the full story on catnip?

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Have any studies ever been done on exactly what catnip does to cats? I've always been wary of catnip toys for any of my cats because it makes them so manic and crazy.

My current kitten is no exception. He's a normal playful 6-month-old, and when I give him a catnip toy, he ratchets up about 5 notches and goes completely wild, tumbling around the house with it and tearing it to bits. Even when he's completely exhausted, he'll feel compelled to keep attacking it. We finally have to take it away when we think he's had enough, and then he'll wander around in a daze looking for it. Can this really be healthy??

[Traci]

There's no harm in giving catnip to your cats, as long as it is not excessive use (generally, do not give more than once a week). With excessive use or ingestion, vomiting or diarrhea can occur -- also, with excessive use, the cat may lose interest)

Here's a chemical description of the plant and it's effect on cats. Please note in the link that they make mention of the "essential oil" naturally produced from the plant itself...this is not meant to infer that you can actually give catnip essential oil to cats, this should NEVER be done with any essential oils. It is the leaf from the plant that is harvested, dried and packaged/marketed as catnip that is safe for your cat.

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Hi Traci. We're not actually giving him the leaves -- the catnip is buried inside a soft toy. Since he's not eating it, does the once a week rule still apply?

[Traci]

No, let him play with it whenever he wants. The packaged type (crumbled leaves) are stronger, since they are most often kept in a sealed container. Keeping catnip sealed retains it's freshness, whereas catnip inside toys is exposed to air and eventually loses it's effectiveness over time.

[Phoebe's human]

Some cats have a ho-hum reaction to catnip. I read somewhere that there's a genetic marker that some cats have (and some don't). Some cats are "programmed" to respond to catnip--others aren't.