Conference misery::feline

    My guys eat some of the catnip I give them.  I'm not sure if the dried
    pieces are a problem.  With a mouse, I'd worry about small objects or
    cloth being swallowed -- I always de-tail, de-eye, and de-bell, etc.
    catnip mice before I give them to them.
    

    I do too, Karen. I know that if I don't they will! My girls get a 
    little pile of cat nip every now & then. I give them about a tea
    spoon each, and I put it right on the carpet. The make bread on it,
    roll in it, and finally, they eat it all up! The LOVE it, and I've
    never had any problem
    
    Bon

    
    
    Once in awhile I give my kids a 1/2 teaspoon each of catnip and one
    of them eats it right up and the other one rolls in it...One gets a
    little extra energy from it and the other one just vegges out..They
    both LOVE IT...I also buy a particular catnip toy and it's the only
    one i've found so far that they can't tear apart...It's a semi small
    square cloth bag and they love it..

    I've grown my own catnip before ... needless to say, if there are any
    outdoor cats, it doesn't last too long!  The two cats I had then loved
    it fresh, especially my Old Fat Cat, who would eat it, roll in it,
    sleep in it. He looked like a sailor on leave! 
    
    It's a member of the mint family, so I don't believe there is anything
    harmful in it. 
    
    ng

       We usually plant some in the garden every summer...plant typically
    gets about 5 feet in diameterr and maybe 4-5 feet tall... You should
    see them when we snap off half a dozen foot-long sprigs and give it to
    them.....rolling around, chirping, blinking.... 
    
       But...not to worry....it seems to just make 'em happy, and as of
    this date there still is no "controlled substance" law nor drug testing
    statutes for cats...
    
      JM

Yup, nothing wrong with letting them eat catnip as long as they don't try to
drive afterwards :-).

The summer we grew catnip, we grew it in a large flower pot on the deck, which
is not very accessible from the ground due to being on the second floor; that
is, there are no stairs, but a determined feline can always climb up the side of
the house...

When we feed Tigger catnip, we put it in his (empty) bowl.  After eating it, he
puts his head in the bowl and rolls around on the floor.

Jill

We made the mistake of growing it in our herb garden one year... that
was the year that we didn't get any herbs, as the neighbor cats kept
rolling all over them in their "drunken" stupor! ;)

	-Todd

    I tried planting it once, and came back outside an hour later.  There
    weren't even any little tiny stems left, unless you looked like an
    eagle.
    

    I grew catnip for Poppy this year, and she ignored it. However,
    I cut and dried it for her and put a little of the newly dried catnip
    on her cardboard scratch box. She didn't seem overly thrilled, and
    I was so disappointed.
    
    Well, I left the room and returned about fifteen minutes later to
    find the catnip gone, and Poppy rolling on the floor licking the
    end table. 
    
    Enough said. 
    
    Kate
                   

    Mine don't like the fresh either.

    Don't ask me how I'm doing this...but I have catnip growing
    in a pot in my house...yup with 8 cats!   I hid the catnip
    plant in the middle of my house plants...and then haven't
    found it yet!!   But of course...when we are not at home...
    that room is off limits to all four legged creatures!!
    
    They all love catnip and get a bit every week.  
    
    Sandy
    
    

    RE: .11
    
    Does the catnip plant require alot of exposure to direct sunlight?
    
    What is a good growing environment for it? 

      I grow mine in the vegetable garden...which does get a good amount of
    sun. However, my veggie garden is totally surrounded by an electric
    fence---one strand of electrified wire about 3 inches off the ground
    and the other about 8 inches off the ground. There is only one spot in
    the fence where a low-spot makes the bottom wire about 6 inches from
    the ground.... This fence keeps all animals out EXCEPT for a very smart
    Bunny that I think has learned to "limbo" under the wire at that low
    spot...cause I've had him living in my carrot bed for the past 3
    years...(no...he doesn't eat my carrots...there's a large patch of
    clover right next to the garden, and rabbits prefer clover over most
    veggies...)
    
