Ever wonder why catnip lulls felines into a trance? The herb contains several chemical compounds, including one called nepetalactone, which a cat detects with receptors in its nose and mouth.

More than half of the world’s felines don’t respond to catnip. Scientists still don’t know quite why some kitties go crazy for the aromatic herb and others don’t, but they have figured out that catnip sensitivity is hereditary. If a kitten has one catnip-sensitive parent, there’s a one-in-two chance that it will also grow up to crave the plant. And if both parents react to 'nip, the odds increase to at least three in four.

A train station in Southeastern Japan is presided over by an adorable "stationmaster": a 6-year-old calico cat named Nitama.

The musical Cats is based on a collection of T.S. Eliot poems called Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.