Our Story
Nepeta was not created around a marketing table or from a spreadsheet full of product ideas. It started at home. Among cats.
Cats have been part of our lives for many years and, little by little, they have influenced almost everything — how we live, what our garden looks like, where we invest our time and money… and eventually, what we make.
Our home belongs to the cats, too
Anyone visiting us for the first time quickly understands that our cats are not “pets” in the usual sense. They are full members of the household.
Over the years, we have adapted our home to make them comfortable. They have places to rest, watch the world from above, hide away, play, or simply be alone when they are not in the mood for company.
And because we do not believe a cat should spend its whole life watching the world through a window, we have also built large, secure outdoor enclosures. There, they can enjoy fresh air, lie in the sun, watch birds and insects, sniff the grass and experience the outdoor world — while staying safe.
Living with cats every day teaches you very quickly what they genuinely enjoy and what is simply a product that happens to look good in a photograph.
We also run a small home-based cat rescue
Some cats come to us under very different circumstances. We run a small home-based rescue where cats who have had less luck in life can find temporary shelter — abandoned, ill, exhausted, or simply left without anyone to care for them.
Here, they can recover, regain trust and prepare for the next chapter of their lives.
And, of course, they also happen to be very demanding product testers. If a new toy fails to interest both our own cats and our rescue cats, we consider that a fairly clear review.
That is how Nepeta began
For years, we bought all kinds of catnip toys and kept discovering the same thing: sometimes a cat reacted with great enthusiasm, while at other times the toy was completely ignored.
So we began looking more closely at the aromatic plants themselves — especially catnip and valerian — and gradually experimenting with what our cats actually preferred. From there, making our own toys was only a small step.
We wanted toys that were:
- generously filled with real aromatic herbs rather than a token pinch of scent,
- free from unnecessary artificial fragrances and fillers,
- handmade,
- durable enough for real feline treatment,
- and, above all, products we would happily buy for our own cats.
That rule still applies today.
The cats test everything first
New products are not created simply because we like the way they look. They go to our cats first.
We watch which scents catch their attention, how they play with the toy, whether they rub against it, roll around with it, lick it — or abandon it after five minutes.
Cats make wonderfully impolite customers. They know nothing about branding, price or beautiful packaging. Either something interests them, or it does not. And that is exactly the kind of product testing we like best.
We also have one slightly unusual travel habit
Other people pack sunscreen and swimsuits for their holidays. We add cat food pouches.
Because wherever we travel, sooner or later we seem to find the local stray cats. In Turkey, Egypt and Madeira, we have fed hungry cats, looked for local rescue groups and volunteers, and when a cat needed more than just dinner, helped arrange veterinary treatment or safe capture.
It is not part of any carefully designed programme. We simply find it difficult to walk past a hungry or sick cat and pretend we have not seen it.
So sometimes a sightseeing trip turns into looking for a vet, sometimes into finding a carrier, and sometimes simply into an evening walk with several pouches of cat food in a backpack.
Nepeta is a small online store — and we would like it to stay that way
We do not want to become an anonymous shop with hundreds of products. We would rather offer a smaller selection of things we genuinely believe in, know well, and which have already passed the most important quality control of all in our home. The feline one.
When you shop with us, you are not simply buying an aromatic cat toy. You are also supporting a small Czech project, handmade production and our ability to continue helping cats in need.
And for that, we thank you.
Lucie Brzáková, Nepeta