Giving Your Cat Catnip/We Gave Ours Cats Some!

We gave Dusty catnip last night and he went nuts. He didn't want more but he tore up a cat nip pillow and tried to rip the bell off of this catnip toy mouse. (Ah, I should mention that Dusty plays ROUGH with his toys. They don't last long and we try to buy durable ones. I also pick the free cattails/foxtails from the nursery around our house.) The two toys didn't matter to him before we gave him some catnip. His pupils got all weird, like when he hunts. Oh and mom put his new collar on so he was acting like a doofus and bucking around much like a horse. It was probably a bad idea to give him catnip and then put a new collar on him.
Sassy reacted much like I thought she would, she didn't care about it and even went as far as to snub it.
How did your cat(s) react to catnip the first time? Still the same, even now? If you have a catnip story feel free to share it!

 

I haven't tried catnip because my cat already acts like a surly teenager, so giving her catnip would be like giving speed to a bratty 17 year old girl.
I don't want to log on to Facebook and see photos of my cat in a bra making the duck face and saying "When I turn 18, I am so out of here."

 

Oh jeez, I see where your decision comes from! That could be a disaster.
Hahahahaha! That is a funny visual!! I would like that picture......and then share it with all of my friends so we could have a laugh, much to your cats chagrin.

 

Bandit gets crazy! He gets very dominating, I usually sprinkle cat nip into a cardboard box, so he doesn't make a mess, its a tiny box but he will crawl into it roll around and freak out. He acts like he is playing or over excited, eyes wide, quick movements, and will continue eating it until there is none left. He even tries to dig in the cardboard box for more. He wont let pussington near it.

I think I posted on another thread about him finding the stash and eating it? We had catnip in an airtight sealed container on a shelf. He climbed up to the shelf, brought down the tub and took the lid off. He didn't chew through it, there was no holes in the lid or box, he simply used his teeth and paws to take the lid off, tipped it over and ate the whole tub.....

 

Oh! Okay, so Dusty did have a.....regular reaction. He didn't keep trying to eat it but he was rolling around with his toys. The cardboard box is a really good idea!! We might have to do that for future catnip exploration. Bandit sounds like he would be hilarious to watch! It's cute that he was even digging the box for more!
I remember you posting about, he was very naughty! And very intelligent, definitely a force to be reckoned with.

 

Seems Dusty and Bandit are the same, I assume it is normal haha! Just be careful multiple times Bandit has been so excited / so fat that he has flipped the box over on himself, making even more mess!

 

Oh jeez, he flipped the box over? Sounds like it's time to get the vacuum! Dusty is pretty experienced in boxes, I hope that factors in and he doesn't flip it.

 

Oh, wow, that must have been a hilarious experience! My cats always ignored catnip. Alice hasn't been presented with any yet, but Sibyl and Dorian both ignored it when it came into the house. Someone bought us a gift that was a decorated mat full of cat nip. Nope! Dorian would lay on it sometimes, but that was as far as it went. Watch, with my luck, Alice will go just as crazy if I give it to her!

 

It was!! It will be interesting to see Alice's first reaction! Maybe Scottyxx's idea of a box can be implemented to minimize any craziness/damage, haha! Dorian and Sibyl sound like they reacted much like Sassy- they just didn't care! In retrospect, it would have been weird to see Sassy act silly. Dusty is a court jester and Sassy is queen, it would have been "unbecoming"!

 

Sassy and Sibyl sound very, very similar. I think our cats are soulmates, friend-mates, something. Lol. She thinks she's queen of everything and acts very much like you've described Sassy.

 

I was watching a really interesting short documentary talking on the effects of catnip on cats, lol, those cats in the documentary looked high as heck! It was so fun to watch, I'd actually like to see my Bob losing some control and letting himself go I might get some catnip for him later on

 

Was there anything in the documentary which says what is in catnip that makes cats go nuts? I'd love to see this documentary you've seen.

 

Here is a really good video that explain how catnip works: I recommend it! It explains so well how and why cats get so high on catnip, I bet you'll never see catnip the same way again By the way, I couldn't find the documentary online