Can Catnip Be Bad For Kittens

Ingesting catnip has no effect on a cat it s the nepetalactone vapour that the catnip gives off that your cat reacts to.

Can catnip be bad for kittens. It s perfectly safe to give a kitten small amounts of catnip however. In fact don t be surprised if your cat doesn t show any interest in them at all. Some cats become like a lazy drunk while others get a wired up crazy. It s found to be neither toxic nor addictive so you can freely use it as a reward or training aid.

Can cats eat catnip. While most cats enjoy the herb dried or fresh they re usually less interested in catnip sprays which generally don t contain enough nepetalactone to appeal to most felines. Absolutely catnip is safe for kittens. Catnip gets its name from the way cats react to it.

What is the safe dose. Although catnip is totally harmless and safe around kittens both to smell and to eat it isn t necessarily effective. When the cat smells catnip the scent molecules travel to a receptor above the palate in the roof of the mouth known as the vomeronasal organ aka jacob s organ. Catnip has been proven to be safe for cats although excessive amounts may result to a short spell of diarrhea.

The herb s influence is genetic so not all cats respond to it according to the humane society of the united states. The only danger of your cat eating too much catnip is that they might get an upset stomach. Below we cover exactly what catnip is if it s good for cats and its various effects. If a kitten is going to be a catnip lover you usually can tell that when he is 3 to 6 months old.

Catnip is generally safe for kittens. Many people remember a south park episode where cartman s kitty throws a wild party and the catnip is treated like cocaine by all the hard partying cats no kitty that s a bad kitty. You can rub it on scratching posts stuff it into socks for a simple toy and sprinkle it into new beds among others. One thing that is important to note about using catnip for kittens is that some may attempt to eat it in addition to just sniffing it or playing with it inside of a pet toy.

Other than that there is zero reason to worry if catnip is bad for cats. The good news is catnip is non toxic to cats of any age including kittens. But of course you won t want to give a kitten too much catnip as over ingesting can lead to vomit and diarrhea and kittens have much smaller bodies and thus lower tolerances in general than full grown cats. Unlike fresh and dried catnip plant leaves stems and seeds most catnip sprays contain so small an amount of nepetalactone to be appealing to cats.

These hard wired preferences aren t immediately apparent though since kittens under the age of 3 months don t react to catnip at all. Among those cats who do like catnip you ll find two basic kinds of reactions.