It’s no secret that cats love catnip! The leafy inexperienced herb appears to have an instantaneous impact on nearly any cat. It’s a good way to complement your cat’s life or to maintain indoor cats joyful and stop door dashing.
Naturally, many people are questioning what catnip is and the way a lot catnip is protected for cats. We’ll go over all the things you might want to learn about catnip, together with the next matters:
- What is catnip?
- Why do cats love catnip?
- How a lot catnip is protected for cats?
What Is Catnip?
Catnip belongs to the mint household, giving it its leafy inexperienced look and recent minty scent. The mint household has about 250 species, catnip is certainly one of them.
Catnip is native to Europe and Asia and in addition goes by the identify Nepeta cataria. It was launched to America across the 18th century when settlers took plant cuttings with them for meals and medicinal functions whereas touring to the New World.
Why Do Cats Like Catnip?
Catnip accommodates a chemical known as Nepetalactone. Nepetalactone and its isomers make up 70-99% of the important oil in catnip that produces results in cats. Although the specifics on why this chemical causes a response in cats shouldn’t be but definitive, many scientists are pretty sure of the explanations behind its results.
When Nepetalactone enters a cat’s nasal tissue it binds to receptors that set off an emotional response within the mind just like a cat’s pure response to pheromones. The results of catnip typically final round ten minutes.
What Does Catnip Cause Cats to Do
These are among the most typical behaviors famous in cats ensuing from catnip:
- Cheek and chin rubbing
- Rolling and flopping
- Sniffing
- Licking and chewing
- Head shaking
- Possible aggression
Do All Cats Like Catnip?
Interestingly, not all cats reply to catnip. The response is genetic and if handed from at the least one guardian, the offspring will inherit the response. Approximately 70-80% of cats are affected by catnip. The remaining share doesn’t exhibit any response to the plant.
Catnip additionally has no impact in cats till they attain about 6-8 weeks previous. These stats are the identical for wild cats like lions, tigers, and leopards. Both home and wild cats have a particular receptor within the roof of their mouth, the vomeronasal organ, that makes them significantly delicate to the scent of catnip.
Can Cats Have Too Much Catnip?
Cats can’t overdose on catnip. However, it’s vital to look at that your cat doesn’t ingest massive quantities at a time. Signs of overindulgence in catnip embrace diarrhea, dizziness, vomiting, and bother strolling.
It’s finest to oversee your cat whereas they’re having fun with some catnip and to make use of it as an occasional deal with to keep away from this concern. Look out for indicators that ingesting catnip is inflicting any gastrointestinal upset in your cat.
If you might be utilizing a catnip plant, ensure you are sure that’s really what it’s. Check out our article on pet-safe home crops for extra particulars.
How to Give Your Cat Catnip
Whether you’ve an indoor cat or an out of doors cat, catnip can be utilized to complement their life in many various methods. You should buy small luggage of dried catnip to sprinkle round your cat’s scratchers and beds. Or you should buy catnip-filled toys or sprays.
Many pet retailers may also have recent catnip crops you can convey residence to your cat. If you’ve an out of doors cat, contemplate planting some catnip exterior for an pleasing snack. It is offered within the herb part of most nurseries. Just word that catnip crops develop fairly massive and prefer to have sandy soil and full solar. To give your outside cat quick access, try one of the best cat doorways of 2022.
We hope this helped shed some mild and all the things you might want to learn about catnip! For some extra enjoyable enrichment choices, try how one can leash prepare your cat so you possibly can take them on walks!
