Concerned about catnip? Not quite sure if it’s perfectly safe? Feel unsure about feeding it to your cat and want to confirm there are no side-effects of doing so first? You’re in the right place.
In case you just want me to cut to the chase, here’s my TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) summary: catnip is safe. It’s nontoxic to cats, safe for them to smell and eat, and perfectly safe for kittens to ingest, too.
The effects of catnip wear off when you notice them wear off; they don’t linger past that point, and there are no positive or negative long-term effects on cats that result from eating catnip besides one.
That exception being: if a cat has too much catnip over a short period of time, he or she may eventually become less sensitive to its effects. But of course this has nothing to do with safety.
There are cases where catnip can make your cat ill – but these cases are rare, only ever happen if your cat has way too much catnip all at once, the symptoms are not severe, and they completely disappear, remedying themselves within very little time if you just take the catnip away from your cat while he or she recovers.
That’s my summary! Prefer to go a little more in depth about the safety of catnip? Read on ahead.
Is Catnip Safe for Cats?
Yes, catnip is safe for cats. That “freak out” your cat may or may not have after smelling or eating catnip is 100% normal, safe, and temporary. Once the effects have worn off, they have in fact completely worn off. Nothing is lasting about the effects of catnip.
Catnip is safe for cats that do react in a hyperactive way to it, and safe for cats that don’t. It’s estimated that roughly 50% of cats will have a hyperactive reaction to catnip, while the other 50% will simply be calmed by its smell and taste.
These numbers vary, however, depending on which sources you look at. Some sources will say that a third of cats react strongly, a third of cats have a moderate reaction, while the last third of cats do not react to catnip at all.
No matter which statistics are most accurate, however, the conclusion you should draw is the same – don’t think there’s anything wrong with your cat if he or she does not seem to react to catnip or care for it much at all; as stated, this is true of and completely normal for many cats – up to 50% of them, in fact.
Are There Any Long-Term Side Effects of Giving Catnip?
The only long term effect of catnip has nothing to do with safety or health.
If you give your cat catnip quite regularly, your cat may develop an immunity to its effects.
Thus, if it was one of the 30-50% of cats who react to catnip in a hyperactive manner, your cat may not react in such a way over time if you give your cat a lot of catnip without waiting long between.
While nobody knows the exact amount of catnip to give so a cat doesn’t become habituated and immune to its effects, I’ve seen reports that giving cats catnip once every two or three weeks is a good rule of thumb to keeping them very interested in and reactive to the herb.
Is Catnip Safe for Cats to Eat?
Yes, catnip is safe for cats to eat. Catnip is a herb that’s a cousin to mint, basil, and oregano – herbs we humans regularly use in the kitchen for cooking and seasoning. Ingestion is not a problem.
In fact, catnip can even be safely ingested by humans (especially when the dried leaves are made into a tea).
Catnip is sometimes used as a herbal remedy for a variety of human ailments, though not often since there are herbs that are more effective in remedying all of the ailments catnip can aid humans with.
Is Catnip Toxic to Cats?
No, it’s not. Catnip is non-toxic to cats.
Can My Cat Become Addicted to Catnip?
Absolutely not. Catnip is not an addictive substance and while you may think your cat is acting like he or she is addicted when you pull out the nip, this is just a matter of excitement and a love for the enticing or relaxing herb, not out of any addiction.
A cat’s excitement over catnip is similar to the excitement we humans feel when our favourite desert or snack is pulled out, like ice cream being pulled out of the freezer after months of not having it around.
Pull out your cat’s favourite treat or snack – with my cat, an open can of tuna – that’s the same kind of excited reaction your cat is having to the catnip being pulled out.
Again, the reaction cats have to catnip being pulled out is one of excitement – not addiction.
Can My Cat Get Sick from Catnip?
While it’s perfectly safe for your cat to ingest catnip, it is possible for a cat to become ill from eating too much catnip.
What does sickness from eating too much catnip look like? Vomit or diarrhea.
Yup, that’s it! And once your cat stops eating catnip and is given a little time to recover, all the symptoms of “overdosing,” so to speak, will disappear. Again, catnip has no lasting effects.
Is Catnip Safe for Kittens?
Absolutely, catnip is safe for 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.
It’s perfectly safe to give a kitten small amounts of catnip, however.
That being said, kittens don’t develop the ability to react to catnip until they are around 3-6 months of age.
And since you’re likely thinking of giving your kitten catnip to see him or her react hyper-actively to it, giving a kitten who’s younger than 6 months of age may be a little useless considering this fact.
You can always give your kitten a little bit of catnip once a month past the 3 month point to see if and when he or she starts reacting to catnip, and whether he or she is part of the 50% that are only relaxed by it, or the 50% that become hyperactive due to its smell or taste.
