For at least 2000 years throughout Europe and China, this aromatic perennial herb belonging to the mint family has been used for medicinal purposes. Traditional herbalists in the ancient world treated many conditions with catnip including, cancer, hives, toothaches and corns. When used in tea, it was considered remedy for colds and coughs, as its lemony-minty vapors were known to relieve chest congestion and loosen phlegm. The first recorded account of the catnip herb was made by JD Tourenfort, a 17th century English herbalist. Catnip was actually used to flavor beer because it was less costly than hops and the English drank catnip tea regularly before they began to import tea from China in the 17th century.
The early colonists introduced catnip to the New World, and today its fuzzy leaves, gray stem and twin-lipped flowers grow wild all over the North America. Native American Indians and pioneer women treated indigestion and infant colic with catnip, and in parts of Europe even today catnip is used as a cure for colic in babies. Known also as “The Hangman’s Root,” it is said that executioners consumed the root in order to put them “in the mood” to execute people!
But what about kitty cats? How did this perennial with its white flowers with purple spots that grows up to three feet high ever become famous for creating a delirious, stimulated state in cats? Well, believe it or not, according to the American Medical Association, the feline attraction to catnip is an inherited trait carried in the gene pool. It is estimated that although some cats do not carry this gene, it is a very small number of them (about 10 percent) that do not exhibit “feline euphoria.”
All cats, big and small, domestic tabby or jungle lion, display the same symptoms when exposed to catnip. For about twenty minutes they forget who they are and seem like someone who has had just a bit too much champagne. They become very playful and silly, rolling around and rubbing against it and each other.
So the next time you see your cat rolling around in the catnip, resist the urge to join in. Just watch and chuckle. It is, after all, a lot cheaper than going to the movies or a bottle of French champagne!