Catnip

diego

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Does anyone here find that catnip actually works?
Years ago I read that cats are meant to go crazy over the stuff, that its like extasy for cats. I have had several cats in my time and none of them would touch the stuff, they wouldnt play with the toys or anything, I even grew the stuff but no luck.

I have found a similar product in Japan its called matatabi、I dont know the English translation but it is not a different name for catnip. It came with a scratch post that we bought for Neko, it was designed to make him use the post and not other things. I was real scepticle at first but put it on the scratch post then let Neko sniff it. Holy cow the stuff worked he went beserk scratching the heck out of his post, I;ve never seen anything like that before. Truely amazing stuff. Anyway does catnip have any effect on your cats?
 

calico2222

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Harley and Gizmo go crazy over it! The rest sniff it, play for a while then lay down and go to sleep. I think at that point they are "comfortably numb"!
Catnip affects each cat differently, from my experience. Some don't care, and some go crazy.

Funny story though. A girl I used to work with was terrified of cats. She moved into a new house in the middle of the winter. Come spring she was calling off work because she was afraid of the cats outside her house! Here, the house she moved in to...the entire front yard was nothing but catnip! She had EVERY cat within a 5 mile radius rolling around her yard, stoned out of their minds! She said they were acting all weird, not like normal cats. She thought they had rabies or something!


If you found something they like, then stick with that.
 

swampwitch

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Our cats love catnip, especially fresh. They like dry O.K., but once I bought some that must have been really old because they wouldn't touch it. I have to grow it in a hanging basket or all the neighborhood cats will crush it and kill it by rolling it and eating it up. I grow two different types of catnip and one catmint.

My Lily will eat as many fresh leaves as you give her; I call it her "salad."
 

swampwitch

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Originally Posted by calico2222

...Funny story though. A girl I used to work with was terrified of cats. She moved into a new house in the middle of the winter. Come spring she was calling off work because she was afraid of the cats outside her house! Here, the house she moved in to...the entire front yard was nothing but catnip! She had EVERY cat within a 5 mile radius rolling around her yard, stoned out of their minds! She said they were acting all weird, not like normal cats. She thought they had rabies or something!
...
That is a great story!
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by calico2222

Funny story though. A girl I used to work with was terrified of cats. She moved into a new house in the middle of the winter. Come spring she was calling off work because she was afraid of the cats outside her house! Here, the house she moved in to...the entire front yard was nothing but catnip! She had EVERY cat within a 5 mile radius rolling around her yard, stoned out of their minds! She said they were acting all weird, not like normal cats. She thought they had rabies or something!
Must have had some kinda traumatic experience as a child.
but it is still
material.
 

dragoriana

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Hrm well i finally bought a bottle of catnip spray a few days ago, and Charlie couldn't care less. So i gave it to Tristan to try out on Cleo and Timmy. Cleo was the same as Chuckie. But a sock doused in the spray and thrown to Timmy apparently resulted in the loudest instant purrs in history, and alot of dopiness. And when he tried taking the sock away he got defensive! lol


I read that the gene depends on what continent the kitties are from. If yours is descendant from Asia they won't react etc
 

bonnie1965

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Originally Posted by calico2222

Funny story though. A girl I used to work with was terrified of cats. She moved into a new house in the middle of the winter. Come spring she was calling off work because she was afraid of the cats outside her house! Here, the house she moved in to...the entire front yard was nothing but catnip! She had EVERY cat within a 5 mile radius rolling around her yard, stoned out of their minds! She said they were acting all weird, not like normal cats. She thought they had rabies or something!
Priceless!

Sebastian loves the stuff but if it is stale or old he doesn't care for it. Daphne has no interest in it. Could be becuase she is young or may just not like it.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by Dragoriana

I read that the gene depends on what continent the kitties are from. If yours is descendant from Asia they won't react etc
Oh no I was just talking about cats when I was younger, not asian decendants.
I wouldn't even try it again, but matatabi on the other hand I'd like to know if that can be grown at home. Shame ya can't export seeds and stuff it would go great back in NZ.
 

bonnie1965

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Originally Posted by Dragoriana

I read that the gene depends on what continent the kitties are from. If yours is descendant from Asia they won't react etc
Well Sebastian just shot this theory
He is something Siamese/Tonkinese or mixture thereof and he goes whacko over good stuff
Regular little 'nip junkie.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

Here's a link that explains Matatabi. Looks like it has been used like catnip for a long time.

http://www.planetbotanic.ca/fact_she...s/matatabi.htm
Wow that is amazing, perhaps I should let Diego have some and see if that speeds up his flu recovery time. My wife and I were reluctant to let him have some coz he is already hyper, actually chased Neko around so much today we had to separate them coz Neko was really puffing and panting due to the heat here, yet Diego didnt even seem to have broken a sweat.

Neko is fine I gave him a huge bowl of water
and he lapped it quite fast and lay down, now he is wondering about outside
 

fwan

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I bought cat nip spray, and my cats have gone nuts, they keep fighting over the toys. I will have to spray the scratching posts because they have started to distroy my wall paper!
 

pat

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All my cats are catnip responders, and it's true, if the cat doesn't inherit the gene to respond, it won't.

Other substances besides the one you mentioned, to try if a cat doesn't respond to catnip, are honeysuckle and valerian. My guys love all 3
 

angi

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We give Roxy dried catnip inside of a sock. I call it her "psycho sock".
She goes crazy with it, rubbing her face on it, throwing it up in the air, then settling down using it as a pillow.


When I lived in WI, & had many outdoor cats, we had a ton of catnip that grew in one area. They loved it!
 

jennyr

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Mine all love organic catnip but ignore any inferior stuff and the sprays leave them cold. I also tried the catnip bubbles and they just sat and looked. Most cats start to like it at around 6-8 months of age - Biscotte is just beginning to react. I have a 'cat spa' you fill with catnip and they all play crazily with that, rubbing on it and then roll around the floor.
 

trouts mom

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Trout loves it..whenever I get new cat furniture, I have to put catnip on it o she won't go near it
The catnip works!
 

laureen227

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really varies depending on the cat. Chip REALLY likes it - Cable seems to prefer honeysuckle. the others can go either way. most cats won't react until after they're at least 6 months old, if they're going to be catnip-loving cats. quality also makes a difference!
 

jaffacake

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Kitty doesn`t really have any interest in it. He likes a sniff if it`s a fresh bag but thats it.

Maisie on the other hand
Today she was on the bed cuddeling her refillable cat-nip mouse Then she started squirming and suddenly gave me a wide eyed 'crazy cat' look and promptly rolled off the bed!
Then she had hold of my flip-flops and was bunny-kicking them


Other times she doesn`t take the blind bit of notice of it
 
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