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About Catnip

Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Catnip (But Didn't Care Enough to Ask).


What Is Catnip?

(Nepata Cataria)

The history of Catnip is a long history. It goes well back to ancient Greece and Rome. Most of the Catnip in the United States was brought here by English voyagers for their kitchen gardens.

"Catnip" also known as Catmint, catnep, catrup. Catnip is a Perennial that belongs to the Mint family. The plant is native from the Eastern Mediterranean region to the Western Himalayas and has become widely introduced in North America and has been collected from as far North as Alaska.

Catnip was cultivated for cats by the classical Greeks and Romans and by the year 1265 it was a familiar herb of kitchen gardens in England. During the early medieval period the leaves and young shoots are known to have been used as a seasoning in the kitchen as they are still today.

In 15th Century England, catnip leaves were used for rubbing meats before cooking, and also sprinkled in mixed green salads. Before modern Chinese tea became widely available, catnip tea was frequently consumed in England. They also used Catnip to make their beer when the hops became too costly.

In a belief that the Catnip root would make them mean - American Hangmen would consume large quantities of catnip root prior to an execution.

Catnip is best known for inducing a euphoric response in cats. Cats purr contentedly - leap with delight and roll in ecstasy on the crushed leaves of Catnip. The response of domesticated cats has been extensively studied. Any branches of catnip that have been bruised or broken will emit the chemical "Neptalactone". The cats will at first sniff then lick and chew while shaking their heads. Followed then by chin and cheek rubbing and head over roll and body rubbing.

There are about 10-15% of cats that do not have the Catnip gene and kittens less than 2 months old do not generally react to the herb.

 


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chemical Neptalactone which is responsible for the reaction in cats is similar to the sedative for humans called Valerian.

Kitten Kaboodle has been making and selling fine Cat Toys and Gourmet Catnip on Whidbey Island since 1989. The unpolluted air and rich soil of our Catnip fields give our Catnip a reputation for being particularly appealing to felines.

Despite being a smaller business we at Kitten Kaboodle feel we can supply you with the greenest, freshest and best Catnip on the market. We never use stalks in our Gourmet Catnip and use no pesticides of any sort on the plants so you are assured of getting the purest form of Catnip.

Please contact us if you wish to order or if there are any questions.

"My Cat(s) Don’t Like Catnip."

The is a very small percentage of cats that are unaffected by Catnip. (about 10%) However if the rejection comes from a group of unrelated cats (not siblings or mother-father) the chance are that the problems lies in your Catnip. Catnip can sit on the shelves in Pet Shops for month before being purchased. In grocery stores it

can be even longer. Most of our Catnip is sold within days of being processed. Also check out the color and the content. You will never find large woody chopped up stalks, hay or straw in Kitten Kaboodle Catnip.

We use only premium Catnip Leaves dried and hand cut- immediately placed in our zip lockbags then stored in air tight containers.Although not all cats respond the same way to all so-called cat aphrodisiacs, most will go crazy over Catnip (Nepeta Cataria). Long before anyone discovered that this plant, a native of Europe, triggered a response in cats, it was used for tea and as a medicinal herb to treat a number of ailments. It is also said to be an effective mosquito repellent.


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Cats Like Christmas too!