I was rudely awakened just before 5am this morning by what felt like a troop of cats running over me hissing and growling. I got such a fright and was so irritated at how long it took me to find the light switch and my glasses so that I could see what was going on. All the while I was thinking "imagine if this was an intruder... I'd have my throat slit before I could even see who it was!" Once I had managed all this I saw that it was not a mad strange cat chasing all my cats but only Nancy and Tao involved. Tao was cowering in a corner near the headboard with Nancy standing aggressively over her. It was so odd to see as they have been firm friends from the start. I went to pick Tao up to comfort her as she looked terrified and was whimpering and Nancy went for me! She literally attacked me! I got such a fright and shouted at her and she went for me again jumping at my face, biting and scratching me and growling. I smacked her away from me and she then sat at the end of the bed glowering at me. I managed to pick Tao up then and comfort the poor little mite. It was so bizarre I just kind of sat there for a bit. I decided to take Tao to my study where there is a second set of her goodies including bed, toys, cat box, food and water because this is where I secure her whenever I have to go out so she is familiar with the room and comfortable there. I have not yet felt ready to leave her to run around unattended with the big cats. You just never know and she is still so little and this morning was a lesson that I should definitely not leave her unattended with Nancy!
I went back to bed after securing Tao and Nancy was still at the bottom of the bed. I just covered myself with the duvet and ignored her. When I woke a little later she was fast asleep, still at the bottom of the bed. She looked so angelic so I stroked her softly and she stretched and allowed me to cuddle her. It seemed that she had calmed down so I went to let Tao out and the morning commenced as per usual.
Then later in the morning Nancy started her aggression again. I had to bring Tao into the study with me and keep her on my lap. That's when I noticed Nancy had those big scary eyes like she did when she was tripping on morphine after she was spayed. I realised that some "thing" was having a bad effect on her. I went to look outside to see if there was anything unusual around at all. Then I noticed she had been playing with the new catnip toy and I realised Andy might be right that catnip is not good for cats and really does make some of them psycho. A while ago Casper went mad and scratched a nasty sore in his neck after I had sprinkled cat nip. Storm also used to froth and freak out with cat nip and Prince gets ultra aggressive with Odi when I have put catnip down.
Jeepers how many incidents did I need to finally accept that catnip ain't so cool?!? Bad mommy I am!
The toy was duly wrapped in a bag and put in the back of a cupboard. I wiped the floor where it had been as well just to be safe. Fingers crossed, Nancy has remained calm since the removal of the toy and she and Tao even snuggled this evening and are playing nicely again. I'll take Andy's words to heart now and remove catnip from the home. The cat mint plants seem fine as they are obviously natural but who knows what all goes into the artificial catnip granules for sale in shops!
Have your cats ever had an adverse reaction to catnip granules?
5 comments:
Catnip--fresh or dried--makes my Nicki mean. Not as nasty as Nancy, but very aggressive and well, just plain mean. The other two love it and fine with it, but I try not to let Nicki access to any. Even a whiff will do it, if it's something like dried catnip buds.
I've also heard Valerian and honeysuckle have similar effects as catnip -- not sure if you could safely give either of those to Nancy, so she'd be happy and/or mellow, or if she'd have the same reaction.
Apparently I can't type this evening, what with all the missed words in my comment. *Headdesk*
Wow, my cats have never done that. They might run around crazy or roll around but never like that. I'm glad you were home to help out. And, doesn't everything like that happen between 2 and 5 am ...
Fionna is a mean nipper. All our catnip is organic and chemical free. Some cats are just mean nippers like some humans are mean drunks. The problem is Fionna only gets mean with me and will start trying to attack and bite me! Needless to say she doesn't get catnip very often. The boys become cuddly nippers. :)
Wow thanks for the comments. It seems some are cool with it and others not so much. Nancy is definitely a not so much!
I'm going to take the safe road anf not give it to any of the cats from now on and just stick to the organic plants.
Post a Comment