Pregnant cats should not eat catnip. Catnip can excite the cat’s nervous system. After a pregnant cat eats it, its stable mood will be stimulated. Especially for newly pregnant cats, it is easy to cause miscarriage. It is best for pregnant cats to keep their mood stable, and never feed catnip to pregnant cats. ​​​​​​

The aphrodisiac ingredient in catnip is nepetalactone. This volatile substance mostly touches the nerve pathways in charge of emotions in the body through receptor molecules in the cat’s vomeronasal organ. If the smell is strong enough, the cat will go berserk, drool, and roll around on the ground deliriously, as if on steroids. For female cats who want to raise their fetus quietly, catnip will irritate the female cat, causing nervous excitement, and may even stimulate uterine contractions and cause miscarriage.