Home About Cats Cat Links Catpedia Cat Sitters Contact Us Forums  

 

 

 

 
     
     
 

Scatty Cats online resource for cat lovers, breeders and owners.
We are devoted to providing a wealth of invaluable information, details and contacts for cat owners and breeders
 

  
       
       
 

Nepeta curviflora

Nepeta is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The members of this family are known as catnips or catmints.

The genus is native to Europe, Asia and Africa, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region east to China. Most of the species are herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annuals. They have sturdy stems with opposite heart-shaped, green to greyish-green leaves. The flowers are white, blue, pink or lilac and occur in several clusters toward the tip of the stems.

Nepeta cataria flowers Nepeta cataria flowers

Nepeta cataria (Catnip, True Catnip, Catmint or Field Balm) is a 50–100 cm tall herb resembling mint in appearance, with greyish-green leaves; the flowers are white, finely spotted with purple. It has been introduced to many countries, and is now a widespread weed in some areas, including the United States. A lemon-scented cultivar, N. cataria 'Citriodora' looks exactly like true catnip, but has the scent of, and can be used like Lemon balm.

Nepeta grandiflora (Giant Catmint or Caucasus Catmint) is lusher than true catnip, and has dark green leaves and dark blue, almost purple flowers.

Nepeta × faassenii (N. racemosa × N. nepetella; Faassen's Nepeta or Faassen's Catnip) is mostly grown as an ornamental plant. This hybrid is far smaller than either of above, and is almost a ground cover. It has with greyish-green leaves and light purple flowers.

Some Dracocephalum, Glechoma and Calamintha species were formerly classified in Nepeta.

Effects on cats

Catnip and catmints are mainly known for, and named after, the effects they have on cats, particularly domestic cats. Approximately two thirds of cats are susceptible to the effects of catnip, as the phenomenon is hereditary.

Catnip contains nepetalactone, a terpene, that is thought to mimic feline sex pheromones. Cats detect it through their vomeronasal organs. When cats sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip, they will rub in it, roll over it, paw at it, chew it, lick it, leap about, then purr loudly, growl, and meow. This reaction only lasts for several minutes before the cat loses interest. It takes up to two hours for the cat to "reset" and then it can come back to the catnip and have the same response as before. Young kittens and older cats are less likely to have a reaction to catnip but big cats, such as tigers, seem to be extremely sensitive to it.

Cat owners do not need to worry about allowing their cats access to catnip because there are, for the most part, no negative side effects to it. However, some cats become overly excited when exposed to catnip, and so aging cats with heart troubles should not be given catnip.

Other plants that also have this effect on cats include Valerian and plants that contain actinidine or dihydroactinidiolide (Smith, 2005).

At least three species attract cats, Nepeta cataria, N. grandiflora and N. × faassenii, but most other species have not been tested. Of these, both true catnip and Faassen's catnip have a sharp, biting taste, while the taste of giant catmint is bland.

References and external links

 
 
       
 

UK Cat Breeders & Catteries

 

  
 

Cat Web Sites





 		  
     
 

Cat Sitting, Cat Sitters, About Cats, Cats Kittens, Cat Breeds, Cat Breeders, Cat Links, Cat Sites, Catteries, Feline, Cat Owners, Cat Sitting, Cat Forums, Ailurophilia, Cat Fanciers, Felidae World, Feline Rescue, Feline World
 

  
 

