This past weekend I found myself asking "Is catnip bad for dogs?" Why? Because my dogs Sadie and Oscar were visiting a house with cats.
Suddenly, Sadie--whose nickname is "Kitty" because she acts like a cat--decided she wanted to play with all of the cat toys in the house. Sadie was all over those catnip toys for cats. In fact, she was flipping them in the air just like cats do.
Below is the image and text I'd shared in my Instagram story about Sadie and the cat toy. (Follow Pawsome Doggie on Instagram, if you aren't already!)
Even though she was having a ball, I was worried if catnip will hurt my dog.
Turns out the better questions would have been "What does catnip do to dogs?" or "Does catnip affect dogs?" Because the answer is super interesting.
Whereas catnip has a stimulant effect on cats, it can have a sedative effect on dogs. In fact, before writing this article and searching for the answer to my question about is catnip bad for dogs, I came across a ton of articles about catnip and dogs with anxiety. Yes, some veterinarians might "prescribe" catnip for an anxious dog. Of course, when they say, "prescribe," they're talking about giving the actual plant catnip. You might know catnip as catmint in your garden.
I'm not 100 percent comfortable with the notion of giving my dog a plant to munch on when he's nervous. Too much catnip in plant form can cause diarrhea and vomiting. That's not really the outcome I want for a nervous dog.
A bigger problem with dogs playing the catnip toys for cats is this: cat toys are really small. They could easily become a choking hazard for a dog.
It's one of the reasons I'm so excited about these new catnip toys for cats that we're stocking. They are Yeowww!-ola catnip crayons and they're plenty big that they would be safe for Sadie aka kitty--or any cat--to play with. The individual crayons are 4 3/8 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide by 3/4 of an inch high. They come three to a box. One crayon is yellow, another crayon is blue and the third crayon is red. The crayons are made of a durable cotton canvas.
All of these catnip toys for cat crayons are filled with 100 percent organic catnip. There are no fillers or chemicals. These catnip toys for cats are Made in America. These are great cat toys for indoor cats.
Now that I've answered the questions "Is catnip bad for dogs," I guess the next natural question would be "Do dogs like catnip?" Clearly, the answer is obviously yes--for certain dogs. Some dogs do like catnip, especially my kitty, er, doggie named Sadie.