What Does Catnip Do To Kittens

Cats are receptive to a volatile oil an oil that evaporates in the air found in the stems and leaves of the catnip herb.

What does catnip do to kittens. In fact catnip produces a response of avoidance in young kittens. Catnip is a perennial herb which means it grows through more than one growing season and it contains an ingredient called nepetalactone. Catnip s allure is in its volatile oil specifically one chemical in that oil nepetalactone. If a kitten is going to be a catnip lover you usually can tell that when he is 3 to 6 months old.

Cats may react to the plant by rolling around flipping over and generally being hyperactive. Found in catnip s leaves stems and seeds it only takes one or two sniffs of that wondrous oil. The herb s influence is genetic so not all cats respond to it according to the humane society of the united states. It is this naturally occurring chemical that kittens and cats react to by becoming more active purring and rolling or even licking and drooling some may eat the catnip as well.

The behavior may not fully develop until the kitten is 3 months old. A catnip response usually does not occur in older cats or cats that are fearful or stressed. When a cat eats catnip it acts as a sedative but when smelled it causes the cat to go crazy. When cats get a whiff of catnip they.

So all that will really happen if your kitty decides to break into the secret catnip stash. According towikipedia nepetalactone is an organic compound first isolated from the plant catnip nepeta cataria which acts as a cat attractant this compound is the secret ingredient that will get your cat higher than a kite. It is thought to mimic feline pheremones and trigger those receptors. So what does catnip do to cats.

Kittens will not show the catnip reaction until they are at least 7 to 8 weeks old.