Woman's 6 Cats Delighted After She Finds Catnip 'Gold Mine' Growing in Yard

A pet owner has shared footage of the chaos that erupted after her cats got a taste of the wild catnip she discovered by chance.

Brooklyn Brown posted a video to TikTok under the handle brooklynelizabethbrown showing how she stumbled upon a "catnip goldmine" after one eagle-eyed viewer noticed the plant in her yard in another of her videos.

Snipping off a piece, she treated one of her cats, Rose, to a taste and it's fair to say she enjoyed it. So much so, in fact, that Brown is now taking steps to ration her cat crew's catnip intake.

That might be a sensible idea. In 2021, a study published in the journal Science Advances suggested that chemicals found in catnip activate cats' opioid systems in much the same way heroin and morphine does for humans.

Though the study also found that rubbing against the plants protects felines against mosquito bites, it's fair to say that catnip, like most things in life, should be enjoyed in moderation.

But while it's easy enough to manage one feline's catnip intake, it's a lot harder if you are someone like Brown, who happens to have six cats.

In truth, she came to get her brood of cats more by a happy accident than by design.

"My cat family started with just my 16-year-old Maine coon mix. A few months after moving into my current home, I noticed a tortoiseshell cat that would always stop by to say hello to me while I worked in my yard," Brown told Newsweek.

"When it started getting colder at night, she began crying at my door. This behavior became her habit, and it wasn't long before she regularly slept at my house," she said.

Brown eventually christened her Pepper and by 2021 had all but adopted the cat. Despite her best efforts to keep Pepper inside while the feline went into heat, she escaped one day. When the cat eventually returned, she was pregnant.

"She had a litter of four kittens, three all black males and one gray female," Brown said. "I put up an adoption ad but after a few months I gave up and allowed myself to fall in love with them. I could not bring myself to take them to a shelter for fear that they would be scared and stressed."

Brown admits that for those first few months she was battling to stop her apartment from becoming a "cat disaster zone" but, with a little planning that involved maintaining a grooming and training schedule, she's found a way to make it work.

"I am so grateful that I am able to keep them together in a safe and loving home," she said.

Brown said it was a "shock" to discover so much catnip growing in her yard.

"I immediately thought about all the catnip plants around my yard and how I was buying catnip for six cats," she said. "I don't know where it came from or who planted it, but it turned out to be very good for me."

Her cats seem equally surprised and can be seen reacting excitedly to being given a taste of the plant. Even so, Brown has been careful not to overindulge their catnip habit.

"The cats are very attracted to it," she said. "Rose (the gray one) has the strongest reaction to it. I haven't given them much simply because the four young siblings bounce off the walls and chase each other, which can be a little overwhelming."

Despite the demands of having six cats and a yard full of catnip, it sounds like Brown wouldn't trade her setup for anything.

"When they calm down a bit, they look so happy and peaceful while settled out on our 'catio,' watching from the windows the chickens and birds in the yard," she said.

"Since the day they were born, I've shared my kittens with my TikTok family. It warms my heart to know that a funny moment at my home brought humor and joy to thousands of other people," Brown said.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.