But don’t be surprised, however, if you don’t get any sort of reaction until month 6!
Did You Know Catnip Was Safe?
What did you think about catnip in terms of safety of a cat ingesting it prior to reading this article?
Did you ever worry that it was unsafe for cats considering many cats’ hyperactive reaction to it? Did you think it might be addictive?
Have you ever had a cat vomit or have diarrhea from having too much catnip? How much catnip do you think a cat would have to ingest before these types of physical reactions took place? Ever had a cat develop an immunity to catnip over time?
Let me know down below!
I recently got a new kitten and most of the toys I could find for her have catnip in them. Are toys with catnip and pure catnip different? Is it safe for her to play with predominantly catnip toys?
It’s definitely safe for her to play with catnip toys. They usually just stuff toys with pure catnip, placing it in the center, or spray it with a catnip oil/spray, which is the very same thing in the end.
If you’d like to give your kitten’s catnip toys a “refresh” because they’re not so potent after a while and she starts getting bored of them, you can buy catnip oil to spray on her toys or catnip itself to rub onto the toy. Just don’t do this more than once a week based on what I’ve read. I probably refresh my cat’s toys with a spray every two months. Basically, I wait until my cats literally don’t care about the toys in question anymore, and assume that’s because the smell has worn off, then those toys get a spray of catnip, and it’s like it gives them a second life.
Hope that helps!
I have a rowdy 9 week old kitten named Missy. She is a fireball, running and jumping all over the place for hours at a time! She claws and bites anything that moves, including fingers, hands, arms and feet! We’ve tried redirecting her behavior with toys like balls and dangly wands. We are thinking of trying catnip in her food. I know you said it may not work, but we thought about giving it a try periodically to see if she was one of the ones it would calm down. How much should we sprinkle in, and how often could she have it? Thanks for your help – we’re getting a little weary of nursing bleeding extremities!
Comment to Donna: A stray kitten started making our yard her “safe place” to cat nap and sun in the afternoon. At that time I estimated her age to be about two to three months old. She did not fit the description as feral, and kind of fit the description as a stray kitten. Anyway, being a cat lover (have to house cats) and having nine cats (all six week old kittens) over the past thirty years. Decided to see if I could tame and socialize the kitten. So I started putting fresh food and water out for her a couple times a day. I did not attempt to approach the kitten for three weeks, then week four visual contact by letting the kitten see me putting out her food. Following two months was a slow and patient allowing the kitten to approach me on her own. Then started playing with her with toys: mouse on a string tied to a stick, rolled up towel, etc. but still no physical contact. Then one day she decided I was her friend and probably surrogate mother. But from day one to about a week ago, I dressed for battle. Leather gloves, thick canvas type pants, tennis shoes and socks, shirt and sometimes jacket. I still wear leather gloves and canvas type pants when playing with her, and I’ve still been scratched a couple times requiring immediate disinfecting with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, disinfecting soap then topical antibiotic.
re: Catnip – Some of my cats mellowed when given catnip and some of them became excited.
I plan on having my vet spay her, check up and first shots, then will put her up for adoption.
Just trying to get the real truth, and not that I’m a tree-hugging ASPCA member or anything, but why would the ASPCA specifially say catnip is toxic to cats?
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/catnip
I’m not 100% sure, but I think the toxicity they mean is they can’t have it *as much as they want* with no repercussions – it does lead to vomiting or diarrhea (which I’ve mentioned in the post and they’ve listed as the only two “clinical signs” of toxicity on their site), rather than simply having no effect on them no matter how much they eat. Does that make sense? If anybody knows the answer to this question and whether or not I was on the right track, do chime in please!
Recovering in “very little time” turns out to be more of a few days of diarrhea. At least with fresh cat nip which turns out is much more potent than dried. My kitten had a party with our plant and has had bad diarrhea since then.
Thanks for sharing, hope those few days weren’t too messy! Kittens sure do know how to get themselves into trouble, don’t they?
Catnip is good for humans too! So, there’s that going for it too…
Yes indeed! Which is strange to think about sometimes, how much we associated it with cats, yet many used it as a herbal remedy for humans in the past, maybe without even knowing how cats react to it!
We love catnip ! Great information ! Purrs
Thanks! Enjoy your nip! 😉
Interesting post. I am glad it is safe because my cats all love it. 🙂
Absolutely agree! 🙂 Even though Avery doesn’t get hyperactive when he smells or eats it, he sure does love the stuff!
We eat catnip all the time. Sometimes with the fresh kind, I’ll throw it up afterwards. But I do that with grass too. ~Wally
Oh that’s true about fresh catnip being like cat grass in that way.