What do you think about catnip?

Question

Good or bad????

Answer 1

What is catnip, anyway? Is it a drug?
catnip is a perennial herb belonging to the mint family Labiatae. Catnip is known in scientific nomenclature as "Nepeta cataria". The plant is a weed-like mint that is now native in North America and Canada after being introduced from its native Mediterranean soil.

How does catnip work?
The active ingredient in catnip is called Nepetalactone. The response to this chemical is mediated through the olfactory system (vomeronasal organ) that cats have a special receptor for. From the About.com Chemistry site:

When cats smell catnip they exhibit a range of behaviors that may include sniffing, licking and chewing the plant, head shaking, chin and cheek rubbing, head rolling, and body rubbing.

This psychosexual reaction lasts for 5-15 minutes and cannot be evoked again for an hour or more after exposure.

Cats are unique in their response to catnip, and the response can be very dramatic in some cats - rolling, licking, rubbing, drooling, jumping, running. Other cats appear to become very sedate after exposure. Up to 30% of the cat population does not respond at all to catnip. In any case, for all of the (sometimes entertaining) behaviors seen, catnip is completely nontoxic to cats. If a large quantity of fresh catnip is consumed, you may see some vomiting or diarrhea, but this is rare and self-limiting. If your cat experiences this, limit or withhold catnip.

Answer 2

I'm neutral about it but my cats have had some pretty strong opinions.

My late great Boys, Rusty & Scooter, both loved it.

My present kitty, Scamper, went bonkers the first time I gave him some, then he never showed any interest in it again.

I see that someone's already posted the technical answer so I won't repeat any of that. Other than the extremely rare case of overindulgence to the point of barfing or diahrea, it's harmless, so if kitty likes it s/he might as well have it.

You can avoid a mess by putting it in something. An old sock lasted my Boys fifteen years; I just kept refilling it from time to time to freshen it up. On the other hand, Scamper ripped the sock open in less than a minute. (Well, maybe it was weakened by fifteen years of The Boys' playing with it...)

Answer 3

I had 1 cat that would go nuts for it, roll around on whatever it was in, smush it to her nose and such...my cat now could care less if there's catnip in a toy or not...But my 5 month old loves it...just kidding!!

Answer 4

My husband buys catnip seeds each and every of the time from Wal-mart. we've catnip plant life throughout our outdoor and our cats like to roll in them! you may desire to in all probability order seeds on line too.

Answer 5

I know it makes a damn mess all over the floor. So my Pye only get's it when he looks down or blue because he is an indoor cat and seems sad sometimes...

But maybe that's just because he's Siamese? They always look sad and hungry...

Either way... It doesn't actually do very much... He rolls in it, makes a mess, get's a little extra lovey dovey and then nothing...

Answer 6

i think catnip is like pot 4 cats but they love it so i guess its not THAT bad

Answer 7

If the cat is going to be driving a car, it might slow his reflex time...lol j/k I give it to my cats all the time. I have never had any problems with it. Some cats will not even react to it.

Answer 8

Makes my cat go loopy for a couple of seconds. Worth the laugh.
Is good I suppose. I see no harm done.

Answer 9

Catnip is something that cats go crazy over.............I would not try it.

Answer 10

Bad... It doesn't taste the greatest & It burned my lungs when I tired to smoke it. Don't see why cats like the stuff.