With some 67 million olfactory cells, the cat's nose is much more powerful than ours, without surpassing that of the dog, which has three to four times more cells.
Olfaction intervenes little in the prey search phase (unlike the dog), but shows all its importance at the time of its consummation and in social relations with its peers or with man.
The cat is part of the so-called macrosmatic species, the olfactory area of its brain is highly developed: its odor detection threshold is low and it is capable of perfectly identifying a single odorous molecule.
Even the most complex chemical mixtures can be recognized.
Behold, it is almost impossible to deceive the cat by hiding a medicine in a food!
Felines have a secondary olfactory system, called the vomeronasal organ, capable of detecting chemical substances typical of the species, pheromones.
These intervene, in particular, in the marking of territory and sexual attraction.
To capture them, felines have a particular behavior, the "flehmen": they retract their upper lips, half-opening their mouths in a grimace that gives the impression that they are laughing sarcastically.
The whiskers are extremely sensitive long stiff hairs that provide precious information about the cat's tactile environment.
They are present on the upper lips (the cat's famous whiskers), on the arches of the eyebrows, the cheeks, and even on the back of the front legs.
Essential for hunting and for orientation at night, they function as antennas that allow a great detection of moving or stationary objects thanks to the rates of variation of heat and turbulence.
Its extreme length prevents the cat from tripping over obstacles and helps it to assess the narrowness of a passage so as not to get stuck in it.
Very sensitive to vibrations, the vibrissae are barometers that perceive the arrival of a storm, a tempest, long before we do.
And even from an earth tremor!
The cat is well known for being a "difficult" foodie.
Getting your nose close to his feeder is enough to distract him.
For this reason, food manufacturers carry out very specific appetite tests to obtain the ideal composition of a can or a croquette, and above all, its aroma.
Much of the preference for one food over another depends, first of all, on the aroma that emanates from it.
Thus, the fact of tempering it can increase its appetite.
But the "aromatic magic potion" is useless if the basic ingredients (meat, cereals, legumes, etc.) are not of good quality.
On the other hand, the cat is very strict about the cleanliness of its dishes: cleaning the bowl every day, even when using croquettes, prevents the persistence of a film of fat that oxidizes and is the origin of an aversion to food.
Bibliography:
Dr. L. Barlerin and Dr. JPVaissaire (2003) The Book of Breed Cats. Royal Canin, Aniwa Miscellaneous Collection, Rome, pp. 8-9.
