catnip?

my wife is dying to give them catnip, ages 4 and 8 months, are they old enough for this, and what is exactly catnip does to them?

WIth my kittens they didn't really seem affected by catnip till about 7 to 8 months so you might not notice anything in the 4 month old.

this site offers some good info: http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/obedcat/a/catcatnip.htm

Milo is 7 months and he loves catnip. It has different effects on different cats. It mellows some cats and makes others kinda crazy. It wouldn't hurt to let them try some out. The little one might not really appreciate it much, I think around 6 months the catnip instinct kicks in. Milo would ignore Pixie's nip when he was younger, but now he's a nip hog, lol. Some cats aren't fazed by it at all no matter what their age though.

Originally Posted by HUNTER

my wife is dying to give them catnip, ages 4 and 8 months, are they old enough for this, and what is exactly catnip does to them?

Click to expand...

Two things are necessary for cats to respond - they must have inherited the necessary genes to be a catnip responder, and be the age of sexual maturity - which varies wildly! I've seen kittens have heat cycles as young as 4 months, and males sire by 7 months, so I'd give it a try, your guys may be old enough to respond (assuming they are going to be catnip responders).

The effect will vary...some cats get rather zippy and goofy, others get rather silly and dreamy (rolling in the catnip, then lying in a silly position, staring at the ceiling

Cats that do not respond to catnip, will often respond to either (or both) honeysuckle and valerian.

I will also add that in some cases catnip makes cats aggressive. I have two cats that I cannot even let smell catnip or I have snarlpusses on my hands. So when you introduce it, do so gradually just in case-

Dax gets snappy and zippy when she has had nip... I usually just put some on a toy or sprinkle some on her claw scratcher to renew interest in them - then stand back!!

that sounds really funny, i will try some this weekend, how long do you let them play with it and is it safe for them to eat it?

yes they can eat it and play with it... I give alot to my older one... but the younger one is a bengal mix and is high strung and hyper so I limit her exposure

I grows in large quantity outside in spring/summer, then at the end of summer I completely strip the plants and freeze it in sandwich bags.
It's a huge hit here.
I used some today to successfully coax my painfully shy newcomer out of her crate.

A friend grows wild catnip.. and that stuff is stronger than the stuff you buy in the store.. my boys go nuts over it. I put some in a Ziplock bag and put a few of their toys in it.. shake it around a little bit and give them the toys. They love it it works best with a cloth toy, so the cat nip can stick to it.

Originally Posted by Leto86

A friend grows wild catnip.. and that stuff is stronger than the stuff you buy in the store.. my boys go nuts over it. I put some in a Ziplock bag and put a few of their toys in it.. shake it around a little bit and give them the toys. They love it

it works best with a cloth toy, so the cat nip can stick to it.

Click to expand...

I'll put Kooky Kat Catnip Budz up against your friends wild catnip any day..nothing more potent.

uhhh. pat...who's your dealer?



I looked them up on the web. Can you only buy online or do they sell it in stores?

Catnip has different effects on differents cats, as mentioned above.

Males react differently than females. My boycats want to play & bat the heck out of each other 'at first', then usually they go off into a daze & sort of chill out in a corner somewhere. Expect drooling, too... they DO eat the stuff, sniff it and sneeze it back out, roll in it, flip it around their faces, lick it off each other!

My girlcats aren't nearly as fond of the catnip as the boys are (they're all mature... no kittens here). I think catnip is safe after about 3 months. I gave Hammie catnip when he was 3 months, to introduce him to Zorro; and within minutes they were playing gleefully. Just as they do today!

Originally Posted by Loveysmummy

uhhh. pat...who's your dealer?

Click to expand...

hehe.. I keep my bags of nip in the freezer - A friend came round to help cook/eat a meal the other day - It can give the wrong impression when I keep it in clear zip-lock baggies!

I have to tell this, years ago we had a friend that smoked pot, one day my oldest daughter decoded she was going to play a joke on him, she gave him a little baggie of cat nip
He smoked that whole bag then told her Sis I don't mean to be ungrateful but that wasn't very good pot.
The best part was is that all of the cats were following him all over meowing at him ,
We all day about that and still do everytime we think of it
And by the way we never told him what it was...

Originally Posted by Loveysmummy

uhhh. pat...who's your dealer?

I looked them up on the web. Can you only buy online or do they sell it in stores?

Click to expand...

The budz I love the best are the Kooky Kat budz, and since they are a Canadian grower, you are in luck. I don't know which stores in Canada, but if you write to the owner, James, via his website, I'm sure he can tell you where these are sold in your country.

Originally Posted by halfpint

I have to tell this, years ago we had a friend that smoked pot, one day my oldest daughter decoded she was going to play a joke on him, she gave him a little baggie of cat nip

He smoked that whole bag then told her Sis I don't mean to be ungrateful but that wasn't very good pot.
The best part was is that all of the cats were following him all over meowing at him

,
We

all day about that and still do everytime we think of it
And by the way we never told him what it was...

Click to expand...

Haha!! thats really cruel - but I have the funniest mental picture of that...

I read an article recently about catnip/cats, and it said something like; "...cats under the age of 10 months don't usually respond to catnip, and if introduced before 10 months will show no reaction and continue this non reaction into adulthood..."