Secrets of the Cat_ Its Lore, Legend, and Lives - Barbara Holland [95]
No one seems to know exactly why catnip pleases cats. Chemists say the compound that does it is cis-transnepetatalactone, which doesn’t clear things up much. Apparently circus trainers were the first to use it, dosing their lions, who dropped instantly into besotted docility. Lions must react differently; my cats chase each other in circles, knock over lamps, speak in tongues, and pile the rugs up in corners. I’d hate to be in a cage with a lion that felt that way.
The United States government, it grieves me to report, has been known to use catnip to lure bobcats and pumas to their deaths.
Most veterinarians approve of it as a tonic, antidepressant, and stress reducer, but some of the puritanical sources, bothered by the thought of cats having fun, refer to it sniffily as a “stimulant” and caution against offering it frequently, which is silly because its effects diminish quickly with overuse. If it’s a drug, it’s self-limiting; unlike the things humans play with, the more they have the less they want. For maximum effect, ration strictly.
You can steep yourself a tea of it and try it as a cure for colds, nervous headaches, and insomnia, but it won’t make you feel the way the cats feel. Pity. We could use something like that, along about February.
So can the cats.
It’s considerate little touches like a cushion on a sunny windowsill and a supply of home-grown catnip that make Felis glad to be domesticus, and satisfied to keep us company.
Diseases, human: There isn’t much except fleas that people can catch from cats, but there is toxoplasmosis.
Although more human cases of toxoplasmosis come from eating undercooked meat or digging bare-handed in the garden, it’s possible to get it from cats. It’s caused by a parasite, and threatening mainly to unborn children as a cause of birth defects, so some cool-hearted doctors simply advise pregnant women to throw their cats away. This isn’t necessary, and if your cat never gets raw meat and doesn’t go outdoors to eat raw mice there’s very little chance it could be infected. Still, there are some simple precautions to take. The parasite passes through the cat and into the litter box, where it has to ripen and mature for several days before it turns dangerous; obviously, if you take the feces out of the box every day you never get any ripe parasites. (I’m told that many doctors insist on having nonpregnant family members clean the litter box, but if this person is male, there may be trouble: though both have the same object in view, walking the dog is a manly task, cleaning the litter pan is not.) Use a scoop to lift the feces out and flush it down the toilet. Wear gloves when gardening. Wash hands after dealing with raw meat. Don’t eat raw meat or feed it to your cat.
The vet can test the cat to see whether it’s been exposed and the doctor can test the woman to see if she has; like measles, it doesn’t strike twice, and a pregnant woman previously exposed to toxoplasmosis has nothing to worry about.
The human symptoms are rather like a brief, mild flu. Many people enjoy worrying about diseases, but this should be pretty low on their list.
Eye contact: A cat likes to look at you, and likes you to look at him. Simply patting him while trying to read the paper isn’t good enough; you have to look. Looking is conversation for cats, and even the youngest kitten, as soon as it can focus, will look you straight in the eye from ankle level. Some cats, when feeling especially fond of you, slowly close their eyes, like blowing a kiss. It’s polite to answer. Close your own eyes back at him, slowly. Because a cat feels pleasant to the hand, we rely too much on the crudities of physical