Has there been any studies on the subject? I know why catnip causes cats to act they way they do but I have also noticed that some cats in particular males react in almost the same way to olives but even more intensely than catnip. Could it be that olives also smell similar to the pheromones that causes mating behaviour in cats? or is there another explanation?
I have never been able to find any scientific data about the effects of olives on cats but I have known ALOT of cats that react to it and go crazy for olives because of it. If anyone has any insight as to why and how olives affect cats I would be interested to know!! Thanks.
2006-12-21 09:38:10 · 13 answers · asked by Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy 7 in Pets ➔ Cats
It is Green olives with the pimento inside, you know the ones you buy in a jar at the store.
2006-12-21 09:55:22 · update #1
My male cat, who was only about a year at the time, went pleasantly bananas when I bought a large jar of the large Spanish olives. When I would eat one he would attempt to push his way into my mouth, wiggle around, purr and beg. I had never heard of it. The female cat considers an olive just another uninteresting lump of something.
But then the male cat loved to climb into the refrigerator when I opened the door and would lie down on the bottom and wait for me to close the door. A couple minutes later I would open the door and have to pick him up-- purring, of course. He thought it great sport. Or, was it that that was where the olives were kept?
2006-12-21 09:55:07 · answer #1 · answered by ipygmalion 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The best answer is found here: http://www.ask.com/question/why-do-cats-love-olives
My 3 male cats go crazy for them! They don't actually eat them, but they suck all the juice out of them until they are shrivelled and then lie down on top of them like they are protecting them or putting their scent on them lol
I've done this with all my cats since i was a child and they all reacted the same way! Strangely enough, they couldn't care less about catnip!
Hope I was able to answer your question :)
2014-01-18 15:39:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My female cat does the exact same thing, but only to the green olives. She reacts stronger to that then she does catnip. She doesn't actually eat the olive. She just rolls around on it, sticking her nose in it. When I take out a jar of olives, she immediately is meowing at my feet. I thought she was just a strage cat!
2006-12-21 10:59:52 · answer #3 · answered by d_k 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I've never heard of that before, but now I'm intensley curious. Does it make a difference what kind of olives? Green, black, pitted, Kalamata, Spanish? I've always felt bad for cats about the catnip thing. I know they're cute when they're frisky, but drugging my cat on speed for my own amusement just seems cruel.
2006-12-21 09:41:50 · answer #4 · answered by Beardog 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I have never gotten a reaction from my cats to olives or cantaloupe (something I have heard some cats love).
The catnip of course has been around for eons just like the hallucinogens that humans use. So it is easy to see how cats might have found their "drug of choice".
Olives are not enticing to anything. We soak them in brine to cure them so they taste good to us. Obviously cats have never done this. It would seem to me to have to do with the curing of the olives.
2006-12-21 09:51:39 · answer #5 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hm, just thought it was something peculiar to my female cat. None of my male cats has ever shown any interest in olives other than as toys to bat around the floor (until I step on them in the dark and have to extract squished olives out of the rug). My current female always tries to get the olives on our pizzas and chews up olives (black ones mostly) but doesn't eat them (just spits them out as pulp). I always thought it was a salt thing. She doesn't get sensual (as she does with catnip) or go running around or anything with olives, she just always wants one if she smells them and chews them. Twill be interesting if someone has any legitimate research on this--thanks for asking.
2006-12-21 09:55:14 · answer #6 · answered by Inundated in SF 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't know WHAT it is in olives that make cats do that. My cats do the exact same thing though! I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the amount of salt in them, but I don't know.
2016-03-13 09:26:51 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never know that some cats have an olive fetish. Is this green olives or black ones? If it's the black ones I'll never find out because I love them too much to share with my cats!!
2006-12-21 09:40:19 · answer #8 · answered by msnite1969 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I have never offered my cats olives, I can't wait to see if there is any reaction. My cats like to steal baby carrots to play with, but they never try to eat them. Recently my male cat, who is crazy about eating plants, decided that asparagus was also good.
2006-12-21 10:08:53 · answer #9 · answered by Jackie B 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My female cat loooooves olives, both black and green! Climbs on my lap trying to get some, and usually she's more "polite" than that. LOL
Not sure why, sorry.
2006-12-21 09:42:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