There is nothing a cat likes more than a good piece of catnip. Catnip has other purposes such as medical uses, but the catnip is most commonly known for its association with cats. Domestic cats have the most reaction to the catnip rather than larger cats such as cougars and tigers. A tiger is very sensitive to catnip and cannot enjoy it the way house cats can. A cat’s reaction to the catnip according to research studies is hereditary. Not all cats will be affected by it.
Catnip’s main ingredient is nepetalactone, which is chemical compound that is found in the catnip plant. A cat can recognize the smell of catnip through its vomeronasal. Once a cat locates the catnip it can do several things with it. A cat may rub its face on it, roll it’s body back and forth with it, most cats will lick and chew it, causing the best effect. You know your cat is happy with it when he gets a hold of it and you can hear the meowing and the purring, two signs of a cats’ happiness.
The euphoric reaction you see in your cat will only last a few minutes. They can get the same feeling again but not right away, a cat’s system has to let the old catnip run it’s course and they in a couple of hours they can do it all over again. Older cats and extremely young cats will not have any real reaction to it but a cat of about 4 or 5 to about the age of 8 or 9 will be in it’s prime to enjoy the cat nip.
Many cat toys a have catnip in them but you have to be careful. Diabetic cats will have a severe reaction to catnip. Make sure that your cat has no allergies that can be related to catnip or any other ingredient in catnip products.
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