What You May Not Know About Catnip

Did you know that catnip comes from the mint family? And here you thought it came from the pet store. What you may not know about catnip.  Really, catnip is a herb that grows in the soil. Catnip comes from the plant Lamiaceae which is from the genus Nepeta and of the species Cataria. There are over 200 species of this plant! It is obvious that catnip has deep origins. Now that we got all that out of the way, do you know why your kitty goes nuts over catnip? To put it simply, there is a alluring chemical composition in the Nepeta Cataria plant. What is this magical substance you ask that can send your kitty to a state of bliss? It’s the substances known as nepetalactone, which is the active ingredient secreted from the leaves and stems of the catnip plant.

Nepetalactone oil is extremely volatile which means that is dissipates very rapidly. The fresher the catnip the higher the potency of oil. It is the oil from the catnip plant that drives cats mad. A fresh leaf from the catnip plant has the highest potency. One fresh leaf is stronger than that old catnip mouse, in fact, one fresh leaf from the catnip plant is stronger than the bag of catnip you just picked up at the pet store. As with most things in life, fresher is always better. Like every plant from the mint family, the catnip plant has a short shelf life. The main reason catnip looses it’s effect is due to the nepetalactone oil. This oil in the catnip plant is UV photosensitive. It is for this reason that you need to store catnip in a dark, cool and dry place for maximum freshness. Therefore, unless you play on giving that whole tub of catnip you just bought to your kitty you should probably stick with smaller quantities of catnip.