do you give your cat catnip why or why not?

I don't give my cats the fresh catnip, but they do have various toys with it in. When they're feeling bored I'll spray the toys with a catnip spray to get them interested and playful, to use up their unspent energy!

I don't see anything wrong with it... cats need to play and exercise, especially indoor cats, and catnip really does the trick for 'em! hehe.

The majority of cat toys are laced with cat nip so it is pretty hard to avoid it. Toys with fresh catnip only affects our cats for a day or so. As soon as the freshness wear off (or they get it all wet), the catnip looses all effectiveness. As far as giving our cats fresh cat nip right off the plant, I haven't done this.

I give it to my cat once in awhile. We have a little tin of the dried catnip leaves and we will crumble it up on one of his toys. He usually will wrestle with the toy for a few minutes and try to lick all the catnip off. Then he takes a nap. Sometimes he comes back and plays with the toy later, but he only really reacts to the freshly sprinkled catnip.

I give my cats catnip when I can find it as they seem to enjoy it and it's funny to watch them it looks like they are drunk. One of my cats seems to love it as she chews on whatever toy it's filled with for ages before she walks away.

My cats react differently to catnip. One rolls in the pile and stretches all over and goes crazy; the other just eats his pile very politely then walks away. I do have a catnip plant on the lanai and they often brush against it and nibble at it. This is to keep them from eating the other houseplants which could make them sick. I have a catnip spray, so I'll spritz it on their toys to 'refresh' them. I usually give my cats catnip when they seem bored to perk them up a bit, but I'm sure you can give it to them anytime--it's not harmful.