system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How does catnip work, and does it have negative side-effects on cats?
gpt
Catnip is hard for us to understand because there is nothing quite comparable (except maybe the scent of food causing us to salivate - simply an automatic reaction to a certain smell). Catnip does this to a cat: The smell triggers the rubbing, purring, or rolling. Specifically, a chemical called nepetalactone causes this reaction and it only works in about half of all cats. Interestingly enough, it is even hereditary whether a cat will react to the chemical or not. Cats are also able to acclimate to the scent and can control their reactions; some better than others (again - hereditary.)