“World Catnip Surveys”, 2015-11-15 (; backlinks):
International population online surveys of cat owners about catnip and other cat stimulant use.
In compiling a meta-analysis of reports of catnip response rats in domestic cats, yielding a meta-analytic average of ~2⁄3, the available data suggests heterogeneity from cross-country differences in rates (possibly for genetic reasons) but is insufficient to definitively demonstrate the existence of or estimate those differences (particularly a possible extremely high catnip response rate in Japan). I use Google Surveys August–September 2017 to conduct a brief 1-question online survey of a proportional population sample of 9 countries about cat ownership & catnip use, specifically: Canada, the USA, UK, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Australia, & Mexico. In total, I surveyed n = 31,471 people, of whom n = 9,087 are cat owners, of whom n = 4,402 report having used catnip on their cat, and of whom n = 2996 report a catnip response.
The survey yields catnip response rates of Canada (82%), USA (79%), UK (74%), Japan (71%), Germany (57%), Brazil (56%), Spain (54%), Australia (53%), and Mexico (52%). The differences are substantial and of high posterior probability, supporting the existence of large cross-country differences. In additional analysis, the other conditional probabilities of cat ownership and trying catnip with a cat appear to correlate with catnip response rates; this intercorrelation suggests a “cat factor” of some sort influencing responses, although what causal relationship there might be between proportion of cat owners and proportion of catnip-responder cats is unclear.
An additional survey of a convenience sample of primarily US Internet users about catnip is reported, although the improbable catnip response rates compared to the population survey suggest the respondents are either highly unrepresentative or the questions caused demand bias.