Catnip Agression

Just wondering if anyone else has run into this.

My mom's cat, Max (http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92281) is part Maine Coon and a really sweet (and really stupid, I'm sorry to say ) cat. But whenever he's around catnip, he gets agressive. Not mean agressive, but, like playful agressive.

I've been around cats who bite and attack because they can. Max is more like an ADD kid who is just having fun and gets carried away. We've had to stop letting him get around catnip cause he got so agressive he actually hurt family members who were just trying to pet him. When he's pinging and ponging and playing (not on catnip), we can still reach down and touch him. But not when he's on catnip.

Anybody else run into this?

Well, that sounds like a decently common reaction to catnip to me! When a cat is in hyper-time crazy-kitty-rocket dashing around playing, it's not a good idea to try and pet them anyway. For one thing they're probably just tolerating it and don't like it. My cat appreciates pets way more when she's calm.

Anyway though, it sounds like he's overstimulated (which is basically what catnip is for! ) and touching him is letting loose his desire to bite and such. If you have two cats that both react to catnip like that, they will play-fight each other like kittens every time.

Zissou actually calms down on catnip. It's weird. She'll bite though if you touch her. So I just don't touch her if I've given her some.

Good luck!

Ophelia gets scary aggressive when given catnip. I can spray her scratching post, but nothing else. Any catnip sprinkler in the carpet or anything & she gets mean. I mean, hunt you down & attack to kill mean.

No catnip for her!

My Mimi when i give him catnip he act all goofy starts to trip all over him self but calm and easied but then he starts to drag his body where his catnip is at so the catnip is all over his body i love it when i see him playing like that

You should have seen our older cat, Patches (gone now), on catnip! This normally "Don't touch me!" cat would roll around and look up at us like, "HI!", and we'd think, "Yes you are!" My Teazer cat gets goofy and mellow. We used to have one cat who didn't care. We'd give him catnip and he'd look at us like, "And what am I supposed to do with this?"

We've actually worked very hard with both our dogs (we don't have any dogs anymore! ) and our cats to be able to touch them while they are eating or playing or what not. Since we've had them since they were babies, they are used to it and respond well to it. Obviously, this only works because of that.

I've just never seen a cat respond to it with out and out agression! I mean, he's so mild mannered and good tempered, even when he's been freaked at the vet or cause he got outside he doesn't swat or bite, but on catnip he does.

I'm not worried or anything. We just don't let him have catnip and he's happy playing fetch with his paper balls. I'm just curious if anyone else has run into this. And I wouldn't mind cute catnip stories either!

has anyone seen the "spray catnip"? Its supposedly "super-charged", and be sprayed on old toys. I saw it in the store, but ddon't want my cat to get TOO crazy! haha

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Ophelia gets scary aggressive when given catnip. I can spray her scratching post, but nothing else. Any catnip sprinkler in the carpet or anything & she gets mean. I mean, hunt you down & attack to kill mean.

No catnip for her!

Click to expand...

Ophelia is a mean drunk! LOL!

Originally Posted by Satai

Ophelia is a mean drunk! LOL!

Click to expand...

Lol, so glad to know it's a reaction others have seen. Yeah, no catnip for Max or Ophelia! Maybe the name you gave her was prophetic. After all, in Hamlet, the character Ophelia does go crazy... Maybe she was on catnip too! I mean, I named our cat Max and he ended up being part maine coon and is 13 lbs, and over 36 inches long!

Originally Posted by Rum Tum Tugger

has anyone seen the "spray catnip"? Its supposedly "super-charged", and be sprayed on old toys. I saw it in the store, but ddon't want my cat to get TOO crazy! haha

Click to expand...

Oh my word...my Teazer cat on Super Catnip. (shudder) But if she didn't get too crazy, that would be good to renew some of her old catnip toys. She has this one that looks like a beetle and it crinkles like a paper bag when she plays with it. That cat is in LOVE with that bug toy! She used to have two but the dog got ahold of the other one and chewed the little leggs off the toy. It was realy sad looking!! Btw, I like your screen name Rum Tum Tugger! Now all we have to do is find Mungo Jerry and the rest of the cast and we're all set!

Ripley just gets silly and playful, but Fergus gets a bit fiesty...I just opt to not place my hands on him during a catnip "buzz." He will literally try to amputate fingers. However, he is funny to watch when he's "stoned."

Yep, Pixel gets all freaky-out and will attack me while laying on her back as if I am the catnip!

I stopped letting the kittens play with it.

Nermal, my kitten of 19 weeks could care less and ignores the catnip. Milo my 3 year old will pretend she doesn't like it for a little bit and then decide otherwise and get all snuggly with anything that smells like catnip. I put some on the bed and she rolled around upside down and inside out and drooled all over the place. She also likes this little catnip toy we have and she'll dig her claws into it and rub it all over herself like she's taking a bath. It's so funny to watch.

Those are all so cute! Well except for the attack and maim parts.

My sister had a friend who used catnip to introduce her new cat to her old cat. She dumped it on her floor, and then rubbed them both down with it and they were both so shnakered they couldn't see straight, she put them on the catnipped part of the carpet together and they've been buddies ever since. I'd love to do that with my cat and my mom's cat, but he gets so agressive on catnip that's not a possibility.

ha, thats a great story! Just like drinking a beer with a stranger, after a few sips you could be best friends!