Is Catnip like crack to kitties?

The chemical is called nepetalactone. I’m not sure exactly what it does in the cat’s brain, but only about ⅔ of cats are susceptible to it.

I watched a TV show the other night on Animal Planet about cats and they had segment about catnip. I had bought my cats catnip toys before and neither of them paid it any attention. I bought a new toy that had a tube of catnip that you add to the toy, you can pour it out when it gets old and add more. My oldest cat, who is almost 10 went crazy over it. He was holding it in his front paws and rubbing it on his face and then he would bite it and claw it with is back paws. He was rolling all over and basically going crazy. It was hilarious. My other cat didn’t care a thing for it. He is younger and usually will play, but he didn’t even like this toy at all. It looked to me like Tabby was playing with some Kitty Ecstasy or something.

FACT: Half of all tigers are affected by catnip.

Yes, depends on the cat, not all cats are affected.

My male loves it, I buy the spray and squirt it on toys and the cat tower.
My female looks bored, no reaction.

I’m pretty positive that catnip gets my cats high, because they usually raid my pantry late at night. I have to throw away all their slimjim wrappers and cheeto bags in the morning. True story.

@WillWorkForChocolate

LOL

I think I’ve heard that catnip is a pheremone, which I believe would imply that your cat’s silly behavior is actually some sort of crazy sexual fit.

@WillWorkForChocolate

Mine just hoard their dead things in the garage during the night, yep, just a few minutes ago I stepped out onto the landing in socks, and, my heel came down on a little dead bird, it’s skull crushed underfoot!

Gah!, horrible way to wake up!

I don’t know about the dried stuff, our cats always ignored it but my mom’s present cat go crackhead for fresh cat grass. We snip a few pieces and comes chomping after our fingers for it. We tried it on the dogs but it doesn’t affect them.

As far as drugs used by humans, I’d liken it more to marijuana, by the way. Most of the cats I’ve seen on catnip seem dopey, whereas crack and coke (crack is a form of cocaine that is smoked, not snorted in lines) tend to make people tweek out. But as with all drugs, I’m sure it’s different from cat to cat.

@knitfroggy I think I watched the same exact program!
Catnip is a plant.
My cat isn’t affected by it. Either that or she’s jsut too lazy to do anything about it…