I guess I’m the lone voice of dissent - my cats don’t get nip, never have, and never will (from us, anyway). I think it is not right to give an animal something that makes them crazy and mean. The way I see it, catnip is indeed a drug for cats, and since I’m completely responsible for their health, that includes not giving them drugs solely for my amusement.
Honeysuckle, however, is a different story. I consider catnip to be like a drug for cats, but honeysuckle is like candy - they like it a lot, but they don’t get stoned on it.
The point is, do THEY enjoy it? If so, it’s not solely for your amusement, then, is it? And it IS harmless…
Cats, as we all know, are picky - they wont ingest something just because you put it in front of their nose (unlike most dogs I’ve owned and/or known :rolleyes: ). So let them choose - offer it, and if they want it, well, you’re not only taking care of their health by offering stimulus and exercise, you’re making them happy! ('nip makes my my two old cats play like kittens, until they can’t play no more),
Catnip’s also known as catmint, emphasis on mint. Many years ago, I had a cat who’d go berserk whenever I used Ben-Gay. She’d try to claw through clothing and bedding to lick it off me, with a frenzy I saw only when she was stoned on regular catnip.
She was small and meek, but a mean drunk on the weed.
Many cats like any sort of mint. I’ve tried growing spearmint in my flowerbed (spearmint is notorious for invading other territory, and my flowerbed would contain it) and all the neighborhood cats would come over to my place and love on the new spearmint seedlings.
