# Is it good to get my cat stoned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058 "2002-05-14T18:59:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Black\_Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Black\_Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Lizard)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058/1 "2002-05-14T18:59:59Z")

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Well today I introduced my kitty to the wonderful world of catnip! I bought a few toys that were stuffed with the magical herb, and to go with the toys I purchased a container of the herb as well.

Well kitty just loves his toys (much amusement for him), but I wanted some enterainment out of this adventure also 🙂

Lets see what kitty does when catnip is rubbed into the wall, needless to say the wall made a new friend that day. But it was still not the effect I was looking for.

(next day)

Feed kitty catnip. Straight from the container. Not mixed with anything!

Wow! the results were shocking! Kitty went total spaz! This lasted for about 10-15 minutes, then he just kinda settled in one spot and rested there for about an hour with eyes that were somewhat glazed over.

And now the question!

Is it safe to feed kitty catnip? How good can it be for kitty? Could there be any lasting effects?

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**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058/2 "2002-05-14T19:18:25Z")

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Cecil answered a question about cats and catnip, but didn’t offer much in the way of explanation on how it works. I’m not sure how extensively it’s been studied, so the reality is probably that we just don’t know whether its bad for cats. In order to test it, you’d have to perform fairly invasive procedures on a large number of cats, and people who get angry at laboratory treatment of animals, cat lovers, and the like would probably not like that.

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**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058/3 "2002-05-14T19:22:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _from [http://www.penmarric.ns.ca/catcare/usefulinfo/catnip.htm](http://www.penmarric.ns.ca/catcare/usefulinfo/catnip.htm) :_  
> "Feline catnip addicts are lucky though, because they suffer absolutely no side effects from this, unlike humans do when they smoke cannabis, a “kissing cousin” to catnip. Catnip is not the only plant to have this effect on felines. VALERIAN is another one, plus plants that contain ACTINIDINE.
> 
> “The strange action of these plants though is the strangest thing of all to understand. If any of these plants were given internally, instead of putting FRISK back into the word FRISKY, the actually sedate the cat. It is strange indeed, when they are “uppers” when sniffed, and “downers” when swallowed.”

[What is it with cats and catnip?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_008.html)

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**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-good-to-get-my-cat-stoned/109058/4 "2002-05-14T21:34:53Z")

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Dude, getting your cat stoned is the ninth deadly sin (according to Conan).

Oh, with catnip. Nevermind.