Is cat nip really a drug???
Their wacky, daydreamy state is actually a response to the herb’s powerful natural chemical, trans-nepetalactone. It’s almost identical to the essence excreted by female cats, which is why tom cats seem to love catnip the most. However, this doesn’t explain why females love it as well. Catnip was once thought to be an aphrodisiac, but scientistic tests have squelched that theory. Cats aren’t attacted to it until they are at least two months old. If introduced to catnip prior to this age, most cats will not respond to it at all when they are older. The herb valerian will give cats the same sense of ecstasy as catnip. Valerian is a mild stimulant and, though it doesn’t do any harm, it shouldn’t be offered to cats with kidney ailments. By the way, both catnip and valerian produce ecstasy through the odor, not the taste. Nepeta is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The members of this group are known as catnips or catmints because of their famed effec
