Prefer video? Check out my video on silver vine, catnip, and valerian!
Are you familiar with catnip? Of course you are! It’s hard to avoid if you have cats. The herb is well known for causing cats to get a bit wild and it’s commonly found in popular cat toys like the Yeowww! banana.
Catnip only elicits a response in about 60% of cats. This may be disappointing if you’re hoping to put your cat in an herbal good mood or use catnip for a behavioral intervention, but thankfully there are other plants such as valerian root or, the topic of this article, silver vine that send even felines who ignore catnip into a state of bliss.
An Euphoric Kiwi
I describe silver vine as “super catnip” because it produces an even stronger response than catnip does and more cats react to it than will react to catnip. Silver vine’s scientific name is Actinidia polygama. It’s a vining plant that is native to mountains in Japan, Korea, and China. It’s also related to this bad boy:
That’s right, kiwis make your cat go absolutely bonkers… kind of. It’s not the kiwis we’d eat in a fruit salad, but the plant is in the same family and produces a kiwi like fruit. The fruit of the silver vine plant, however, is orange on the inside.
It’s not the kind-of-but-not-really-a-kiwi that the cats are most interested in. The real good stuff is in the gall fruit of the plant. While cats will react to any part of the plant that has the active chemical compounds in them when they sniff it, the gall has the highest concentration of the fun stuff. In fact, a lot of silver vine powder is ground up galls.
A Chemistry Lesson
What is it about orange kiwis that cats like? One culprit is nepetalactone, an iridoid chemical found in catnip, silver vine, and other feline psychoactives. Silver vine has had at least 6 other compounds in the iridoid class that have similar chemical structures to nepetalactone. The other fun sounding chemicals like actinidine and iridomyrmecin can cause a catnip like response in your cats and may explain why some catnip non-responders will still react to silver vine.
Why Do Cats Like Iridoids?
Cats on the ‘vine will roll around, rub their cheeks up against things, purr, become more playful, and melt the hearts of any humans nearby. This will last from 5-30 minutes, but exactly how long cats respond is unique to each cat. In the wild, cats who do these behaviors are likely to damage the plants and get whatever chemicals the plant has inside of it all over their fur.
While this may sound like it would just create a mess for the cats, nepetalactone and other iridoids have mosquito repelling effects. It’s likely that cats who covered themselves in these natural insect repellents lived longer than those who didn’t as the trait gave them a survival advantage. Cats aren’t likely thinking of that, though, and are just enjoying the feeling of happiness silver vine gives them.
How To Drug Your Cat
Hopefully, by now, you’re convinced that your cat needs to try silver vine if they haven’t had the pleasure yet. There are a few different forms available so you have options of how your cat can give it a whirl.
- Silver vine powder: I’m starting with this one because it’s my favorite and the most potent A tiny pinch of this sprinkled on a scratcher or in their carrier will have your cat having a VERY good time. You can get a blend of the powder mixed with catnip.
- Whole gall fruit: Some cat toys come with what appear to be tiny stones, but are actually silver vine gall fruit. You can also get these whole.
- Chew sticks: If you have to lock down your plants and cover all your cords because your cat nibbles on everything, silver vine chew sticks are a great way to give them an appropriate outlet for their nibbles.
- Leaves: While not the most potential part of the plant, silver vine leaves can get your cat buzzed. These are great to stuff in a refillable catnip toy or use in a crochet project.
Another Suspected Location
While I haven’t confirmed this, I did get a silver vine plant myself. It’s massive and one of my cats, Prozac, is obsessed with it.
While most of his time was spent with his nose attached to the vine itself like in the picture above, he also spent a lot of time sniffing the dirt. If you look closely you’ll see exposed roots, which would explain why it lessened once I repotted the plant.
It would make sense that there would be cat drugs in the roots, though I haven’t found official confirmation. Other plants with cat drugs, such as valerian, have a high concentration in their roots. Why would silver vine miss out on the party?
Is Silver Vine Right For Your Cats?
If your cat hasn’t had the joy of silver vine, what the heck? Go order some now. Silver vine is a fun enrichment item for cats and they are super cute on it.
Not all cats will respond to silver vine. While approximately 80% of cats have some reaction, there are the unfortunate kitties who don’t get to experience the joy of silver vine. Thankfully for them, there are other options out there! Check out my posts on valerian root and catnip for more information on other kitty psychoactives. There’s something for every cat!
