What is the cat drug, and what does it do?

Stopping cat is hard but usually not medically dangerous in itself; the risk changes when alcohol, sleeping tablets or benzos are part of the comedown.

What is the cat drug in South Africa?

Cat is methcathinone, a synthetic stimulant chemically related to cathinone, the active compound in the khat plant. It is often written “kat”, which is where the confusion with khat starts. SACENDU, the network that tracks admissions to drug treatment in South Africa, calls it “an amphetamine-type stimulant” that “has effects similar to that of” methamphetamine, the drug South Africans know as tik.

Synthetic cathinones like cat are “typically sold as tablets or white powders” and are most often swallowed or snorted; injecting has also been described, according to a 2013 review in Clinical Pharmacology: Advances and Applications.

Two other substances get mixed up with cat all the time:

Cat, khat and mephedrone compared

Name	What it is	How it is used
Cat (methcathinone)	A lab-made stimulant from the synthetic cathinone family	Powder that is snorted or swallowed; some people inject it
Khat	A shrub whose active compound is cathinone	Fresh leaves are chewed
Mephedrone	Another synthetic cathinone, a different molecule from cat	Usually snorted or swallowed

Cat and mephedrone are close relatives, both in Schedule 7, and the street names overlap, but they are not the same drug. Our page on mephedrone covers the other one.

How long do the effects of cat last?

There is no measured figure for cat itself: the same 2013 review found no human studies of how long synthetic cathinones, the family cat belongs to, stay in the body. For mephedrone and MDPV, its close relatives, users in surveys describe effects lasting about 2 to 4 hours and redose every 1 to 2 hours. People who use synthetic cathinones report “a strong compulsion to redose”, so use tends to come in runs of a night or several without real sleep or food, followed by a long, flat crash.

Too much cat shows as fever, a racing heart and hallucinations, the main signs of acute poisoning in a 1993 report in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. After long runs without sleep a person can also become psychotic: seeing or hearing things that are not there, convinced they are being watched or followed, aggressive or out of touch with what is real.

If someone on cat is burning hot, has a fit, is confused, cannot be woken or shows psychosis like this, it is a medical emergency: get emergency help now rather than waiting for a reply from us.

Cat drug side effects

The unwanted effects people report after synthetic cathinones are those of a strong stimulant. The most common, according to the same 2013 review:

• agitation and paranoia;
• teeth grinding;
• a pounding heart and headaches;
• low mood.

Cat drug effects on the mind and body

The serious harms of cat are documented in emergency medicine and neurology. The 1993 report describes acute toxicity with “hallucinations, fever, and tachycardia”, followed by a slow heart and low blood pressure, and says chronic binge use “may result in development of paranoid psychosis”.

• Mind: paranoia, the belief that people are watching or talking about you, hallucinations, aggression, and low mood between runs.
• Nerves: in Latvia, 23 people who had injected home-made methcathinone for about seven years developed walking problems like Parkinson’s disease, and the damage “did not resolve” after they stopped (New England Journal of Medicine, 2008).
• Heart and body: a racing heart and overheating; seizures and kidney or liver failure have also been reported after synthetic cathinones, the 2013 review notes.

Is cat addictive, and what are the symptoms of cat addiction?

Yes. Cat is an amphetamine-type stimulant, and the pull to take more before the last dose wears off is what turns a weekend into a habit. Look for several of these over a few weeks, not one on its own:

• nights without sleep or food, then a crash of a day or two, and weight dropping;
• suspicion, jumpiness and sudden anger;
• money going missing;
• low mood and no pleasure in anything between runs.

The cycle itself tells you most. A run, a crash, a promise that it was the last time, then another run within days: when that keeps repeating, “I can stop any time” no longer describes what is happening.

Is cat illegal, and how common is it in South Africa?

Cat is illegal: methcathinone is named in Schedule 7 of SAHPRA’s consolidated schedules¹, beside heroin, mephedrone and methamphetamine. Khat is controlled too: cathinone, its active compound, is listed in Schedule 2 of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.

