If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Catnip effect?
Hi, all,
A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. TIA, Chakolate -- On sadness: The cure for this ill is not to sit still, Or to frowst with a book by the fire, But to take a large hoe and a shovel also, And to dig till you gently perspire. --Rudyard Kipling |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
Chakolate wrote: Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. Hmmmm. I'm harking back to times in my college days when I'd hide in my room, paranoid and stoned out of my gourd. Otherwise, I'm of no help to you at all, I'm afraid! Mine don't get catnip that often. Priscilla |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
Chakolate wrote: Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. Hmmmm. I'm harking back to times in my college days when I'd hide in my room, paranoid and stoned out of my gourd. Otherwise, I'm of no help to you at all, I'm afraid! Mine don't get catnip that often. Priscilla |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"Chakolate" wrote in message .4... Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. TIA, I don't know the answer Pi, but no, I haven't noticed that sort of effect. But who knows, maybe it has that effect on him. Maybe some other cats out there react as he does (if that's what he's reacting to), or maybe it's a Pi sort of idiosyncrasy. One of my cats, Demelza, never reacted to catnip till she was about 7 yrs. old - I'd read (many sources) that approx. one-third of cats just don't ever react to catnip, so I assumed she was one of them. Till one day she reacted. Demelza becomes a 'wild woman' with catnip; funny to observe. ;-) Otoh, she short-circuits on it fairly quickly - IOW - she becomes satiated after a very short while; 5 - 10 minutes, & then ignores it & acts normal again. I've read that cats just don't OD on catnip - that they have built-in saturation points, & from what I've seen w/ my cats, I'd agree. My other cats hare wallowed in it/eaten it for 15 - 20 minutes at a time, tops. Besides Demelza, my other 3 cats have all liked catnip from when they were young (maybe 1 - 2 yrs. old), some more than others. Debbie *loved* it - dried or fresh - and her reaction was the opposite of Demelza's - Debbie would get all mellow, eating it & rolling round in it, in a happy but mellow sort of way. It appeared to really relax her, so during her last 4 - 5 years when she chronically ill (liver disease & then also CRF) I gave it to her fairly frequently - maybe 3X/week, esp. if she was going through one of her occasional medical slumps - I think it provided forget-I-don't-feel-so-hot & just-feel-relaxed-&-actively-happy interludes for her. Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"Chakolate" wrote in message .4... Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. TIA, I don't know the answer Pi, but no, I haven't noticed that sort of effect. But who knows, maybe it has that effect on him. Maybe some other cats out there react as he does (if that's what he's reacting to), or maybe it's a Pi sort of idiosyncrasy. One of my cats, Demelza, never reacted to catnip till she was about 7 yrs. old - I'd read (many sources) that approx. one-third of cats just don't ever react to catnip, so I assumed she was one of them. Till one day she reacted. Demelza becomes a 'wild woman' with catnip; funny to observe. ;-) Otoh, she short-circuits on it fairly quickly - IOW - she becomes satiated after a very short while; 5 - 10 minutes, & then ignores it & acts normal again. I've read that cats just don't OD on catnip - that they have built-in saturation points, & from what I've seen w/ my cats, I'd agree. My other cats hare wallowed in it/eaten it for 15 - 20 minutes at a time, tops. Besides Demelza, my other 3 cats have all liked catnip from when they were young (maybe 1 - 2 yrs. old), some more than others. Debbie *loved* it - dried or fresh - and her reaction was the opposite of Demelza's - Debbie would get all mellow, eating it & rolling round in it, in a happy but mellow sort of way. It appeared to really relax her, so during her last 4 - 5 years when she chronically ill (liver disease & then also CRF) I gave it to her fairly frequently - maybe 3X/week, esp. if she was going through one of her occasional medical slumps - I think it provided forget-I-don't-feel-so-hot & just-feel-relaxed-&-actively-happy interludes for her. Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Do you know, when replying to Chakolate's post, I thought I was in another
ng, w/ an OT post?! Then your reply reinforced that feeling. ;-) Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon "Priscilla Ballou" wrote in message ... In article , Chakolate wrote: Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. Hmmmm. I'm harking back to times in my college days when I'd hide in my room, paranoid and stoned out of my gourd. Otherwise, I'm of no help to you at all, I'm afraid! Mine don't get catnip that often. Priscilla |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Do you know, when replying to Chakolate's post, I thought I was in another
ng, w/ an OT post?! Then your reply reinforced that feeling. ;-) Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon "Priscilla Ballou" wrote in message ... In article , Chakolate wrote: Hi, all, A quick question if you don't mind. I give my cats quite a bit of catnip, both fresh and dried. A few weeks ago, some workmen started sandblasting the house next door, and one of my cats, Pi, got very spooked. He hid all day while they were there, making noise with the machines and shouting. A months after they had finished, he was still very easily spooked. Even the little girl who comes to visit scared him. Since her first act on visiting is always to give the cats treats, they love her and usually come running. It occurred to me that the catnip may have been exaggerating his paranoia, so I stopped it for a while. He became, slowly, his old self again. He also dropped the extra pound he'd been carrying around. As a test, I gave him more catnip last night, and he's been hiding all day. Okay, well I guess that wasn't all that quick, :-) , but here's the question: Has anybody else observed this sort of behavior? Is it really the catnip? My other cat hasn't changed a bit, with or without the catnip. Hmmmm. I'm harking back to times in my college days when I'd hide in my room, paranoid and stoned out of my gourd. Otherwise, I'm of no help to you at all, I'm afraid! Mine don't get catnip that often. Priscilla |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
"Cathy Friedmann" wrote: Do you know, when replying to Chakolate's post, I thought I was in another ng, w/ an OT post?! Then your reply reinforced that feeling. ;-) Yes, I did notice the constellation of thread participants myself. :-) Priscilla |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
"Cathy Friedmann" wrote: Do you know, when replying to Chakolate's post, I thought I was in another ng, w/ an OT post?! Then your reply reinforced that feeling. ;-) Yes, I did notice the constellation of thread participants myself. :-) Priscilla |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Catnip. The good stuff this time. | Christina Websell | Cat anecdotes | 34 | December 9th 04 01:43 AM |
Catnip again | Christina Websell | Cat anecdotes | 18 | October 24th 04 09:16 PM |
Catnip styles | Dan M | Cat anecdotes | 20 | February 8th 04 04:21 PM |