Idea Exchange: Clients are crazy about catnip

Our clinic maintains a fund for trapping, neutering or spaying, and vaccinating cats from a local feral colony. We've discovered a great fundraiser: catnip. I have a catnip plant in my garden, and every week throughout the summer, I cut a few stems and put them in a basket on our reception desk. The basket has a sign that says:

OPERATION CATNIP Fresh organic catnip/Suggested donation: $0.25 per stem 100% of your donation will go to the medical care of homeless kitties

Client response has been phenomenal. Many people leave several dollars for a stem—even clients who don't have cats!

If you decide to plant catnip, make a chicken-wire enclosure for the first year to protect the young plant from neighborhood cats. After the catnip plant is established, it will grow like a weed. You can harvest stems from spring through fall and dry leaves for winter.

Dr. Laura McLain Madsen

Salt Lake City, Utah