Nationally, 3% of people admitted to the specialist treatment centres SACENDU² monitors named cat or khat as their main drug in January to June 2025, and 4% named it as their main or second drug. SACENDU counts the two together because “CAT and KHAT are often used interchangeably during reporting”.

How do you stop using cat?

Stopping cat is hard, but in itself it is usually not medically dangerous. SAMHSA’s treatment guide on detoxification says stimulant withdrawal “is not usually associated with medical complications” and lists what it brings: depression, sleeping too much or too little, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, poor concentration, paranoia and craving. After heavy binges the 1993 report also describes brief withdrawal tremors. No medication has been developed for stimulant withdrawal, so the first weeks come down to sleep, food and getting through the low without going back to cat.

What a person takes to come down is a different matter. If you drink every day, or take sleeping tablets or benzos after a run, do not stop those suddenly on your own: withdrawal from alcohol and sedatives can be dangerous in a way that stimulant withdrawal usually is not. Message us first. A doctor examines you after you arrive, and if you need a detox, our medical team runs it.

If the low after a run turns into thoughts of suicide, it needs professional help straight away. If there is a risk of acting on those thoughts now, or the person cannot keep safe, get emergency help immediately rather than waiting for a reply from us; the SADAG Suicide Crisis Helpline is 0800 567 567. Once they are safe, the person or a relative can talk to us about the cat and the low mood between runs; in treatment the two are worked on together, with the person’s own counsellor every week.

Getting through the crash does not touch the craving, or whatever the runs were helping the person cope with. Treatment works on both.

Getting help for cat addiction

Cat acts much like tik, and stimulant addiction, tik and cocaine included, is part of what we treat at Renewed Life Center in Lakeside, close to Muizenberg beach in Cape Town. Treatment is therapy: once sleep, food and mood come back over the first weeks, the work moves to what cat was doing for the person.

Whether the anxiety, low mood or paranoia came before cat or with it, NIDA advises that it is “usually better to treat these health issues at the same time rather than separately”. Our one team treats the addiction and the anxiety, depression or trauma under it on one plan:

• The first month, living with us: your own counsellor works with you one-to-one every week, 45 minutes at a time, group work fills every weekday, and 12-step meetings run in the evenings.
• The second month goes after the reason: CBT and DBT for urges, schema therapy for old patterns, EMDR for trauma, and work on relationships and on who you are without cat. Ruby Weber, the psychologist who heads psychology at the centre, has more than 20 years in the addictions field. Most clients stay into a second month.
• Going home is planned before you leave: every discharge includes a written relapse-prevention plan built for your home, sober living on the same property is there as a step in between, and an outpatient programme follows if your counsellor recommends it.

The aim is a life where nights are for sleep again, money stays where it was left and a conversation at home does not end in suspicion. Admission can be immediate and typically happens within three days of first contact.

Runs getting longer, or sleep gone for days? WhatsApp us.Runs getting longer, or sleep gone for days? Call +27 79 880 0045, free and confidential.

A relative can talk to our team before the person has agreed to come, which matters when someone on cat insists nothing is wrong. Tell us what the runs and the crashes look like at home. The first conversation is free and confidential, takes 20 to 40 minutes by WhatsApp, video or phone, and we talk through with you which next steps fit.

FAQs about the cat drug

Is cat the same as khat?

No. “Kat” is used for both: cat is a synthetic powder, methcathinone; khat is a plant whose leaves are chewed. Regular khat chewing reportedly causes only mild psychological dependence and mild withdrawal, which is why it matters which one a person means by “kat”.

Is cat the same as mephedrone?

No. Both come from the synthetic cathinone family and both are in Schedule 7, but they are different molecules; the names get mixed up on the street.

Can you overdose on cat?

Yes. Fever, a racing heart, hallucinations, confusion or a fit after taking cat mean a medical emergency: get emergency help straight away instead of waiting for a reply from us.

How long does cat stay in your system, and does it show on a drug test?

A standard 10-panel quick test does not include cat, so a negative strip does not rule it out; a laboratory such as Ampath can test for methcathinone separately. Our page on how long drugs stay in your system explains detection windows by type of test.