Hi everybody! It’s Furby! I know I haven’t written in awhile, but I’ve been in CAT (Catnip Addiction Therapy) and mama wouldn’t let me use the computer because I’m telling on EVERYBODY in the house with this story! Especially mama!

It all started a week ago when mama brought home some really good nip. Now I’m sure all of you know what happens when a catnip addict like myself has the opportunity to roll around in the good stuff. We kind of go a bit crazy. Which has led mama to wonder whether it’s morally wrong to give your cat catnip?
I don’t know where she found that piece of garbage subject! I’d say a dog critter started that rumor, except our cat-dog Cujo loves it as much as we do. Now she thinks I’m addicted, just because I jump five feet in the air whenever she sneaks up on me and touches my back. I do that even without being under the influence of nip. I’m a very paranoid cat and mama likes to sneakerdoodle me. See my dictionary at https://pictures-of-cats.org/furbys-dictionary-by-cats-and-for-cats.html
But a lot of people (I hope none of my good friends reading this) consider catnip a drug just like alcohol and marijuana, and therefore it should be illegal to give it to a cat. Well, mama’s always been an enabler (her words-not mine), so why does she want to start with the cats in doing what’s morally right?
She even made the most incriminating pictures of us all last week. We rolled in the nip forever, and then we rolled on the floor because the catnip was so good it made the floor smell like nip. Aahhhh….cat heaven!
I heard mama say that her friend Holly had sent it to us as a treat and that it’s famous where she lives. Holly-if mama won’t get us more of the good nip, can I come and live with you? Just kidding…
Jasper is our only problem where catnip is concerned. He turns into Billy-Bad-A**(oops, language filter on) whenever he smells the stuff. Oh he acted sweet in the beginning, then wanted to play “stalk the kitty” once it ran out. Mama even did a story on that.
Which is another reason some people think it may be wrong morally to offer catnip to their cats. Conduct while on the nip and then withdrawal! If its not an illicit drug, then why do we suffer so painfully when we run out and can’t go to the store and buy more? That reminds me-mama-when are you going to take me to PetSmart so I can pick out some nip? Trust me, my nose will tell me which kind we need.
I know this is why I ended up in Catnip Addiction Therapy. Morally wrong or not, I want my catnip? Would all of you please tell mama it’s okay to provide as much catnip as felinely possible? How do you all feel about catnip? All the Facebook cats out there need to stick their paws in this one and give their opinion too. I seriously need help here…
I get all my best cat ideas when I am on “magic” mushrooms 😉 — swilled down with a quality Chardonnay.
In the USA doctors prescribe SSRI’s for depression– Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. These drugs increase serotonin in the synaptic junction. Eventually, with so much serotonin there your little receptors for serotonin will pull back. Now the drug isn’t as effective, so you need a higher dose. If you suddenly stop taking the drug you have a situation where there is not only suddenly a lot less serotonin in the the synapse, there are less receptors for it. The brain will adjust to this over time, increasing the number of serotonin receptors again. But for some people it’s too late. My opinion is that this is the mechanism by which SSRI’s cause an increase in suicides among teens and young adults who take them. They probably stopped taking them or missed a couple of doses. I read that SSRI’S are not used in Germany.
So my government says shrooms are illegal because they are unsafe, and to someone with depression and tendencies toward suicide ideation, I would agree. They aren’t safe. For people without low serotonin in their brain, this isn’t a real big deal. They will feel down a bit during the days following use of the drug. However, SSRI’S are dangerous for exactly the same reason and we actually give them to people with low serotonin and suicide ideation.
The government is completely unable to decide for everyone what drugs are safe and which are harmful, with a few exceptions of course. Cat caretakers don’t have problems determining if cat nip is beneficial to their cats or not. It would certainly be a stupid big drain on resources if the government decided to stick its nose into that too. And nothing would be changed. Cat guardians would continue to research cat nip and observe their cats and decide if it was right for their cat or not. There would just be a black market created for the stuff.
Not only should catnip be legal, similar drugs should be legal for humans also– like weed and “magic” mushrooms. These substances are natural and many, many cultures made use of them in the past. Why does any government feel the need to ban these substances? Why leave alcohol legal but ban other drugs?
Now I do realize that things like cocaine and crystal meth are just really bad and dangerous. You can see the deleterious effects in people’s bodies after a few years or even a few months. But I know people who have been smoking pot and doing shrooms for decades and they look just fine. They are in better shape than people I know who regularly drink alcohol. (They don’t drink and feel alcohol is more problematic than pot or shrooms.)
Are there risks to taking these drugs? Yes, but there are risks with prescription medications too. There are risks inherent with a lot of things but we don’t ban skateboard parks, ice skating rinks, travel by bicycle or fireworks shows because of the risks. Driving a car is pretty risky as is piloting a small air or watercraft. We still do these things, but try to be responsible and minimize risk.
So why doesn’t our government trust is to be responsible and use certain natural substances in a responsible way, minimizing our risks by educating ourselves. Will some misuse these things? Yes. But then why should all of us be punished. It would be like saying Jozef and Walter can’t have the nip because Felix overindulged.
Smoking is just plain bad in any amount, especially with all the garbage they put in there with the tobacco. But it is legal. It’s all messed up.
So, yes, cats should be allowed to have their nip and there is nothing morally wrong with it. Cat nip is one of God’s good gifts to His feline children. He gave us some similar good gifts, to be used but not abused. The problem is that some humans look to that substance as if it is god, as they become addicted and it becomes all in all to them. But that is no reason to keep everyone away from those things, especially with information available to allow for an informed choice.
Even were it legal to do so I wouldn’t take shrooms, because the active ingredient in them acts on the receptors for serotonin in your brain. After these receptors are flooded with the substance from the drug the next day some of them pull back. So after taking shrooms you are likely to feel depressed because until things correct themselves in your brain you will have fewer receptors for serotonin. Hmmmm…. I educated myself and I made an informed choice. Is that so hard? Did the government have to make it for me? Obviously not. Will others make a bad choice despite governmental intervention. Obviously they will. So let’s just hope the government leaves cat nip alone!
Hi Furby, now it’s cats like you who get the rest of us into these situations, someone will be wanting a law to ban catnip next.
Everything in moderation dear boy, just do like us and have a little nibble enough to feel relaxed like uncle Michael says about people and their fine wine.
In our annals of history book there was a cat called Felix in our family who overdosed on nip and made himself ill, the silly boy.The book says the mammies dug up the plants and couldn’t have any more around until he was no longer with them.
We are waiting for new plants now, the mammies got them too early and the frost got at them. We aren’t keen on the dried stuff are you?
There’s nothing like having a nibble outside and rolling about in the grass with the sun shining, ah blissss purrrr purrrr
I agree with Michael – it’s even more similar to eating space cake. Infact catnip looks exactly like weed. I’d hate to go through customs with a bag of nip. I used to think it was morally wrong but now I don’t in part cuz my cats are stuck indoors for the moment so I give them everything I can to keep them occupied and happy.
No, no, no. It is morally acceptable to give a cat catnip. It is just like a person drinking a nice wine. 😉 You have got to give them a bit of chill out time. Well, actually, they seem to be pretty chilled out already, far more so than humans. Maybe we can learn from that.