honeysuckle facts you need to know : WARNINGS

In the past we had noticed that honeysuckle had gained some interest with cat lovers. Some cats respond to honeysuckle in a manner similar to catnip. We had found in our own independent study that the response curve to honeysuckle is somewhat less than the response curve observed with catnip and valerian root.

Our customers returned information to us that was consistent with the rate of reaction noticed in our research. We purchased our honeysuckle from harvesters based in Edmonton, and Calgary, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario, Canada. The product we acquired, (harvested by the experts) looked great and smelled wonderful, but in our opinion, not enough of our customers were reordering the wood products, to continue our interest in the raw wood products. only the toy line has shown adequate repeat sales.

Raw wood containing bark, or having jagged edges can be dangerous for your cat, especially if they should bite or chew the raw wood piece. Wet wood, can act as a growing medium for moulds and even fungi, that can be dangerous to your cat. One mould we found growing on honeysuckle wood was a type of bread mould called Aspergillus niger.

SAFETY TIPS when using HONEYSUCKLE WOOD

If you plan on using raw exposed honeysuckle wood, place the wood into a piece of heavy barrier cloth fabric. Good quality honeysuckle will be very aromatic, and easily fragrance any fabric used as a barrier.

Try not to get the honeysuckle wood completely wet ( soaked throughout the wood piece). Instead lightly mist the wood with a small amount of water from a water bottle sprayer. This will aid in bringing out the honeysuckle fragrance.

IF YOU PLAN ON USING A HONEYSUCKLE SPRAY

Check to see if the product has a build up of residue, or sediment in the bottom of the spray bottle. If it does try to find out what this sediment, residue is made of. The manufacturer should know. Remember ligin from wood fiber is an excellent growth medium for fungi.

Does the manufacturer use preservatives ?

What species of honeysuckle are they using. There are nearly 300 species world wide, some very toxic to mammals ? Japanese Honeysuckle vine for instance is toxic.

If you are going to buy raw honeysuckle wood we recommend The Cat House in Calgary, Alberta. Joanne and Henry Weigel are the originators of the honeysuckle industry. They are the true experts of honeysuckle products for cats.