What Does Catnip Do To Kittens

Catnip is natural you can buy seeds to grow it yourself on your kitchen windowsill or in your backyard.

What does catnip do to kittens. So all that will really happen if your kitty decides to break into the secret catnip stash. Therefore catnip is safe for kittens. I promise your cat is going to enjoy playing with catnip very much. This chemical is similar to and mimics the effect of a pheromone found in male cat urine.

What does catnip do to cats. Catnip is a perennial herb which means it grows through more than one growing season and it contains an ingredient called nepetalactone. In fact cats know when they have had enough and will actively refuse catnip when offered. When cats get a whiff of catnip they.

Cats are receptive to a volatile oil an oil that evaporates in the air found in the stems and leaves of the catnip herb. How does catnip work. Cats have an extra scent organ called the vomeronasal gland in the roof of their mouth. However with that said not all cats will respond to catnip.

The active ingredient in catnip is called nepetalactone. A very young kitty s response to catnip all over the floor by him will probably be indifference and that s totally normal. It is found in the volatile oil of catnip a member of the mint family. The response it elicits is considered psychosexual in both males and females.

Although catnip is totally harmless and safe around kittens both to smell and to eat it isn t necessarily effective. According towikipedia nepetalactone is an organic compound first isolated from the plant catnip nepeta cataria which acts as a cat attractant this compound is the secret ingredient that will get your cat higher than a kite. The herb s influence is genetic so not all cats respond to it according to the humane society of the united states. But you won t know if your kitten is one of them until sometime between ages 3 and 6 months.

So what does catnip do to cats. If a kitten is going to be a catnip lover you usually can tell that when he is 3 to 6 months old. When catnip is sniffed it acts as a stimulant for cats causing them to display signs of being high including hyperactivity rolling around flipping over and at times even being aggressive. It is this naturally occurring chemical that kittens and cats react to by becoming more active purring and rolling or even licking and drooling some may eat the catnip as well.

This special pathway allows scents that are collected in the nose and mouth to be carried to the brain. Catnip s allure is in its volatile oil specifically one chemical in that oil nepetalactone.