THE FELINE BEHAVIOR SERIES Paul D. Pion DVM, DipACVIM (Cardiology) and Gina Spadafori VeterinaryPartner.com

People and cats are living in completely different worlds in terms of the sense of smell. The cat's sense of smell is many times more powerful than a human's (and a dog's is more powerful still). Are you surprised now that the litter box you think is "tolerable" is offensive to your cat?

Of course, the litter box is a modern problem, and the cat's sense of smell is good for much more than deciding when it's not clean enough. Smell plays a role in the establishment of territory, in the finding of prey, and in the determination of whether "found" food is safe enough to eat. Dogs are scavengers who eat just about anything; cats are true predators: Fresh food, please, and freshly killed is even better. Ever wonder why your cat turns up her nose at canned food that's been out a while? Simple: it doesn't smell right.

If your cat is so finicky that no delicacy you serve suits her - or you've been nursing a sick cat - warm the food up to just above room temperature before serving about 85 degrees (or what we humans would call "lukewarm"). Doing so makes food smell better to a cat, and therefore that food becomes more enticing.

In addition to their noses, cats use a body part called the vomeronasal organ, at the front of the roof of the mouth, to help them process smells, especially those of a sexual variety such as the smell of a female cat in season. Whenever cats use this organ, they open their mouths a crack and "taste" the smell, a facial expression called Flehmen.

Date Published: 7/6/2003 1:14:00 PM