Should Kittens Have Catnip

Eating a small amount of catnip is unlikely to cause a cat any harm.

Should kittens have catnip. The chemical compound in the plant that attracts and affects cats is called nepetalactone. Kittens although catnip is totally harmless and safe around kittens both to smell and to eat it isn t necessarily effective. Although catnip may seem like a drug rotman confirms that it s not addictive for cats. The herb s influence is genetic so not all cats respond to it according to the humane society of the united states.

Catnip nepeta cataria is a perennial herb that is a member of the mint family. Kittens whether they possess the gene or not generally do not react to catnip until they are from six to nine months old. It can grow to be up to three feet. If a kitten is going to be a catnip lover you usually can tell that when he is 3 to 6 months old.

Can kittens have catnip. The only major problem with giving catnip itself to a kitten is that it will do nothing for the kitten. Can kittens have catnip yes. Should they have it is another question.

While most cats do about 15 percent reportedly do not. 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. Ingesting catnip has no effect on a cat it s the nepetalactone vapour that the catnip gives off that your cat reacts to. He does mention that catnip sometimes makes cats aggressive though.

Try reintroducing the catnip then and you will probably find that your cat will greatly enjoy it. Catnip is generally safe for kittens. If you have a multi cat household it s. Absolutely catnip is safe for kittens.

If he s still young give it some time. It is found in the leaves and. It s perfectly safe to give a kitten small amounts of catnip however. Newborn kittens aren t usually responsive to catnip at all until they are about 3 months of age.

These hard wired preferences aren t immediately apparent though since kittens under the age of 3 months don t react to catnip at all. Well catnip provides obvious pleasure for many cats. He may wind up falling in love with his catnip toys when he gets a little older but don t be discouraged if he never seems to care. 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.

The ability to appreciate the herb is genetic with slightly more cats in the fan club than not. Your cat is among the lucky ones by the way since some cats don t react to catnip at all. Not all felines respond to catnip.