      John Mc

    My cats love catnip...especially Bear.  I managed to
    grow one large lovely plant in my garden, which I then transplanted
    to a terracotta pot so that I could bring it inside as a present to
    them.  I was so proud of it, and excited when they saw it.  I left
    the room, picturing them chewing on the leaves and sitting around it.
    Well, I come back just in time to see BEAR, practically yelling
    "TIMBER-R-RRRRR", and the one beautiful plant, on it's one single 
    stalk, plummeting to the floor.  She had chewed it off at the base
    with one bite.  
    
    So much for catnip.  The other kittens walked away in disgust, leaving
    BEAR to roll in it to her heart's desire.
    
    me

    My catnip plant has full sun in the afternoon and I water it
    twice a week.  It seems to dry out real quick!   I also noticed
    it is stretching towards the sun...so my guess is that it is not
    getting enough of it.  
    
    I also tried planting it outside...but before I could see it
    growing...cats were rolling in it!!  
    
    Sandy
    

    Seems I remember a phrase about growing catnip that says something
    about if you plant it and don't disturb it by moving or transplanting,
    then the cats will leave it alone, but if you repot or move it, they
    will be all over it.  Does anyone remember hearing this little phrase
    (poem, ditty, whatever)?
    
    Jo

I think catnip needs a fair bit of sun.  When we had our deck painted, we
brought the catnip inside and put it in the shop, which was at the time a cat-
free zone (now we try to keep it that way, but... :-)) and has windows. Bill
noticed it wasn't very happy and brought it upstairs.  Don't ask me why he
just put it down on the living room floor.  Maybe he thought it was safe, since
we had company and Tigger, our only child at the time, hid when we had company.
We proceeded to eat dinner, and on my way to the bathroom I noticed Tigger
lying sprawled out right beside the catnip, which looked a whole lot worse :-)
I think we then decided it was time to harvest the stems and whatever was left
of the leaves. :-)

Jill

    re: .16
    
    Bruising the leaves and stems releases more scent.
    

    RE:  .18
    
    
     "Bruising"

    I think it means rubbing the leaf/leaves together or between your
    fingers so that more of the aroma/smell comes out.
    
    Giudi

    Just curious - has anyone been successful with growing catnip under
    fluorescent lights at work?

    
            I start and grow catnip plants at home under lights very well.
    Just be sure they are in a pot big enough so as not to dry out too
    quick. Being a member of the mint family, they are easy to raise.
    And of course, there is nothing like a fresh catnip leaf!
    
    Denise

    Everyone keeps saying how easy catnip is to raise, but I'm not doing
    very well!   I must say that the plant I have here at work is doing
    better than it was at home in the yard, but its spindly and not
    bushy.  I keep nipping off the ends but it just isn't thriving.
    

    Is it getting enough light?   Put it directly under a flourescent light
    to get maximum benefit.  Mine is huge now.  The guys love it!  But it
    will be spindly if it doesn't get real strong light...........
    
    

    I agree...it needs alot of light.  Well I have to admit something...
    a few notes back I was bragging that I had a nice catnip plant
    in the house...with 8 cats that didn't even touch it.   Well
    I can't blame the cats for this one...because I forgot to water
    it one week...and I killed it!
    
    They need alot of light...and do not let the dirt dry out. 
    
    Sandy

    I grow 2, 10 inch hanging pots of cat nip, "prune" it through out the
    summer for drying and to bush out the plant.  I bring them indoors for 
    the winter and it they sit on the floor by the French windows.  
    Chuckie likes to lie beside a pot and graze.  I find that my other 3 
    aren't too interested unless I crush the leaves, then whatch out for 
    the fingers.
    
