Bogey Gets His Favorite Plant

"It just smells like dirt to me."

It's Meow-velous!

Dried catnip is typically packaged for sale as shown in this photo from City Cats

Yesterday I mentioned catnip in my adventures of moving Bogey's litterbox to the basement. Catnip is a fascinating herb. If a cat has ever lived in your home, you've probably witnessed it's strange and humorous effects.

Catnip is a member of the mint family that contains the chemical, nepetalactone. This is the "drug" that causes cats to react, although why is not completely understood. Very young or senior cats may not be impacted at all, and some cats never respond to catnip.

Typical effects may include chewing, rolling, rubbing, a higher level of playful aggression, or an extremely "mellow" mood. This varies from cat to cat.

My daughter's cat collapses immediately and rolls to her back the minute she sniffs catnip...and look out. You'd better not get close because her cranky kitty personality becomes even more intense.

Bogey's reaction is a bit slower. He'll sniff, drop, and then slowly roll (an excellent fire safety demo, by the way). He loves it. Not even the yummiest treat can pull him away.

Catnip effects are short lasting and nontoxic.

So if you have a cat and are looking for cheap entertainment, bring on the catnip.

Oh, and just in case you baby boomers are wondering, don't bother to sniff it yourself. Catnip does NOT have similar effects on people!

Litterbox Detour

When we adopted Bogey two years ago, I basically turned the spare bedroom into "his" room. It contained his litter box, food, water, toys, scratching post, and bed. This would serve to acclimate him to a small area before he gradually transitioned into getting the run of the entire house.

Recently I've been thinking about moving the litter box to the basement. But moving a litter box can sometimes confuse cats ("Who stole my bathroom! Guess I'll just use the carpet until it comes back."). So I've put off doing the deed.

On Friday the carpet cleaners came. Everything had to come off the floor anyway, so I moved all of Bogey's "essentials" to the basement and added a comfy bed and new scratch post with plenty of catnip (Bogey is seriously addicted to catnip, but that's for another post). I added Bogey and shut the door.

He spent the entire day in the basement. Each time I checked on him, things looked good. He definitely used the litter box. On Saturday, I opened the door and gave him the run of the house. All of his things remained where I'd taken them. Bogey can be stubborn, so I kept my fingers crossed. We went downstairs a few times to refresh his memory on where things were.

As of today, there have been no accidents. He's using the litterbox in the basement like a charm. I feel like Professor Higgins..."By George, I think he's got it!"

Failure to use the litterbox is a prime reason for cats to be surrendered to shelters, so I feel grateful that Bogey has gotten into the spirit of things so quickly.

And I'm sure the fresh catnip didn't hurt.