by S. August Abbott (TheCaretaker)

Created on: November 28, 2008   Last Updated: December 25, 2008

Nepetalactone! An excellent tool used almost daily with my cat rescue organization. When we have newly rescued, nervous kitties or have to re-home a cat to one of my foster caregivers, this powerful substance can make everything go much more smoothly.

It's the thing about catnip that makes cats go crazy by the way. Nepetalactone.

It not only imparts a feeling of wellbeing, but can stimulate appetite and relaxation.

And while it only works on felines, it has the potential of working on ALL felines, right up to the biggest lions and tigers in the wild. Still, before you grab a bag of nip and go lion hunting, keep in mind that not all cats react to it. Cat nip is a member of the mint family and has no mind altering effects on people, but one of the curiosities in the cat world is that even though all species of cat, from your little fluffball to the biggest, most dangerous lion or leopard, CAN respond to catnip; not all individual cats do. Researchers have found about 20% of felines don't see what the fuss is about. So 2 out of 10 of those lions you're hoping to get up close and personal with - will only see dinner being delivered (you) carrying it's own seasoning.

Kittens don't have a reaction to catnip until around 6 months old, but reportedly can be as young as 3 months; I've found that they really need to be closer to a year and again, not all cats will react to it even then.

Catnip is most effective in the dried form, but I grow it for our rescues on my habitat property and believe me, fresh seems to work quite well too.

Nip won't work if a cat has impaired sense of scent, so a kitty with upper respiratory infection may not find it very interesting until they feel better.

Cats not only enjoy the scent, but will often chew it or roll in it or even seem to fall asleep with their heads in a live plant of catnip or bowl of dried. It is harmless.

The substance that triggers the response (nepetalactone) has effects that last up to 20 minutes and after an experience with nip, it won't effect the cat again for at least an hour.

Find out more here: http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa103001a. htm

And keep the nip coming !

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