You buy the catnip toy. Your cat sniffs it once and walks away.
You are not doing it wrong, and your cat is not broken. Roughly a third of cats have no response to catnip at all, and it is genetic.
The useful part is what happens when you offer those same cats a different plant.
One thing to check before you order, though: not every Mad Cat toy carries silvervine. The Big Cactus, Big Burrito and Gnome Sweet Gnome are labelled catnip and silvervine, and the Rotisserie Chicken plushes use Mad Cat’s Silvernip blend of North American catnip and silvervine. The Shrimp Taco play mat and the Sushi door-knob toy are catnip only.
If catnip has never worked on your cat, those last two are the ones to skip.
Silvervine works on cats that ignore catnip
This is the single most useful thing to know about Mad Cat’s toys, because most of them contain both plants rather than just catnip.
Catnip response is inherited. Around a third of cats carry no response to it at all. No amount of fresher catnip or a better toy changes that, because it is not a quality problem.
Silvervine is a different plant with different chemistry. Known as matatabi in Japan, Actinidia polygama contains several active compounds including actinidine and dihydronepetalactol, where catnip relies on a single one, nepetalactone. More compounds means more chances of hitting a receptor your cat actually has.
| Catnip | Silvervine | |
|---|---|---|
| Cats responding (2017 study) | About 68 percent | About 80 percent |
| Works on catnip non-responders | Not applicable | About 75 percent of them did respond |
| Active compounds | Nepetalactone | Actinidine, dihydronepetalactol and others |
| Typical response | Rolling, rubbing, drooling, then a calm phase | Similar, often more intense |
| Duration | Around 10 minutes, then a refractory period | Similar |
What that means in practice. If catnip has never worked on your cat, a silvervine toy has roughly a three-in-four chance of working instead. That is a genuinely good bet, and it is why a toy carrying both plants is a better purchase than a catnip-only one.
Two caveats worth knowing. Kittens under about three to six months generally show no response to either plant regardless of their genetics, so a non-reacting kitten tells you nothing yet. And after a response, cats enter a refractory period of an hour or two where re-offering does nothing, which is why the toy should go away between sessions rather than live on the floor. The findings above come from a study published in BMC Veterinary Research.
Why kicker toys work better than small ones
Half of Mad Cat’s range is kickers: elongated toys roughly the length of a cat’s body. The shape is doing something specific.
- It allows the full kill sequence. A cat grabs prey with the front paws, pulls it to the chest, and rakes with the powerful back legs. A small toy can be batted but not bunny-kicked, so it only satisfies part of the behaviour.
- It gives the hind legs a workout, which matters for an indoor cat whose exercise is otherwise a walk to the food bowl.
- It redirects biting away from you. A cat that ambushes ankles usually needs an appropriate target rather than discipline, and a body-sized toy is that target.
- It survives longer, because the force goes into a sturdy tube rather than a small seam.
- It suits solo play, which a wand toy does not. A wand needs you on the other end.
The thing to actually do is rotate. Cats habituate to toys quickly, and a toy left out permanently becomes furniture. Keep most of them in a drawer, put two or three out at a time, and swap weekly. A rotated toy reads as new.
Play matters more than the toy. Two short interactive sessions a day, ending with the cat actually catching something and then being fed, follows the natural hunt-eat-groom-sleep cycle and does more for an indoor cat’s behaviour than any single purchase, and the AVMA covers behaviour problems that play often prevents. Our best cat toys guide covers wands and puzzle feeders.
