Fresh cat nip

I am wondering, what about catnip?

A co-worker of my wife gave her a baggie containing fresh home grown catnip . We put some down for our Sasha. I put down both a 4 leaved sprig and also tore some up into bits. Sasha seemed to be very interested in it. He played with it, chewed on it, rolled in it and ate the small bits.

It did not appear to change him demeanor any.

My wonder: What exactly is catnip and does it have a place in a normal young cat's diet? Also how should fresh catnip be presented to your cat?

it is an excellent anti hairball agent ... fine for eating , playing in and sleeping on

After reading some of the old threads on this forum I got the impression that catnip was akin to drugs or alcohol.

Does catnip really make some cats high?

It is not a " high " like a human more like what you feel after eating chocolate

This fresh catnip, does it matter how I serve it? I am guessing cut it into small pieces so he can roll in it before he eats it.

some will chop others just pull and eat off plant

There are some excellent catnip faq's out there ;-)

http://www.catniptoys.com/ this has a lovely sheet ")

I grow fresh catnip in a planter. You would think that they would devour it, but in reality they seem to prefer the dried leaves and only occasionally munch on the fresher stuff.

From what I understand catnip interacts with their pleasure centers, every cat is a little different. Bella will take your hand off to get it, then she will run around like crazy and roll on the floor. Stan will just sit in one place and rub his head on things...my new guy stumbles a bit and rolls around. It's very cute and I don't believe there is any harm in allowing them to indulge.

I do try to limit their enjoyment time (I don't leave a lot of catnip toys around, etc) so that it stays a special treat.

We have a potted plant and bring it in for Oliver to "prune." He is a very good gardner. Tripod isn't interested.

Lola was attracted to our last apartment's patio because I had a giant catnip (potted) plant out there. For a while, the only way we could tell she was still coming around was the empty food dish and the rolled on catnip (she squashed it, LOL). My other 2 prefer the dried stuff. I just started a catnip patch by our garage so Lola can have fresh 'nip like she likes.

Thanks for all the responses. The web link was very informative.
Now I can present catnip properly.

At our old house we had catnip planted in my herb garden. It was a HUGE plant so I'd just rip off a branch and give the whole thing to Gus. He absolutely LOVED it!! He would carry that thing around the house, roll on it, chew on it, etc. Eventually he'd grow tired of it and we'd just throw it away. If I plant it again at this house it will be in a pot b/c catnip is almost a noxious weed and near impossible to get rid of.