BuyCatnip / Silver vine
Silver vine: the plan B for catnip
Silver vine is a climbing plant from Asia, sold for cats as dried sticks or powder. For many cats that shrug at catnip, it is the one to try.
How to try it
- Sticks are chewed: give one under supervision and take it away when it splinters.
- Powder is sprinkled like dried catnip, a pinch at a time.
- If your cat ignores both, it may react to another plant, or to none: that is normal too.
Why a second plant works
Catnip and silver vine are not related plants, but cats react to both in the same way: sniffing, rubbing, rolling. A 2021 study links that rolling on these plants to mosquito protection, which may explain why cats evolved to enjoy them.
Good to know
- In a 2017 study of 100 cats, 79 reacted to silver vine and 68 to catnip.1,2
- Silver vine, Tatarian honeysuckle and valerian root are other plants that some cats react to.1,2
- A 2021 study suggests that rolling in catnip or silver vine coats a cat with plant chemicals that keep mosquitoes away.3,4
- About two out of three cats react to catnip: 68 of 100 cats in a 2017 study, about 70 percent in other counts.1,2,5
How we checked this page
Checked on October 20, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent publishers agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below. Where sources give different numbers, we keep only what they share. We never write a price. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.
Sources
- Responsiveness of cats (Felidae) to silver vine, Tatarian honeysuckle, valerian and catnip (Bol et al., 2017), BMC Veterinary Research
- Eufloria: Catnip Isn't the Only Plant Scent Cats May Love (Dr. Tony Buffington), Vetstreet
- The characteristic response of domestic cats to plant iridoids allows them to gain chemical defense against mosquitoes (Uenoyama et al., 2021), Science Advances
- Felines May Use Catnip for More Than Just Euphoria (2021), Smithsonian Magazine
- Why Do Cats Love Catnip?, Scientific American