Question
I have a cat who, like most other cats, really loves catnip. She becomes (joyfully) delusional and keeps rolling on the ground. Most of the time she would swallow the herb. While I enjoy watching the little show she puts on after catnip consumption, I am a bit worried about the possibility of side effects.
Is there any health benefit associated with consuming catnip? Is there any harm that catnip could potentially do to cats (at some point my cat was so high that I started worrying she could die of heart attack...)? What would be an appropriate amount of consumption? Could the herb be addictive?
Answer
I have not come across any cases of catnip overdose where the cat did anything worse than vomit. Some cats know when they've had enough, and some cats don't. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any harmful side-effects. So the cats that don't know any better don't risk harming themselves. I can't say that I've seen any behavior indicating addiction either.
I would still avoid feeding it to your cat excessively, since the large amounts do cause them to vomit. It also causes diarrhea, which means at the very least, it causes a disruption in their digestive system.
I would definitely avoid giving catnip to pregnant cats, as it's known to be a uterine stimulant.
Here's a link to the American Veterinary Association's article on it. They mention a study on rats that showed they were more susceptible to seizures while on catnip. I would take it with a grain of salt, though, unless you find the study and they accounted for the dosage and differences in hearts/size.
Answered By - Spidercat