Help! My cat is addicted to catnip!?

Question

His name is Challice, he's 4 at first it was an occasional treat and everything was fine. Soon enough he began stalking the upper cabinet I keep it in, whining and scratching at it. Now he's completely running my life! I try to limit it to every now and then but when I refuse he howls, meows and zips around my small apartment (and me) making my life subject his mercy.

I know some of you are going to say "just ignore him" but it's not that easy after working all day and just wanting to relax in a quiet home. If I wanted to deal with this I would've had snotty, whiney kids. I also don't want to exclusivley use treats as he's already "slightly" overweight (22lbs). I don't necessarily want to ban his drug of choice from the house all together as I love him and want him to have a vice to break up the monotony but he's driving me nuts! Suggestions?

Answer 1

This is an example of classical conditioning. Right now your cat has been trained to whine and scratch in this way. He has found that whenever he does this, you will eventually give him catnip. It's not unlike a child who throws a temper tantrum because he wants attention from his parents.

The only way to overcome this is to retrain your cat. If you do not give him catnip when he whines and scratches, he will eventually learn that this strategy does not work and he will stop doing it. But if you give in, even just occasionally, he will continue using the behavior. You have to be strong! You might also consider rewarding him in other ways and/or giving him catnip when he exhibits other, more desirable behaviors.

I think it's kind of a shame for any creature to be hooked on something...

Answer 2

Have you consulted the case with a veterinarian? Anyway, I hope the following article could help you and your cat.

Catnip and catmints are mainly known for the narcotic and hallucinogenic effects they have on cats, particularly domestic cats. Both true catnip and Faassen's catnip have a sharp, biting taste, while the taste of giant catmint is bland. Approximately two thirds of cats are susceptible to the effects of catnip, as the phenomenon is hereditary. The fact that it only elicits such a response in a proportion of cats—and that it is such a dramatic response—suggests that a genetic element is involved that is enriched in domesticated breeds.

When cats sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip, they will roll over it, paw at it, chew it, lick it, leap about and purr, often salivating copiously. Some cats will also growl and meow. This reaction only lasts for a few minutes before the cat loses interest. It takes up to two hours for the cat to "reset" and then it can come back to the catnip and have the same response as before. Young kittens and older cats are less likely to have a reaction to catnip. Lions and tigers are also sensitive to the effects of catnip.

Catnip contains nepetalactone, a terpene. Nepetalactone can be extracted from catnip using steam distillation. Cats detect it through their olfactory epithelium and not through their vomeronasal organ. At the olfactory epithelium, the nepetalactone is hypothesized to bind to one or more G-protein coupled receptors on the surface of sensory neurons which are found in the sensory layer of the organ. Via a signal transduction pathway (probably involving a G-protein and a transient receptor potential channel) an influx of calcium ions that occurs creates an action potential along the axon of the neuron. The sensory neurons from the olfactory epithelium project to the olfactory bulb where multiple neurons (each expressing a single receptor type) synapse at special neuropil called glomeruli. Here the neurons synapse with mitral cells which, in turn, project to various brain loci, including the amygdala, where the signals are integrated into behavioural signals. There is some evidence of projections to the hypothalamus, which in turn regulates a neuroendocrine response via the pituitary gland. These hormones would mediate the "sexual response." The chemical probably hijacks the pathway normally influenced by a cat pheromone.

A lot of other plants that also have this effect on cats include valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and plants that contain actinidine or dihydroactinidiolide.

Answer 3

I have had cats all my life and mostly they haven't really been interested in catnip. I would suggest asking the vet, but be aware that the vet will probably say your kitty needs to lose some weight.

Maybe try playing with your cat instead of giving him the catnip, so he will be distracted and also get some exercise. We use a wooden dowel with a string attached, and then you can tie a mouse or just a crumpled piece of paper to the string and they love jumping after it and stalking it if you drag it across the floor. There are also many cute cat toys at your store.

Good luck.

Answer 4

I won't suggest you ignore your cat. But I will suggest that if the cat is giving you this much trouble you could do one of two things..throw the catnip out into the trash and go buy it a few toys that already have catnip in them, or put the catnip in a container that is airtight so the cat can't smell the catnip in your cabinet. Personally when I've had a cat react to catnip in this way I tend to just take it away from them for good ;)

Answer 5

Give him the catnip.

I cut and dry the stuff myself, have it in boxes for when I make cat toys (I make about 100 of them a month, the boxes are all in the corner and stacked to the ceiling right now). Our cats get all they want and they loose their interest in it after a while, so by giving him more, you'll get him weaned off it after a week or two. Then put it away till he wants it again and give him the whole batch inside a big box cover to contain it. Let him play with that till he's lost interest (several days) and repeat.

Catnip won't hurt him. Right now he's got it too seldom so he's going to keep whining till he gets more.

If you're going to keep being stingy with it, at least put it into a zip lock baggie and stick it into the freezer, he won't know where it is that way and won't be tearing things apart trying to get to it.

Answer 6

Do you have any toys that use catnip? i.e. a scratching place is a great place to sprinkle catnip as they use the post and still get their "fix". I have never heard of a cat going berserk without it. Perhaps just leaving it around all the time makes it less of a treat and he will become desensitized to it.

Answer 7

Get some of the catnip that's dried in a package and sew it into a blanket -- or buy one of those toys that's stuffed with dried catnip. Maybe he'll be distracted enough to work on the toy instead.

Answer 8

Lock him in a room when he gets fussy. move the food and show him that there's none in the cabinet. When you want to ive him some, lock him up, get the food, give it to him in the room. Return the food, shut the door, and let him out. Show him the empty cabinet and maybe he won't bug you while he's looking for it. :)

Answer 9

Hrm.. If my cat did that, when I got home I would just sit on the couch with the TV on, and hold the cat really tight so he couldn't escape from my lap.

Ps: wear long sleeves =P