Environmental stimulation for domestic cats is important in minimizing stress, which can lead to negative behaviors, and development of disease. There are several recommended methods for feline environmental enrichment, but despite recognition of its importance, olfactory stimulation is often overlooked.

The effect of内佩拉cataria, or catnip, is well known. The plant releases a chemical called nepetalactone, identified as the active cause of the euphoric response in cats. However, only around two out of three domestic cats are sensitive to the compound. The majority of big cat species have also been found to respond to nepetalactone’s. Tigers appear to be an exception to this. As nepetalactone is not thought to have any long term or harmful effect, it may be a useful enrichment tool for both domestic cats and big cats in captivity.

Catnip is the only plant containing nepetalactone.Actinidia Polygama, or silver vine, is commonly used as a cat stimulant in Japan and has been found to release several active compounds similar in structure to nepetalactone. Anecdotal reports of other plants which stimulate cats include Tatarian honeysuckle, valerian root, and the fresh roots of the Indian nettleAcalypha indica。尽管已经确定了释放的化学物质结构的某些相似性，但这些植物的作用的数据很少。

在最近的出版物中BMC Veterinary Research塞巴斯蒂安·波尔博士,分子生物学家和所有者of theCowboy Cat Ranch在德克萨斯州，与南加州的几家猫诊所合作，测试了三个其他植物 - 银藤，塔塔里亚金银花和瓦莱里亚根。

One hundred cats were given catnip, silver vine, Tatarian honeysuckle and valerian root, by rubbing the plant matter on a sock or square of carpet and leaving it in the cat’s line of sight. After much patience and careful monitoring, the responses to each of these plants were assessed. A positive response was graded based on a variety of behaviors, including sniffing, licking, rolling, drooling and rubbing. A negative response was determined by no reaction following a minimum of two exposures to the plant. The most popular plant was found to be silver vine, with 80% of the cats showing a positive response – a higher response rate when exposed to Catnip.

Cats did not appear to favor one plant over another based on gender, age or behavioral category. Interestingly, some cats which didn’t react to catnip would react to one of the other stimulants, with 23 of the cats in the study responding to all four plants. Of the one hundred cats used in this study, only 6 did not respond to any of the compounds.

由于发现银藤和猫薄荷在家猫中最受欢迎，因此在佛罗里达州的一个大猫保护区中对9只老虎和5个山猫进行了评估。不出所料，老虎队对猫薄荷的反应不佳，只有9只老虎中只有1只兴趣。当有银藤呈现时，几乎一半的老虎正在积极反对，会退缩。但是，没有一个老虎表现出积极的反应。相反，山猫的表现更像是家猫时，显示了银藤，其中5个中有4个反应良好。只有1个山猫表现出对猫咪的积极反应。

尽管该研究并不能确定某些猫中导致“猫薄荷”效应的原因，但这项研究的结果可能对猫主有用。那些猫科动物对猫无反应的人应该知道有其他嗅觉富集选项可用。这种植物的使用可能有助于改善猫的生活质量；不仅在家中，而且还放置在潜在的压力环境中的猫，例如兽医手术，并在动物园中富集了非农药的猫科动物。