    

    Noticed this from riding by on a bike a few years ago:
    For those near HLO, if you go out the rear entrance and turn left
    (Hudon's ? St.; becomes Resevoir St in Marlboro if you would have
    gone right), and go down to the bottom of the hill, there is lots
    of catnip growing alongside the road.  However, if you drive,
    there is no place to park down there except in the road, and in a
    fairly dangerous area at that, and I hate being forced out into
    traffic on my bike when Mass morons park in the road.  So park at
    the nearby convenience/video stores or at HLO and walk, ok?  -kb  
    

    I'm starting a very large herb garden this year and purchased catnip
    with the idea of adding it to my herb garden along with dill, thyme,
    parsley, rosemary, etc.  Soon after putting my 5 newly purchased plants
    down on the front porch, Lea was practically on top of the catnip
    plant.  She *loved* it.  My question is, if I plant it in the ground in
    some inconspicuous place, will she still be able to find it?  Do cats
    have "radar" when it comes to seeking out catnip?  :^)

    After reading the entries in here, I'm wondering if it would be a good
    idea to not add the catnip to the herb garden.  It sounds like I need
    to plant it in a hanging pot somewhere that gets lots of sun but that's
    not really possible in this particular house.  I'm certainly aware that
    if I even attempt to bring the plant indoors that Chubs and Zelda will
    fight over it.  I gave them one leaf to share yesterday and they went
    totally bonkers!  What on earth should I do with this plant?!

    The theory is that catnip will not attract catsif it's leaves haven't been
    bruised, which releases it's scent.  That seems to work with the plant
    I have inside under grow lights, but I've never managed to plant one in
    the garden that wasn't completely "disappeared" within an hour or so.
    

    With the cold weather coming back I decided to bring the herbs in so
    they wouldn't freeze to death.  After putting them on the table I
    wondered how long they'd last.  Within 2 minutes, the "get-down" duo
    were on the table with their faces in the catnip.  Man, the stuff is
    potent!  I ended up putting the plants on the back screened in porch in
    hopes that they can handle this current cold spell.  Hopefully we'll
    have one of the outdoor gardens ready to tackle by weekend and we'll be
    able to plant everything.  If not, I'm going to have one very chewed up
    plant on my hands and a few high cats!  All I can say that cats have
    radar when it comes to catnip.  They can smell the stuff a mile away!

    
    Does catnip have a minimum age requirement?  My two are about 5 months
    old and I don't know if that's too young.
    
    ...Rania

    Contributing to a minor! :)

I've never heard of a minimum age .... but don't be too disappointed if you
get a cat who isn't into catnip.  This is a genetic selection that doesn't
always happen.  For example, I have two cats who LUV their catnip seriously,
and two with a mild interest...I call them the "social partakers".  I think
that Sam and Dilly do it more because "everyone is doing it and having so
much fun" rather than because they really get turned on.  Hana and The
Flash, however, are drug pigs...they roll in it, snort it, rub their faces
in it, and then get silly and full of giggles.  I used to have a cat that
just didn't care.  He was so confused that everyone else liked it so much.

	I've heard/read that catnip evokes a sexual response, so that cats
	who are not sexually mature shouldn't react to catnip.  In fact,
	I decided to get Spike neutered when he suddenly started showing
	interest in the catnip toys....

	Sandy

>	I've heard/read that catnip evokes a sexual response, so that cats
>	who are not sexually mature shouldn't react to catnip.  In fact,
>	I decided to get Spike neutered when he suddenly started showing
>	interest in the catnip toys....

well, as both Hana and The Flash are spayed females....it may evoke thoughts
of lust in unneutered cats, but the neutered ones seem to really have fun
too - perhaps memories of thoughts of lust?

    We are in the process of clearing the yard to build a formal herb
    garden as well as a nearby perennial garden so all of the potted plants
    are still scattered on the front porch.  There amongst several herbs
    was the catnip plant tucked away in the back of the other plants - I
    thought that since it was out of sight, it would be out of mind. 
    Wrong!  What a sap I am!!!  Some Siamese (whose name starts with LEA)
    spent part of the day rolling on all of my herbs.  It looks like a
    hurricane hit!  I give up and may as well just give the cats the plant. 
    Once they have permission to attack it, they'll probably ignore it.  :^)

    I've lost garden catnip several times - so this year I built cages for
    the plants. I got some rubber-coated fencing and made a little catnip
    corral a foot or so high around each plant. (I anchored the fence by
    running some tomato stakes through the holes and deep into the ground,
    so even if the cage gets enthusiastically rubbed against, it shouldn't
    go anywhere.) I've put screening over the top, as well. This way, cats
    can reach through the openings for a leaf or three without killing the
    plants - and maybe, someday, the plants will be big and strong enough
    to survive being left unprotected... [If not, at least the "corrals"
    are relatively unobstrusive!]
    
