Science

k_buddy762

(638 posts) Fri Jun 6, 2025, 03:54 PM Jun 2025

Cats distinguish owner's smell from stranger's, study finds

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5v11dv29o

Domestic cats can tell the difference between the smell of their owner and that of a stranger, a new study suggests.

The study by Tokyo University of Agriculture found cats spent significantly longer sniffing tubes containing the odours of unknown people compared to tubes containing their owner's smell.

This suggests cats can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans based on their odour, the researchers say, but that it is unclear whether they can identify specific people.

2 replies

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Cats distinguish owner's smell from stranger's, study finds (Original Post) k_buddy762 Jun 2025 OP

Duh. Cats have a very strong sense of smell, comparable to dogs. And they bond tightly with their owners. Midnight Writer Jun 2025 #1

One little change. Dem2theMax Jun 2025 #2

Midnight Writer

(25,765 posts)

1. Duh. Cats have a very strong sense of smell, comparable to dogs. And they bond tightly with their owners.

Reply to k_buddy762 (Original post)

Fri Jun 6, 2025, 04:40 PM

Jun 2025

Of course they know the smell of their owners.

Dem2theMax

(11,005 posts)

2. One little change.

Reply to Midnight Writer (Reply #1)

Fri Jun 6, 2025, 04:47 PM

Jun 2025

'Of course they know the smell of their servants.'

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