Cat Nip

I was recently told by a friend that it is bad for your cat to eat dried cat nip. Our cats love to lick their cat nip toys and I was letting them eat a pinch of it until this friend told me that it's bad for kitties. Is this true? If not what is a safe amount?

No catnip is fine for a munch ... thou mine prefer fresh to dried to eat

Originally Posted by EnzoLeya

I was recently told by a friend that it is bad for your cat to eat dried cat nip. Our cats love to lick their cat nip toys and I was letting them eat a pinch of it until this friend told me that it's bad for kitties. Is this true? If not what is a safe amount?

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Nah. Though a small % of cats dont' respond at all to catnip. And kittens don't usually have a response until @ 6 months of age. Some cats have a more aggressive response to cat nip than others (can bring out their inner beast and get all Alpha cat on other cats in the vicinity).

btw. as for 'safe amounts'--cats have a set 'turn off' point with cat nip. After a range of minutes, they can't really respond to more anyway. And I believe cats aren't susceptible to another 'round' of cat nip right away. It's like an automatic turn off valve.

http://www.kookykat.com/important catnip facts.htm

http://www.felinefanatic.com/catnip.htm

I've been giving my cats dried catnip for years, and never had a problem. As for a safe amount, I just put a small pile on the floor and let them have at it... they roll around and end up WEARING more than they eat, anyway.

TIP: If you go to your local healthfood store, they often sell organic catnip in bulk, which is fresher (and cheaper!) than the pre-packaged stuff from Petsmart.

Not a problem, though I'd keep it to a pinch. In fact it can be used as an appetite stimulant.

Here is my Catnip FAQ which addresses this and other aspects of catnip:
http://www.catniptoys.com/nip_faq.htm

Thanks guys! I was really worried about what I'd been doing to my kitties! They will be happy to know this too I'm sure!!! We even have wild cat nip outside, I'm sure they will love that too!