Making my Cat Catnip “Tea”

Making my Cat Catnip “Tea”

I have often wondered if cats or other animals get bored with drinking water. Think of all the varieties of drinks that we have, and then think of the variety for animals. So, I hopped on Google. I will save you the time I spent searching/wasting. Tea is very toxic to animals. Their little bodies cannot handle the small amounts of caffeine many teas have, and it does not end well for kitties. (I will eventually do a post on this). But I did find out you can make a sort of catnip tea. So, I decided to do just that and give it to my cat Cheerio. And here is how it went (including pictures).

It was quite a funny process, to be honest. My mom and I had some dried catnip from the summer, stored in a mason jar. I then combined a cup of water (boiled) and a tablespoon of catnip leaves (approximately) and allowed them to steep. Interestingly, the water made the leaves instantly hydrate and look as if they were just plucked from the catnip plant. I let that steep for about 10 minutes. It was kind of funny watching as my cat came into the room and seemed to smell something, but not know where the smell was sourced. She circled and circled the table (the tea was on the table out of her immediate sight).

Before I could have her try the tea, I had to cool it down. Some people could wait simply until the tea cooled down or put it in the fridge/freezer, but I choose to just put ice cubes in the bowl to cool and water it down. I then presented to Cheerio the beautiful, freshly brewed catnip tea.

She was confused. She did not understand why this bowl of water could smell like catnip but not be catnip. She started by smelling the bowl and eventually began to paw at the water and drink the droplets off of her paw. This is a tactic she usually only uses when she finds something in her water bowl and thinks that the entire bowl is dirty.

She eventually came to trust the bowl of catnip tea and drank a little bit of it. She then proceeded to leave the room and come back, then leave the room and come back. After she finally left the room, I went to put the mixture on the counter and went into another room where she followed me and meowed for more. I did not really notice any changes like sleepiness or energy in cheerio. But anything that gets her to drink a bit more is a win in my book.

This definitely was a more light-hearted and kinda fluff post. I have been super stressed lately and needed some fun with my cat. I will be doing a post eventually on the dangers of giving cats/animals normal tea (not catnip!). Happy brewing!

-Danielle

2 thoughts on “Making my Cat Catnip “Tea”

    1. She only had a few sips and then stopped drinking it. I made sure to not leave her alone with it and watch her while consuming it. I can see where it could be dangerous, but you have to make sure to stay with them and not leave them alone to possibly overindulge.

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