Hi All
I have a kitten who absolutely loves catnip so I was thinking o growing it in my garden. What I need to know is, will it attract al the cats in our area?
Also, I buy the dried out catnip from the vet, but do cats like i fresh out of the garden?
Thanks Mozi
-- Mozie
My catnip patch does not, but I have a fenced yard. Some kitties come into the yard anyway but they've never bothered the catnip patch.
Mine sure do! :-) They will eat a fresh, bruised leaf right out of my hand!
And this way I know for sure it's organic......
Welcome! Catnip is also known as "cat mint" and is in the mint family. It's VERY easy to grow and spreads nicely. I grow it with my asparagus every year. It is also good to brew as a cough medication but be careful. Brew it too strong and you will get buzzed. Catnip can make humans "high" too!
Cheers!
Yes. They will likely destroy it, especially if you have a big stoner tomcat within range.
Oh my goodness yes... When I grow it, I use a hanging planter...
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
Hi All
growing it in my garden. What I need to know is, will it attract all the cats in our area?
fresh out of the garden?
Mozie wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@gardenbanter.co.uk:
Depends on your cats... If they chase them away, the other cats won't come back after a while.
We had catnip in a container of water (I never did put it in the ground) and the bees just loved that area. At any given time on any given day, there'd be 4-5 of them enjoying themselves. I don't know if it was the cat nip, water, or both, but they didn't bother anyone/anything.
Puckdropper
We have cats around the neighborhood and none of them have shown any interest in getting into my 'nip patch. Of course, 'nip on affects a percentage of cats, not all of them. If they don't have the 'nip gene, they could care less about the stuff.
My two kitties perfer it dried over fresh, for some reason. The best thing to do is take about three "sprigs", heat up the oven and then throw them in. That is how I dry it for them. The 'nip scent goes all over the house - strong - and the cats just go bonkers. It's quite funny to watch.
You could always plant it in a container and bring it in with you at night (locked up in a kitty-free room), to avoid any neighborhood kitty attacks.
chula
Thanks Chula. Am I right in saying CatNip is almost like a "drug" t cats? But it's not BAD for them is it
-- Mozie
I've read a lot of the research in cat magazines as that question is asked a lot, and the conclusions is that no, it does not hurt the kitties. ;-)
Cats are great, but lets not idolise them!
"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshiped as Gods. They have never forgotten this..."
-- Anon
And more cat quotes from my "cat humor" files:
To preserve, Protect, Perpetuate and Promote the Traditional Cat.
"Managing senior programmers is like herding cats." - Dave Platt
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast." - Unknown
"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." - Heinlien
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." - Jeff Valdez
"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb
"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." - Ellen Perry Berkeley
"One cat just leads to another." - Ernest Hemingway
"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." - Mary Bly
"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia." - Joseph Wood Krutch
"People that hate cats, will come back as mice in their next life." - Faith Resnick
"There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." - Asimov
"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." - Hippolyte Taine
"No heaven will not ever Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me."
- Unknown
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
- Albert Schweitzer
"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart." - Ernest Menaul
"Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God."
"Time spent with cats is never wasted." - Colette
"Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well." - Missy Dizick
"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats." - Colonial American proverb
"Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want." -Joseph Wood Krutch
"I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic"
"My husband said it was him or the cat ... I miss him sometimes."
Hi moz. Look in my experience cats are pretty disinterested in catni but cats and certain other animals (sheep) are mad about cat thyme teucrium is a very pretty little rockery plant and I think it's becaus of its medicinal qualities (worming) that they go for it. When ive grow it commercially i couldn't work out at first why it wasn't thrivng the I noticed the cat eating it :-
-- godwin
Cats go bonkers for Valerian root too!
OmManiPadmeOmelet expounded:
I've got catnip in my garden, they don't pay any attention to it. I had valerian out there, and they rolled on it until it was flattened.
I had some dried in a plastic container for tea. They found it and rolled the container all over the room trying to get to it!
Cats are like people. No two are alike. I've grown catnip for at least 10 years. I let it seed itself & move plants around to an open spot in the flower beds.
We have strays wander through, but I've never seen them pay any attention to the garden plants. One of our cats used to wait until the plants were about 6 inches high, then eat the plant down to the roots. While she was with us we had to cage a plant to get it to full size.
Our last cat was only interested in commercial dried catnip. She paid no attention to our homegrown whether it was fresh or dried.
Jim
OmManiPadmeOmelet expounded:
If you sow it, cats won't know it, if you set it, cats will get it!
My mom is an herbalist, that's a little ditty she heard somewhere. She thinks it has more to do with releasing the volatile oils when you move the plant, that'll draw attention to the plant.
Every cat I've owned has loved it fresh.
The solution is to grow it in hanging baskets. That way the cats can't get to it.
--
Maybe and probably.
To grow it in your yard, find a neat old birdcage at a yard sale, throw away the bottom pan and set the cage over your plants. That way, the cats can't roll on the plants and crush them.
I don't know if cats like fresh catnip. I pick the leaves off of my plants and dry them in the microwave. (Put a paper towel on a plate, layer fresh leaves on half of it, fold the paper towel over the leaves, and nuke them for 30 seconds at a time. Keep doing that until they are bone-dry. It won't take more than 1-1/2 minutes, in my experience.
If you have trouble with mice in your garden or greenhouse, plant catnip. Mice don't like it. (Maybe because it attracts cats, I don't know. The way I heard it was that mice don't like any of the mint family, and catnip is a mint.)
Jan
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