The 5 Stages of Catnip It all starts with a little innocent experimentation, and the next thing you know, you've got a burnt-out nip-head in your house. Get the facts before you find your cat trying to sell you on eBay to fund his catnip habit! And what, exactly are the facts? Well, they're not all that alarming, really. Catnip (nepeta cataria) is a member of the mint family. It contains a substance called nepetalactone, and when these molecules enter the cat's nose, they then trigger the behavi