England Bedfordshire Cat Sitters  Berkshire Cat Sitters  Bristol Cat Sitters  Buckinghamshire Cat Sitters  Cambridgeshire Cat Sitters  Cheshire Cat Sitters  Durham Cat Sitters  Cornwall Cat Sitters  Cumbria Cat Sitters  Derbyshire Cat Sitters  Devon Cat Sitters  Dorset Cat Sitters  East Sussex Cat Sitters  East Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Essex Cat Sitters  Gloucestershire Cat Sitters  Hampshire Cat Sitters  Herefordshire Cat Sitters  Hertfordshire Cat Sitters  Isle of Wight Cat Sitters  Kent Cat Sitters  Lancashire Cat Sitters  Leicestershire Cat Sitters  Lincolnshire Cat Sitters  London Cat Sitters  Manchester Cat Sitters  Merseyside Cat Sitters  Norfolk Cat Sitters  North Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Northamptonshire Cat Sitters  Northumberland Cat Sitters  Nottinghamshire Cat Sitters  Oxfordshire Cat Sitters  Shropshire Cat Sitters  Somerset Cat Sitters  South Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Staffordshire Cat Sitters  Suffolk Cat Sitters  Surrey Cat Sitters  Tyne and Wear Cat Sitters  Warwickshire Cat Sitters  West Midlands Cat Sitters  West Sussex Cat Sitters  West Yorkshire Cat Sitters  Wiltshire Cat Sitters  Worcestershire Cat Sitters  Scotland Aberdeen Cat Sitters  Aberdeenshire Cat Sitters  Angus Cat Sitters  Argyll Cat Sitters  Clackmannanshire Cat Sitters  Dumfries Cat Sitters  Dundee Cat Sitters  East Ayrshire Cat Sitters  East Dunbartonshire Cat Sitters  East Lothian Cat Sitters  East Renfrewshire Cat Sitters  Edinburgh Cat Sitters  Falkirk Cat Sitters  Fife Cat Sitters  Glasgow Cat Sitters  Highland Cat Sitters  Inverclyde Cat Sitters  Mid Lothian Cat Sitters  Moray Cat Sitters  North Ayrshire Cat Sitters  North Lanarkshire Cat Sitters  Orkney Islands Cat Sitters  Perth Cat Sitters  Renfrewshire Cat Sitters  Scottish Borders Cat Sitters  Shetland Islands Cat Sitters  South Ayrshire Cat Sitters  South Lanarkshire Cat Sitters  Stirling Cat Sitters  West Dunbartonshire Cat Sitters  West Lothian Cat Sitters  Western Isles Cat Sitters  Wales Anglesey Cat Sitters  Blaenau Gwent Cat Sitters  Bridgend Cat Sitters  Caerphilly Cat Sitters  Cardiff Cat Sitters  Carmarthenshire Cat Sitters  Ceredigion Cat Sitters  Conwy Cat Sitters  Denbighshire Cat Sitters  Flintshire Cat Sitters  Gwynedd Cat Sitters  Merthyr Tydfil Cat Sitters  Monmouthshire Cat Sitters  Neath Port Talbot Cat Sitters  Newport Cat Sitters  Pembrokeshire Cat Sitters  Powys Cat Sitters  Rhondda Cynon Taff Cat Sitters  Swansea Cat Sitters  Torfaen Cat Sitters  Vale of Glamorgan Cat Sitters  Wrexham Cat Sitters  Ireland Carlow Cat Sitters  Cavan Cat Sitters  Clare Cat Sitters  Cork Cat Sitters  Donegal Cat Sitters  Dublin Cat Sitters  Galway Cat Sitters  Kerry Cat Sitters  Kildare Cat Sitters  Kilkenny Cat Sitters  Laois Cat Sitters  Leitrim Cat Sitters  Limerick Cat Sitters  Longford Cat Sitters  Louth Cat Sitters  Mayo Cat Sitters  Meath Cat Sitters  Monaghan Cat Sitters  Offaly Cat Sitters  Roscommon Cat Sitters  Sligo Cat Sitters  Tipperary Cat Sitters  Waterford Cat Sitters  Westmeath Cat Sitters  Wexford Cat Sitters  Wicklow Cat Sitters  Northern Ireland Antrim Cat Sitters  Armagh Cat Sitters  Down Cat Sitters  Fermanagh Cat Sitters  Londonderry Cat Sitters  Tyrone Cat Sitters 

 
 


PC Repairs UK
Online directory of PC Repairers, Computer Services and Web Designers based in the UK



Cyber Space UK Network Affiliates

The Silk Road, Pet Sitting UK, PC Repairs UK, Three Peaks Photos, Two Misters, Gay Celebrations, Gay Villa Rentals, Scattycats, UK Pet Owners, Dawnwatchers, Starfleetcomms, Paint4U, UK Pet Sitters, UK Pet Owners

  
 

 

Bookmark Scatty Cats!!

Scatty Cats online resource for cat lovers, breeders and owners.
We are devoted to providing a wealth of invaluable information, details and contacts for cat owners and breeders

About Cats is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
All images and text are Copyright © Scattycats 2006-2008 unless otherwise stated.
By viewing this site you have accepted the disclaimer notice and terms and conditions of use.