Do kittens like catnip?

Question

I have a six-month-old kitten and recently bought some toys that contain catnip. She doesn't seem to be taking to the 'nip and I was wondering if there is a certain age at which cats become sensitive to the smell, or if it is more of an individual like sort of thing.

Answer 1

My 20+ year old cat loved it! We have canip growing in the garden always for my cats. We put a low square cement box on the ground and planted the catnip into it and then put a soft durable net over it. My 4 cats would have torn the canip roots to pieces if we hadn't! But not all of my cats love the catnip. Like most of the previous ppl said, Catnip is an aquired taste for most cats and only some like it. Like my old cat, he loved catnip, but my 2 year old kittens only like to smell or just lick it. My cats will just lay on the catnip and whiff the scent and walk away. I don't know why, but when my cats were only kittens (5-8 months old) they didn't care for catnip or cat grass at all. I read up on this to so these sites should help. Heres a couple of sites that will help explain.
http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/catnip.asp

http://www.worldwise.com/noname20.html

And scroll down when you open this link to the bottom for the answer to catnip:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/whydo.html

I hope this helped! Just a tip with your new kitten: Give it lots of love, attention, and play with your kitten (my cats loved the door hanger) and let them build up your trust! Thats the key to a happy kitty! ~I hope this helped!

Answer 2

Cats develop a love for catnip around 3 to 5 months of age. The love of catnip is also genetic, so if the kittens parents like it, they will too. 30% or so of cats don't have the gene that allow them to experience a 'catnip high'

Answer 3

I have three cats and at first when we bought them catnip, they didn't like it. However, the next time we bought it they loved it. Two of my cats are five years old but love to play with these new catnip puffballs we got at PetSmart. You might try those, plus there's not too much catnip on them.

Answer 4

On the side of my Cosmic Catnip package - or one of the others - it says you should not give catnip to a kitten under 9 months. I think if you do, they become immune to it so it doesn't work for them later on when they get older.

Answer 5

Our cat loved catnip but after he started losing his baby teeth he lost interest in it. I was wondering if there was a certain age at which cats lose interest in catnip. The sum total of the answers here seem to have answered my question.

Answer 6

My cat Mia doesn't care for cat nip at all.She is the first cat I've ever had that didn't like it. But my cat Gracie went nuts over the stuff. I would think that your kitten would like it by now at age 6 months if she was going to take a liking to it.

Answer 7

Some cat or kitten loves cat nip, but some dont , depends on the cat

Answer 8

um.. I'm not really sure because I bought catnip for my cat at this place called like erm.. ann-jan or something like that and my cat isn't doing anything to it.. =o and I put the catnip on the scratching post.. so i'm not really sure i think its because my cat is diffrent from some cats

Answer 9

the catnip in the toys is quite stale. keep a fresh container in your freezer.
try toys with more excitement and less catnip. look for brightly colored toys with feathers, play mice, small balls, plastic Easter eggs with cat food to rattle inside.

Answer 10

It all depends on the cat,
Cats are like human. Like Cats Not all humans like carrots for example but some humans do't like them when there kids but do when there adults. It all depends on the cat.
Our cat is 3 and still does not like catnip.