🚀 go-pugleaf

To Craig Kolb:

> Does anybody know the details of what catnip does to cats?  I got Zaphod
> some for Christmas, and he completely freaked out (jumping around, doing
> flips, and then zonking out on the couch for the rest of the day).  All this
> made me wonder if catnip doesn't do something . . . bad to a cat's system.
 
I have seen similar behavior with my cats.  I have been growing catnip in my
garden for two summers now and the cats just like to stand there and graze on
it for awhile.  One cat likes it better than the other.  I notice the cat will
act weird for the first few times she indulges, but mid-way through the summer,
it doesn't seem to affect her in the same way.  She still continues to eat the
stuff since it is a good laxative.  She likes to rub up against the stuff and 
sniff and rub, then eat, then act weird.

I had talked to my vet about the behavior the cat exhibited and he said it was 
nothing unusual...  Apparently there is an oil in the catnip which stimulates 
the nervous system in cats, similar to what caffine does to our system.
I don't know if this calms your fears, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.  
My vet certainly wasn't concerned.  Cats do build up a tolerance to the stuff.

	Nicki Lipp
	DEC--Colorado

	decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-bison!lipp