Catnip and sick cats

Is there any research saying whether or not catnip helps/hinders cat recovery when they're sick? I know with humans, recreational drugs (inc. alcohol and caffeine) are advised against when sick, is there any similar advice for cats?

Actually catnip tea is an herbal remedy, so catnip is hardly a "recreational drug."  Some cats like it, others dislike it, and a few are just neutral about it.  If your cat likes it, let him/her have it.

Not that I've ever heard of, and I learned a lot of what I know from someone who did his masters on the science behind catnip (in part).  If your kitty is a catnip responder (it's in the genes, if they didn't inherit catnip responsiveness, they aren't going to be responding to the catnip in a toy.), and it would cheer them up (not sure how sick your kitty is) yes, I'd offer it.  For some cats, it may even be an appetite stimulant.

Marijuana is also an "herbal remedy," that doesn't mean it doesn't have side effects that can affect healing, like increasing dryness/dehydration for example. Opium/opiates are also herbal (well extracted from herbs, anyway), they can suppress the immune response and reduce intestinal motility (and cause constipation or cure diarrhea, depending on how you look at it).

I was wondering if catnip has any side effects like that. Supposedly catnip affects pathways similar to the pathways that are affected by marijuana and LSD in humans, so it seems like there are probably other physical, systemic effects besides the playful high. Marijuana medically seems to have a positive affect on IBS, but I've known people who've told me LSD made them unbelievably gassy/bloated. Can catnip cause effects like that in IBD cats? Will catnip stress the liver of a cat recovering from hepatic lipidosis? Or the kidneys in a CRF cat?

It's possible it's just not something that's been extensively researched (except by people like Pat's friend).

samus said:

 
Marijuana is also an "herbal remedy," that doesn't mean it doesn't have side effects that can affect healing, like increasing dryness/dehydration for example. Opium/opiates are also herbal (well extracted from herbs, anyway), they can suppress the immune response and reduce intestinal motility (and cause constipation or cure diarrhea, depending on how you look at it).

I was wondering if catnip has any side effects like that. Supposedly catnip affects pathways similar to the pathways that are affected by marijuana and LSD in humans, so it seems like there are probably other physical, systemic effects besides the playful high. Marijuana medically seems to have a positive affect on IBS, but I've known people who've told me LSD made them unbelievably gassy/bloated. Can catnip cause effects like that in IBD cats? Will catnip stress the liver of a cat recovering from hepatic lipidosis? Or the kidneys in a CRF cat?

It's possible it's just not something that's been extensively researched (except by people like Pat's friend).

Click to expand...

Hi Samus, as a retired RN, I am aware that "herbal" doesn't mean no side effects or issues   I am just unaware of any such with catnip.  Fwiw, I have given catnip to my cats with crf, cancer, ibd, heart issues, asthma, etc., and never felt it impacted the treatments or meds they were on.  Yes, I have had cats with all these issues over the years   Way, way too familiar with crf in kitties especially.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It does make my cat more interested in food, so that's a plus.

I know this thread hasn't been active in a few years, but it's still a top search result on Google, so I thought I would share my story.

My cat hasn't eaten in 2 days because of an infection, and before that it was very little. We tried a subdermal appetite stimulant, Mirataz, earlier today to no avail. I had begun to lose hope. I groggily walked through the cat food aisle at the grocery store tonight, trying to find something that might entice my cat to eat. I got a bag of treats she had liked before, some cans of wet food, something called cat milk, and then I saw catnip. My cat had always responded to catnip when she was well and I thought it might work to at least make her more like herself for a bit. I googled and saw this thread, and a couple other things. Nothing was conclusive, so I thought I'd try it.

When I got home, I took a bit out and she was disinterested. I took a pinch and rubbed some on her cheeks. I made a small plate of wet food for her. She ignored it. She continued to pace, something she's been doing for days with this infection and possibly because she is starting to suffer from dementia. Finally, I stopped her during her pacing and pet her and put her head closer to the dish of wet food. She started licking it up! She licked the plate almost clean. She even went to the dry food and nibbled when I was mixing her up some more of the opened can.

We will see how it goes. I am hopeful again, at least. Maybe it is the appetite stimulant working after several hours or maybe it was the catnip? I think it was the catnip.