# From how far away can a cat sense catnip? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217 "2005-10-27T22:43:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/1 "2005-10-27T22:43:26Z")
If I were to grow it on my back porch would it bring boat loads of little druggy kitties? Or only a passing stray that came within 5 feet? ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/2 "2005-10-27T22:46:01Z")
You might get a flock of kitties, you might not get anything at all. My kitty doesn’t care much for the 'nip. She just kind of sniffs it and goes away. I think she’s a straight-edger. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/3 "2005-10-27T22:52:53Z")
I had planted some catnip in an antique iron washpot at our old house. Mr. SCL went outside one night just in time to see a neighborhood tomcat dragging off the entire plant! Talk about druggies! ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/4 "2005-10-27T23:13:18Z")
I grew catnip on my apartment patio, and I grew it now in my back yard. But I also feed the area strays. I can say they’re always much more interested in the food than the nip. In fact, of all the ones that came for the food, only a few of them stopped for a hit. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/5 "2005-10-28T00:30:34Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > If I were to grow it on my back porch would it bring boat loads of little druggy kitties? Or only a passing stray that came within 5 feet? Since it is the smell that entices cats, it could attract them from as far as the smell could be smelled. Given cat’s effective noses, and outdoor breezes, it could be quite a bit further than 5 feet. But “little druggy kitties”? If you really mean immature kittens, they aren’t very likely. The attractant in catnip seems to be that it smells similar to sexual pheronomes given off by cats. Kittens are not sexually mature, and so are generally indifferent to catnip. (Though often attracted when they see older cats playing with catnip. _Anything_ other cats play with attracts kittens!) Some studies have even indicated that neutered cats (especially if neutered young) have decreased response to catnip. And some cats, for unknown reasons, seem to have no response to catnip. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/6 "2005-10-28T01:11:16Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > If I were to grow it on my back porch would it bring boat loads of little druggy kitties? Or only a passing stray that came within 5 feet? My sister has cats who go bonkers for dried catnip, but she says they don’t pay any attention to the pot of catnip growing in the living room unless she actually crushes a leaf to get their attention. She thinks that fresh catnip simply doesn’t produce enough scent. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![bzwilak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@bzwilak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bzwilak)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/7 "2005-10-28T01:20:52Z")
Cat lover here. I have four of the little buggers. In season, I have a catnip patch in my backyard. It’s approx’ 50 sq ft. Live catnip is a lot stronger than dried catnip. A former neighbor had a kitty that used to get outside and wouldn’t want to come back. I’d give the neighbor lady some fresh nip leaves, and kitty would come a runnin! She had tried food, but that didn’t entice him at all. Kitty could smell the fresh nip leaves at least 50 yards away, by my estimation. This brings up an interesting question that I have always wondered about. **Do any jungle cats and other non-house cats react to catnip?** ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/8 "2005-10-28T13:03:59Z")
> [@bzwilak](#): > > Do any jungle cats and other non-house cats react to catnip? I have no idea, but the image of Bengal Tiger going all goofy over catnip has me giggling. Now there’s a video I’d like to see! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/9 "2005-10-28T13:07:02Z")
1. Our cats can apparently sense it from anywhere inside the house. 2. We have a large catnip plant growing in our front yard herb garden. Although we have a pretty cat-intensive neighborhood, it’s not as if they perpetually crowd around the plant. We will, occasionally, find one lying on their belly, blissed out, near the plant. But an awful lot less often than you’d think. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/10 "2005-10-28T17:09:00Z")
> [@bzwilak](#): > > **Do any jungle cats and other non-house cats react to catnip?** [Yep](http://science.howstuffworks.com/question303.htm) No video though, sorry… I’d love to see it too! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/11 "2005-10-28T19:23:53Z")
> [@bzwilak](#): > > **Do any jungle cats and other non-house cats react to catnip?** [Cecil said so, 29 years ago tomorrow.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_008.html) > [@](#): > > The odor released from the crushed leaves of Nepeta cataria, as this small mint plant is known, seems to affect only members of the cat family, lions and tigers not excepted. Even cats from parts of the world where catnip is unknown immediately succumb to the aroma. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-how-far-away-can-a-cat-sense-catnip/328217/12 "2005-10-28T23:01:33Z")
Nepeta Cataria? How about Stondia Catisamoungus? More apt, I think. 😉