{"id":2999,"date":"2017-05-02T05:35:18","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T10:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.diamondpet.wearewoodruff.xyz\/?p=2999"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:08:22","slug":"crazy-for-catnip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/culture\/myths\/crazy-for-catnip\/","title":{"rendered":"Crazy for Catnip: The Truth About This Mysterious Mint"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d a monthly series dedicated to addressing common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cat parents, veterinarians and animal scientists have been fascinated and entertained by the reactions of cats to catnip for centuries. Some behaviors of cats \u201con catnip\u201d appear similar to those of people experiencing drug-induced \u201chighs,\u201d which has led some pet owners to believe this month\u2019s myth:<\/p>\n

Catnip is a drug for my cat!<\/h2>\n

Most people think of catnip as having drug-like effects on their cats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers a substance a drug<\/a> if it is intended for use in diagnosing, curing, treating or preventing disease or<\/em> is a substance other than food that\u2019s intended to affect the structure or any body function. In the case of catnip, it could be considered a drug for the majority of cats that are sensitive to it.<\/p>\n

An herb belonging to the mint family<\/h3>\n

Catnip (Nepeta cataria<\/em>) is a perennial herb belonging to the same family of plants as peppermint and spearmint. Native to Europe, Asia and Africa, historians believe the plant was brought to North America by settlers. Today, catnip grows widely as a weed and is popular in herb gardens.<\/p>\n

Catnip contains several essential oils and other compounds which are stored in microscopic bulbs that cover the leaves, stems and seedpods of the plant. The oils are released naturally from these tiny bulbs when the plant reaches maturity, if a passing animal brushes against the plant and bruises the leaves, or if a hungry insect feeds on a leaf.<\/p>\n

How catnip affects (most) cats<\/h3>\n

Catnip\u2019s effects are caused exclusively by its smell. A meow-lecule<\/em> called nepetalactone is one of the essential oils in catnip and believed to be responsible for sensitive cats\u2019 classic response to the plant. While some scientists describe the feline response as an opium-like reaction, others believe nepetalactone mimics feline pheromones. Regardless of how catnip induces its effects, cats typically respond to the herb by sniffing, licking and biting it; shaking their heads; rubbing their heads, chins or cheeks against it; and rolling over. Other responses may include drooling, vocalizing and kicking catnip with their back paws.<\/p>\n

Although intense, the euphoria some cats experience is short-lived, lasting about 10 to 15 minutes. For some kitties, the \u201cbuzz\u201d is expressed as aggressive playfulness. For others, catnip causes them to become mellow and calm. Once the euphoria passes, your cat becomes temporarily \u201cimmune\u201d to catnip\u2019s effects for roughly two hours.<\/p>\n

Catnip is considered to be safe for cats and nonaddictive. Kitties can become accustomed to catnip\u2019s effects if they are exposed to the herb too frequently. If your cat eats a lot of catnip while indulging, they may vomit and have diarrhea. However, they will return to normal when given time.<\/p>\n

Not all cats react to catnip<\/h3>\n

A cat\u2019s reaction to catnip is hereditary. While estimates vary, experts believe 50 to 80 percent of cats are sensitive to nepetalactone, leaving 20 to 50 percent of the cat population unresponsive to the chemical. In addition, kittens less than 3 to 6 months old typically don\u2019t respond to catnip, and may even show an aversion to it.<\/p>\n

Many big cats \u2014 lions, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards \u2014 appear to be sensitive to catnip, too. Tigers, however, are known to not, or only mildly, respond to catnip.
\n\"An<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d a monthly series dedicated to addressing common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats. Cat parents, veterinarians and animal scientists have been fascinated and entertained by the reactions of cats to catnip for centuries. Some behaviors of cats \u201con catnip\u201d appear similar to those of people experiencing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Crazy for Catnip: The Truth About This Mysterious Mint","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover the truth behind catnip. Why do some cats adore it while others don't? We explore its origins and effects, and the myths surrounding this fascinating herb.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,275],"tags":[100,648,649,128,167,11,186,210],"class_list":["post-2999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-myths","tag-cat","tag-cat-culture","tag-catnip","tag-diamond-pet","tag-diet","tag-health","tag-myths","tag-supplements"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}