"Big Poon's Very Best Catnip is indeed the 
very best catnip you can buy!" 

If you don't see his mug on the bag,
     it ain't Big Poon's Catnip!

Why is his name Big Poon, 
take a look for yourself!

Read about some of Big Poon's happy customers!

Big Poon's Home Page

Now, please understand that Big Poon and his human helpers are not out to make their fortune selling catnip. We are not some big company hiding behind some helpless pussycat. We're just a couple of humans who have been asked (well, told) to share the joy of Big Poon's Very Best Catnip with as many other kitties as possible. Selling catnip also let Big Poon and Bailey help out the Iowa County Humane Society.

Since Big Poon is no longer with us, he can not tell us what to do. Thus, we have stopped selling catnip online.

"Wow, I really get hungry the morning after testing Big Poon's Very Best Catnip.
And, I test Big Poon's Best Catnip most every night! - Meowowow!!"

-Bailey T. Cat, Q.C., C.E.

Bailey is no longer with us.
After 26 years of life he passed
in the spring of 2012. RIP Bailey.
(These photos are from 1999)

Home page 

(© 1997, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0R6)

• The generic name Nepeta is said to have been derived from the town Nepete in Italy where catnip was once cultivated (Bunney 1992).
• In the belief that catnip roots made even the kindest person mean, early American hangmen consumed catnip roots before executions to harden themselves for their work (Castleman 1991).
• Catnip is by no means the only plant species known to elicit the catnip response in cats (Tucker and Tucker 1988). The following have also been reported to affect cats (some notes are provided where plants may be available in North America, for those wishing to test their attractiveness to felines): Actinidia kolomikta (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. (miyama-mata-tabi; occasionally cultivated in North America); A. polygama (Sieb. & Zucc.) Maxim. (silver vine, mata-tabi; occasionally cultivated in North America); Boschniakia rossica (Cham. & Schlecht.) B. Fedtsch. (a plant parasite of the roots of alders, found in northern areas); Lippia javanica (Burm. f.) Spreng.; Menyanthes trifoliata L. (buckbean, a bog plant found in North America, occasionally in bog gardens); Nemophila menziesii Hook. & Arnott (baby blue-eyes, an annual often grown in gardens); Origanum dictamnus L. (dittany of Crete, discussed in this book); Teucrium marum L. (marum, cat thyme, a Mediterranean shrub sometimes cultivated in North America); Valeriana celtica L. (a wild native of the Alps); Valeriana officinalis L. (a common valerian, garden heliotrope, cat's valerian, a garden plant that has become naturalized in Canada and the U.S.); Vaburnum opulus L. (cranberry bush, an ornamental bush with edible fruit widely grown in the Northern Hemisphere).
• Both cats and rats are fond of Valeriana officinalis (mentioned above), and it has been used as a bait for trapping wildcats and rodents (Morton 1976).
• Nepetalactone chemicals responsible for the intoxication of cats seem to be similar to the natural sedatives (valepotriates) in valerian, supporting the traditional use of catnip as a mild tranquillizer and sedative (Castleman 1991).
• The young twigs and leaves of Actinidia polygma (mentioned above) have been used for centuries in Asia to tranquillize lions and tigers in zoos (le Strange 1977).
• Catnip growing near houses has long had a reputation for repelling rats, no doubt because the plants attract cats.
• Catnip, itself sometimes referred to as cat-marihuana, was used in the 1960's as a substitute for marihuana, apparently producing visual and auditory hallucinations when smoked (Grognet 1990). Tyler (1993) castes doubt on the mind-altering properties in humans alleged for catnip.
• The physicians who first described the drug use of catnip by people, published their findings in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1969 with a drawing of catnip labeled as marihuana and vice-versa. Over 1600 letters were received by the editor pointing out the mistake (Tyler 1993).
• Cats tend to leave catnip plants alone, unless the plants are bruised and so release the attractive chemicals. There is an old saying about catnip (Grieve 1931):

If you set it, the cats will eat it,

If you sow it, the cats don't know it

The rationale is that catnip grown from seed will not be bruised, while transplanted (i.e. "set") plants will usually be bruised during planting.

• Catnip has been shown to increase the frequency of catnaps in chicks (Sherry and Koontz 1979).
• Mustard oil (see Brassica in this book) and asafetida (the fetid gum resin of various Oriental species of Ferula (of the carrot family), formerly used in medicine) are thought to repel cats (Duke 1985).

 
"Catnip high," prepared by B. Brookes.
(© 1997, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0R6)

• Big Poon's Home Page
• Why is his name Big Poon, take a look for yourself!

These are a few of Big Poon's favorite web sites:
(these links should open a new browser window on your computer)

• Iowa County Humane Society - where Big Poon's money goes!
• Pottery by Ann Cheers - one-of-a-kind pet urns you help to design and other items
• Ravens Pet Portraits - one of Big Poon's favorite artists, Raven does mostly Border Collies. Yeah, well guess what? Dogs don't scare Big Poon!
• Diva Dogs Pet Grooming - professional grooming services for all breeds of dogs and cats
• PAWS - People helping animals
• Fancy Cats Rescue Team - Rescuing Stray and Unwanted Cats
• All about catnip at National Research Council of Canada
• Mouse Hole
• Mineral Point, Wisconsin - where Big Poon lives and grows catnip
• Sirius Sunlight Glass Studio - Big Poon's humans work here when Poon lets them
• GetSirius Internet Services - the humans also produce websites for other people
• Sirius Marbles - ...they make marbles among other things
• House of Dummies - this scares Big Poon, but he wanted to share