A cat’s sense of smell is incredibly sharp and plays a vital role in how they interact with their environment. With an olfactory system far more sensitive than that of humans, cats can detect scents from great distances, guiding their behaviors, safety, and social interactions. From finding food to marking territory, their sense of smell influences nearly every aspect of their daily life. This makes it an essential tool for survival and communication.
How far can a cat smell?
A cat’s sense of smell is extremely sensitive, and they can pick up odors from much farther away than humans. Estimates for how far a cat can smell range from 126 feet to 4 miles or 21,120 feet.
We know that cats can find food sources from several blocks away. Many cats are being fed by several people in a neighborhood and can easily pick up the smell of new sources of food.
What Do Cats Use Their Sense of Smell For?
Cats begin to use their sense of smell in the first hours after birth to find their mother. They continue throughout their lives to find food with their nose. Many people have experienced hiding food in a cupboard to come home and find it eaten by their cat.
Cats use their sense of smell to ensure their safety from predators. They smell predators from miles away and can find places to hide.
Cats use their sense of smell to hunt, find a mate, explore their environment and recognize familiar people and other animals.
Cats have scent glands on their paws, their faces, hindquarters and tail. This is why you see cats rubbing their faces on objects such as scratching posts, toys, each other, and humans. Cat’s also have their two anal glands which leave their scent behind to mark their territories.
Details of Nose Structure
A cats’ nasal structure is completely unique.
They have regular olfactory (scent) receptors similar to ours to pick up the scents in the air. But cats also have a second set of receptors located in the roof of the mouth. This set of receptors is the vomeronasal organ. The vomeronasal organ picks up pheromones, which are chemical substances released into the environment by other animals. Pheromones are located in the front part of the face where the whiskers are that cats rub on humans and furniture and each other. This affects the behavior or physiology of other members of its species.
The vomeronasal organ, also known as the Jacobson’s organ, is located between the nasal septum and hard palate. They pick up pheromone signatures that regular scent receptors can’t detect. These pheromones are important for social, mating, and territorial information.
Underneath the bony structure on the front of the face, within the nose, are numerous fine, paper-like bones that are lined with a mucous membrane. These are called turbinates, and they serve to filter the air that moves through the nose. The blood supply to the turbinates is very extensive, and this blood supply is crucial to the sense of smell.
Because of this highly tuned sense of smell, it is important for humans to be sensitive to smells that a cat dislikes. Perfumes, odor eliminators, citrus odors, cigarette smoke, and the smells of predators are very offensive to cats.
How Much Better Is a Cat’s Sense of Smell Than Ours?
Cats’ sense of taste is much weaker than humans’ and weaker than their other senses. Their number of taste buds on their tongues is about 20 times less than humans.
A cat’s vision is also weaker than humans’. Their eyes are designed to detect quick motions and to see better in low light, but their vision does not equal ours.
A cat’s sense of touch is extremely sensitive. Especially their whiskers, which are deeply embedded in their skin and let them find information about their surroundings. Their whiskers sense objects in front of and to the sides of their bodies, protecting their eyes and helping their awareness of obstacles in the dark.
The hair on a cat’s body has a large number of nerve endings. These nerve endings are connected to their response system and serve to calm them when petted or when affectionate with other cats.
A cat’s ears are also very sensitive and can be moved in multiple directions to funnel sound into the ear drums. Cats can hear certain frequencies better than dogs. The environment is much noisier to them than to humans.
Common Diseases Linked to the Olfactory System
The most common diseases that affect the olfactory system are the diseases that cats are vaccinated against. Feline viral rhinotracheitis and Calicivirus are the most common causes of inflammation of the mucous membranes and sinuses of the cat’s nasal cavity. This inflammation causes nasal discharge, trouble breathing, and inability to smell. It can also reduce their desire to eat.
Sneezing is an important symptom, especially when cats are young, and needs to be investigated by a veterinarian. Early intervention and treatment for Feline Herpes viral Tracheitis can prevent permanent damage to the nasal passages of cats that cause lifelong problems with breathing and production of mucus.
How Much Better Is a Cat’s Sense of Smell Than Ours?
Humans have about 5 million odor senses, and cats have 200 million. Their sense of smell is 14 times better than that of humans. Cats are better at discerning between different odors than humans are. Cats also use their sense of smell to communicate with other cats.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a cat’s sense of smell is far superior to that of humans, helping them navigate the world with remarkable precision. Their highly developed olfactory system not only supports essential activities like hunting and safety but also enhances their social interactions through scent-marking and pheromone detection. Understanding this vital sense can deepen our appreciation of the complex ways in which cats experience and interact with the world around them.