Mad Cat toys by filling and job
Here is what is inside each toy, because the filling decides whether a catnip non-responder will care.
| Toy | Filling | Price | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Cactus Kicker | Catnip + silvervine | $12.76 | Your cat bunny-kicks or ambushes ankles. Start here. |
| Big Burrito Kicker | Catnip + silvervine | $11.99 | You want a second kicker to rotate with the cactus. |
| Rotisserie Chicken Plush, 6 count | Silvernip (catnip + silvervine) | $17.99 | You want enough small toys to run a weekly rotation. |
| Gnome Sweet Gnome, 2 count | Catnip + silvervine | $11.98 | Your cat carries toys around the house (often to the water bowl). |
| Shrimp Taco Stuffer Play Mat | Catnip only | $15.99 | Your cat already loves catnip and enjoys digging toys out of pockets. |
| Sushi Door Knob Toy | Catnip only | $13.99 | Someone is home to supervise. Take it down when you go out. |
Cat toy safety, briefly
Most cat toy injuries come from a small number of predictable things, and they are easy to avoid once you know them.
- Put string, ribbon and wand toys away after play. Linear foreign bodies are among the more serious feline emergencies: swallowed string can saw through the intestine, and surgery is often needed.
- Check hanging toys for elastic. Anything a cat can get its head or a leg through is a strangulation risk when nobody is home.
- Inspect for loose parts weekly. Bells, googly eyes and plastic rattles come off and get swallowed.
- Bin a toy once it splits. Loose fibre fill is a swallowing hazard rather than a cosmetic problem.
- Watch the first session with any new toy, because a determined chewer treats a plush very differently from a batter.
- Call the vet if you suspect string was swallowed, and never pull on any thread visible at either end.
None of this makes toys dangerous. It makes unsupervised string dangerous, which is a smaller and more manageable claim.
Is Mad Cat a good pick for your cat?
Buy it if catnip has never worked on your cat, because most of these toys carry silvervine as well and that flips the odds substantially. Skip the Shrimp Taco and Sushi toys in that case, since they are catnip only. Buy the kickers if your cat bunny-kicks or ambushes ankles, and the multipack if you want to run a rotation.
Skip the door-knob toy if your cat is regularly home alone. Compare in our best cat toys guide and best interactive cat toys.
Final word
Cheap, well-shaped kicker toys that carry silvervine alongside catnip, which is the detail that makes them worth choosing over a catnip-only equivalent.
Buy two kickers rather than one, rotate them weekly, put string and hanging toys away when you are out, and remember a non-reacting kitten simply may not be old enough yet. Mad Cat Big Cactus Kicker Catnip & Silvervine Cat Toy is where to start. This article is educational rather than veterinary advice.
Silvervine and catnip questions
Q: Does silvervine work better than catnip?
On more cats, yes. In a 2017 study of around 100 domestic cats, about 80 percent responded to silvervine compared with 68 percent to catnip. More usefully, roughly 75 percent of the cats that ignored catnip did respond to silvervine.
Q: Why doesn’t my cat react to catnip?
Because response to catnip is inherited and roughly a third of cats do not carry it. It is not a matter of freshness or the quality of the toy. Those cats have a good chance of responding to silvervine instead.
Q: What is silvervine?
Silvervine, or matatabi, is the plant Actinidia polygama. It contains several compounds that affect cats, including actinidine and dihydronepetalactol, where catnip relies on a single compound called nepetalactone.
Q: Do kittens respond to catnip?
Usually not. Kittens under about three to six months generally show no response to catnip or silvervine regardless of their genetics, so a kitten ignoring a catnip toy tells you nothing about how it will react later.
Q: How often should I change my cat’s toys?
Rotate them weekly. Cats habituate quickly and a toy left out permanently stops registering. Keep most in a drawer, put two or three out at a time, and swap them, which makes an old toy read as new.
Q: Are catnip toys safe to leave out?
Stuffed kickers generally are, once you have watched your cat with them and checked for loose parts. String, ribbon, wand and hanging toys should be put away when nobody is watching, because swallowed string can cause serious intestinal injury.
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We are some passionate cat owners from different professions. We love our cats and have a lot of experience in how to care for our pets. We are incredibly excited to share our knowledge, experience, and research with you. So you can take good care of your loving cat. We will answer most of the common questions about owning cats, taking care of them, etc. If you have any question contact with us. Thanks for visiting! Enjoy the content.
