their cats access to catnip because there are, for the most part, no negative side effects to it. However, some cats become overly excited when exposed to catnip, and so aging cats with heart troubles should not be given catnip."

Catnip is fairly cheap, and makes a nice treat for cats. I wouldn't recommend growing it, though, unless you can build some sort of impenetrable fence to keep your cats out ^_^. Mistercow 03:41, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to see a citation of the statement, "Many humans may feel arousal towards cats following the smoking of catnip." I just find it to be a little hard to believe. I am not saying that it is impossible but it sounds more like a prank than a fact. Tinman8443 14:25, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yea i also saw this and thought that it could not be correct. If there is any evidence please bring it to my attention.

-- I am removing it untill some kind of evidence is presented.

Look it up at Erowid, or google for "catnip" or "nepeta" plus "marijuana alternatives" and you'll find plenty of related material. Kosebamse 07:33, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

---

I tried smoking some cat nip and experienced arousal towards my cat. Therefore, this statement is true.

Can someone fix the page to include a "[citation needed]" rather than the metacomment that exists now? I apologize, but I don't know how to place a [citation needed] stamp (having trouble in the sandbox), and it bothers me that someone thought it acceptable to argue with the author within the article.68.101.70.151 09:24, 21 June 2007 (UTC)Britt[reply]

WP:NOR, No Original Reseach.

"I tried smoking some cat nip and experienced arousal towards my cat. Therefore, this statement is true."

THat was original research, against wikipedia policy. -Oxinabox (talk) 00:48, 11 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Stop being such a rule nazi. hybrid.evolution 18:30, 11 April 2008

I have changed the passage on nepatalactone as a mosquito repellant for two reasons:

1. The study did not find that catnip contains nepatalactone (that was already well known)
2. While the study did suggest that catnip may be an effective repellant, it seems (from my cursory Googling) to be the only one of its kind. I am also unable to find any information about the study (how large were the test groups, control groups, etc.), so I think it is unwise to state its findings as fact. Mistercow 03:41, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Was the study published in a peer reviewed scientific journal? If so, you should link to it, either directly or to the pubmed citation. Nil Einne 18:22, 20 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

ive smoked it and its efects are akin to marijauna. no arousal towards animals though. lol68.204.164.119 10:10, 19 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article refers to tigers as an example of a big cat. However according to this page, which is of course completely unreliable [1] catnip doesn't in fact affect tigers. As I said, this source is not a reliable source by any stretch of the imagination but perhaps we should give another big cat, e.g. a lion as an example unless we can find a specific reference that suggests it does effect tigers Nil Einne 18:22, 20 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is its commonly known a "cat marijuana", or is that just a comic expression in my parts.--Porsche997SBS 21:27, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What about "cat cannibus"? Ooh, ooh, how 'bout "Mary Jane Cat"? I do enjoy this silliness. --Porsche997SBS 21:31, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Here in California, "cat pot" is common. In Oregon, there's a brand called "Kitty Hootch". Frotz 20:39, 6 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The stuff my Mothra's got now is called "Maui Meowi."--24.213.177.161 14:00, 23 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I looked into the claim that catnip is mediated by the vomeronasal organ, and there's a scientific paper that claims this is not true:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=3834921&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

The experiment is pretty straightforward. Surgical removal of the VNO does not affect the behavioral catnip response, but removal of the olfactory bulb stops it completely. I think the main page should be updated.

hi mom!

--Son? What are you doing on the catnip page?

The entire second paragraph of the effect on cats sounds like a load of bull if you ask me. Even if it is true, I don't see how it contributes much to the article.

I've just heard a rather hard-to-swallow bit of hearsay reporting that catnip is to be taken off the market (I must assume by placing it on some sort of controlled substance schedule) in the U.S. due to people smoking it as a marijuana substitute. Is there any truth to this, or is it just another rumor/hoax? I can't find any substantiation for it anywhere online. Cheers, Kasreyn 00:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As it has no effect on humans I would imagine that is bullshit.TrevorLSciAct (talk) 22:18, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen cats react similarly to Altoids and Vicks Vaporub. Does anyone have any idea what's at work there? My guess is that menthol may also set cats off. Frotz 20:46, 6 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Quite possibly. My cat goes nuts when it smells tooth paste. ArdClose (talk) 20:06, 26 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The first reference is to another encyclopedia. As the reference is not an original source, I believe it is inappropriate. The information in question, however, is whether or not catnip is a weed. This seems obviously subjective, though not uncommon as seen here in the Ohio University Weed Guide. The article on Weeds describes many qualifying features which are not described for catnip in either article.

I would recommend removing the citation and linking to the weed article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.66.200.188 (talk) 13:50, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is Nepeta nepetella the "nepitella"/"nipitella" used as an herb in Italian cuisine (especially in Tuscan mushroom dishes)? Badagnani (talk) 03:20, 21 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, it isn't. That is Calamintha nepeta. The Italian for Nepeta cataria is erba gatta. Aelwyn (talk) 19:36, 21 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 11:40, 3 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]