ESTHER ASHBY-COVENTRY
Moose and Mango are partial to a type of herbal tea bag they can't get enough of.\
"Mango used to steal my wet teabags off the saucer. He'd run off with them and roll on them."
John Bisset/Fairfax NZ
Moose sucks a stolen herbal teabag as owner Heather Talbott looks on. Both her kittens seem to be hooked on the 'herbal highs'.
The cat lover has never had any previous pets behaving this way.
Recently the cat burglars have discovered that an entire box of teabags is kept in the pantry.
As if unable to believe their luck, Mango and Moose went berserk and ripped open the box, dragged out about six teabags and clawed them open while Talbott was at work. When she got home it looked like they had been having fun, taking turns jumping and skidding in the contents.
"It was all over the kitchen floor."
The only bonus was the kittens' coats smelt fragrant, as they had obviously been rolling in it as well.
The felines' teabags of choice are peppermint/green tea, or relaxing tea, which has cat nip as an ingredient.
Cat nip has the active ingredient Nepetalactone, which some cats adore. The herb is also a member of the peppermint family, which contains compounds similar to Nepetalactone.
Peppermint oil and peppermint lollies are likely to be more toxic than the teabags.
Since their first break and entry into the pantry their stealing has recurred randomly. It may happen two days running and then not for another few days.
"If they start rolling the contents into a joint, then I will get them some help," Talbott said.
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