Catnip

Two nights ago, I was awoken in the early hours by Thumps, Bangs and growls, jumping out of bed I dashed to the bedroom door and carefully opened it. Eek a 10 year old 7 kilo cat and Ebony an easy going 7 year old female felix, had ripped opened a bag and were rolling in the contents. I shoowed the cats into the great out doors, cleaned up the mess and went back to sleep, trying to catch up with the last few hours of dawn.
Next day I asked my wife what was in the Bag "It's only some Organic Catnip your daughter sent for the cats as a treat." She had left it in the shopping basket on top of or kitchen table as she had arrived home from my daughters. The cats had been on a raid and obviously extracted the bag in the early hours.
I examined the label on the torn packet, the cats had licked it White. On the phone my snickering daughter informed me it was 'Organic Catnip Full strength' and that she used it to calm distressed cats in her Healing. "Only give them a couple of pinches", she advised me.
I quickly read about it in my Herbal and trawled the Internet and confirmed it was harmless but was quite Narcotic with cats
Eek arrived home from a morning mousing (Looks like a moth eaten Bag Puss) and sat next to my Wood fire. I offered him a pinch of Cat Nip. Let's just say the effect was dramatic. He grabbed it in his paws Rolled around the carpet slumped on his back with his legs in the air and went to sleep like that for 20 minutes, Purring with his mouth wide open. A very happy flumpish cat. My Jack Russell sniffed him, obviously perplexed by cats anyway, she jumped on the chair head on her paws,one ear up, the way dogs do when they are baffled and had no interest what so ever in the herb when I put some on my hand and offered her a pinch.
Nepetalactone oil seems to be the main reason for the Feline Frolics and it can effect Lynx, Lions and other big cats as well.
I remember a cartoon of Sylvester being in a floating state when Tweety Pie offered him a sample but I don't want to go down that route.
Has any one encountered this amazing phenomenon before?
Any views about it?

I have found an interesting film cip in German, relating to the Effects of Catnip on a group (clowder) of stray cats:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE3L8-Tojes