Cats Can Distinguish Owners by Scent

Domestic cats possess a remarkable ability to distinguish their owners from strangers based solely on scent, according to a study from Tokyo University of Agriculture, as reported by the BBC.

Researchers presented 30 cats with test tubes containing cotton swabs infused with either their owner’s scent, a stranger’s scent, or no scent at all. The swabs were collected by rubbing them under armpits, behind ears, and between toes of human participants.

The cats spent notably more time sniffing the scents of strangers compared to those of their owners or the odorless controls. This behavior, scientists suggest, indicates that cats can differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar human scents.

It remains unclear, however, whether cats can pinpoint a specific individual by scent alone. Further experiments offering scents from multiple familiar people would be needed to identify distinct behavioral patterns triggered solely by an owner’s scent.

The study’s authors observed that after sniffing, cats often rubbed their faces against the test tubes, marking them with their own scent. This suggests that sniffing may serve as an exploratory act, paving the way for scent-marking behavior.

Prior research has shown that cats can recognize voices, interpret human gazes to locate food, and adjust their behavior based on the emotional states of people around them, which they also detect through scent. It was also known that kittens spend more time sniffing unfamiliar cats than their mothers.