It was late 2019 and Laura Matthias, a retired school teacher, had some extra yarn in her closet.

Turns out it wasn’t cotton, so wasn’t usable for the dish cloths her friend’s mother knits, but the Sarnia and District Humane Society volunteer had a different idea — make catnip-stuffed knitted pillows.

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Almost six years and about 10,000 pillows later, the Catnippers founder said there’s no sign of production slowing down.

Businesses that sell the product in Sarnia are “calling me when they’re down to five” so they don’t run out and disappoint people, Matthias said.

“It’s going over really well,” said Shelley Hewitt, another group member.

The toys are a hit and have raised about $21,000 for the humane society since December 2020, when Matthias said she started keeping

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