    -b

    
    I think I'll hold off on the catnip for now since it may get Spike in
    the mood!  I don't want to bring him or Cleo to get fixed until they
    are clear of ringworm.
    
    ...Rania

    janet, "home grown" is much more potent than store bought.  i mean,
    really, how long has the store stuff been sitting on that shelf? 

    to me, basil has a very distinct smell and i could pick it out of a
    crowded herb garden a mile away.  cats do the same with catnip or at
    least they did with my herb garden.  three attempts to grow our own
    supply of catnip turned out to be disastrous each time.  i finally
    learned my lesson when our siamese ripped the plant right out of the
    ground and carried it away.  :^)  basil has a strong anise/licorice
    type of smell to it.  catnip smells more like wet hay.  give a small
    batch of each herb to your cat - it will let you know which one is the
    catnip, assuming of course that your cat likes the stuff!

    notes 9, 304, 807, 2064, 2084 and 2099 in the old feline conference are
    related to catnip.  in particular, note 2064 is labeled ""OD"ing on
    catnip".  cat's are intelligent creatures (well, most of them are :^)
    and they know when they've had enough! 

    My crew love their catnip...especially the home grown.  We try
    to limit this for once or twice  a week.   They look forward to
    their Saturday Night Catnip Parties!!!!
    
    Some eat it...some sniff it...some blow it away...and some just
    like to roll in it!!!  Van Gogh sniffs and then grunts so it goes
    flying everywhere!!!
    
    sandy
       

    That's what Furby does! She sniffs it so hard, it goes flying all over,
    and then she rolls around in what she spread out! She gets up
    staggering, and also covered with catnip from head to toe! Too funny! 
    
    Feendoonie is a little more aristocratic about it. She mostly just eats
    it, and digs at the rug for a while. She doesn't usually roll in it.
    But give her a catnip toy, and she loses all her dignity! ;-)
    
    Yonee

    I scatter dried catnip that I buy at an organic food store over several
    feet of the kitchen, and the cats come in and roll around in it.  It
    helps to plan this so it's just before vacuum cleaning time :-)
    otherwise the catnip gets tracked throughout the house.
    

Although I have never written in this notes file, I read it often and 
find it most helpful and often humorous -- you all are a rare bunch of 
kind-hearted people and your cats are very lucky to have such good 
humans.  After reading .39 and others, I thought you might find this anecdote 
humorous . . . they had me worried there for a while :-(


Last night I let my two cats (Snoopy and Diesel) in from a day of chasing
critters and bugs around the yard all day.  They ate some cat food and 
I let them both out in the garage to use the litterbox.  (I had just 
cleaned the garage so it didn't enter my mind that they could get into 
mischief out there.)  About half an hour later they both come in.  Diesel
(as he usually does) curled up in a basket on my fireplace hearth purring
louder than a tractor (hence his name) and went to sleep -- nothing 
unusual here.

Snoopy however sort of slithered (imagine a cat slithering) around the house
unable to decide whether to close his eyes and bump into things which he 
did more than once -- or to open his eyes so wide he looked like something
from Star Trek.  His ears wouldn't even twitch when I called him but if 
I picked him up he would purr and I checked for new bumps and bruises 
(by new I mean other than the usual nose scratches he's collected which 
would allow you to play tic-tac-toe on his nose ;-) so I ruled out being 
hit by a car or drinking antifreeze, etc.  Finally, I noticed that he 
smelled like my herb garden -- so I went out to the garage and found 
that my other half thought this year's catnip harvest was garden waste
and had thrown it on top of a trash bucket where the kitties could get it. 
There was enought there (6 plants worth) to get any self-respecting kitty
higher than kite and it was *all* over the place -- so I know they had 
a blast out there. 

The funniest part had to be this morning -- Snoopy was sitting in the 
middle of the kitchen floor with his chin resting in his water bowl
hiccupping -- YES, hiccupping -- If I hadn't seen it for myself, I'd 
never have believed it but he was most definitely hung over.  I had 
trouble not laughing at him when he went to exercise his usual bad 
habit of drinking out of the toilet and almost fell in when he hiccupped 
again.  I wish I had a cam-corder for America's Funniest Home Videos. 

    
    
    
    	re: .44
    
    	bahahahahahahahahahaaaa!  giggle......
    
    	That's too funny.
    
    	I think all of us would have a great chance at winning on
    	AFHV  going by some of the stories in here...... =)
    
    	JJ
    

    HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
    
    Thanks for starting my morning off with a guffaw!
    
    :-)
    
    Nanci

Hi,  
    
    I saw this note in the Happy Birthday note, but thought I carry it over
    here and answer it, to save the mods some time in moving it here for
    me! ;-) Are you proud or what? 8-)
    
>================================================================================
>Note 16.169        Happy Birthday (to the cat, not the human!)        169 of 172
>SALEM::SHAW                                           9 lines  26-AUG-1993 06:21
>                           -< Happy B-day and more! >-
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>    
>    Roberta, happy birthday to Kelsey... ;-)
>    Now here comes my silly question. Aside from inside stuffed toys and 
>    live plants, where can I get catnip for my boys? Is is fresh or dry
>    and how do I give it to them, what form, amount etc. Thanks in advance
>    I have only been rewarding my cats with Tuna, chicken etc. but catnip
>    sounds like a treat for Friday nights ;-)
    
     As I'm sure you already know, you can get catnip, or catnip toys, or
    even seeds to grow your own catnip at most any pet store. I go to
    Haddleigh House in Sudbury, or to the same folks at cat shows and get
    fairly large quantities of catnip to make toys for my shelter kitties.
    The kind they have seems to be a favorite, but Cosmic Catnip seems to
    be a close second.
    
     I usually put a large pinch down on the floor or rug for my kids, and
    they eat it and roll in it until that small patch somehow covers my
    entire rug/floor! It must multiply when they roll in it or something!
    ;-)
    
     Anyway, I hope this helps. Imagine, a note that won't get moved for a
    change! ;-)
    
    Love,
    
     Yonee    
    Shaw

    My father has been growing herbs for over twenty years now and one of
    the most succesful items in the garden is the varieties of catnip, yes
    there are more than one.  Our family cats have enjoyed the catnip at
    their leisure, but no other cats come in and enjoy the bounty of this
    crop.
    Of course when I am cutting it down and drying it you will find our
    cats in the baskets and pulling pieces of it away to enjoy on the
    summer day.
    
    Not to  insult anyone but herbs are herbs and since mint grows like mad
    and basically sows itself that is what the catnip will do.  If you have
    a problem with the cats getting at it, this may be due to the bruising
    etc......  But read articles on what you should plant around the catnip
    and then you may divert attention.  Again we don't have any problems,
    but the cats have been living in their own garden of eden for many a
    year now.
    
    They enjoy catnip as much as any other cat and yes you should not give
    catnip to kittens under a year of age.  I can't recall the exact reason
    but my Father read it somewhere and cautioned me on this.
    
    Catnip can be consumed by humans and was used for cholic in infants. 
    Read your herb books and they will tell you exactly what can be done.
    
    Also there is a time to pick the herb so that it retains more oils than
    it would at other times.  Again grab a book and read about it.  You
    don't have to bring catnip in during the winter like the rest of the
    mint family it will come back year after year....
    
    I will admit that when growing the plant from seeds I have had little
    success with other cats staying away from it and actually watching them
    pull it from the roots, but like with anything else I imagine if they
    don't have it well they will go after it.  Any they eat other herbs in
    the garden anyway.
    
    Most people have had similar experiences with the kitties getting hold
    of it dried or fresh and the effects are as funny as they act.

    Those in the HLO (Hudson) building may want to take a walk down the
    back hill: the (kitty, har har...) corner opposite the video/pizza
    place in Hudson is loaded with catnip this year, apparently thriving
    in the [relative] cool wet weather up til now.
    
    Good stuff: my cat was last seen signing up for one of those twelve
    step programs.
    K