why do cats make a face when they smell something

Bởi

Although it may appear that your cat is staring in open-mouthed disbelief, there’s actually a reason he pulls this funny face: Your cat is analyzing a new or strange smell—but instead of doing so through the nostrils, he is “scent-sucking” through the roof of his mouth. This is called the flehmen response.

What Is the Flehmen Response?

The flehmen response is a behavioral response to certain stimuli (usually odors) that allows an animal to better access the information carried through smell. It’s a voluntary response, meaning the animal deliberately exhibits the behavior (as opposed to involuntary responses, such as salivating in response to food or pupils dilating when anxious or stressed).

A cat usually keeps their mouth open when performing the flehmen response. This permits air to flow through their vomeronasal organ, which is also known as Jacobson’s organ or the VNO.

The VNO is an auxiliary olfactory organ located at the base of the nasal cavity, which is responsible for smell. It processes hormones and pheromones released by other animals, typically those in the same species. The VNO can then process these scent molecules as a sensation that has been likened to a blend of taste and smell upon direct contact with them.

The majority of creatures that display the flehmen response, such as cats, have a hole on the roof of their mouths directly behind their front teeth. This opening is connected to a duct that sends smell signals straight to the ventral nerve organ (VNO).

It’s not just house cats who use the flehmen response. Along with other animals like horses, goats, and sheep, wild cats like lions and tigers have also been seen to exhibit the behavior.

Help us make PetMD better

Was this article helpful?

Big cats such as lions and tigers also exhibit the flehmen response, and even other animals like horses, camels, and dogs!

It’s interesting to note that dogs only have nine different types of receptors in their Jacobson’s organ, compared to thirty in the average house cat. Thus, their sense of smell is not their only means of communication!

Okay, okay. We know how it works. Pheromones, primarily, are what they are smelling and attempting to analyze. The flehmen response is crucial for mating, demarcating territory, and intraspecific communication. Compared to female cats, male cats tend to use the flehmen grimace more frequently. “The flehmen response is used by male cats during mating,” Dr. Gibbons of Just Cats Veterinary Hospital explained to Catster.

“Scents can help indicate compatibility and if timing is right. Of course, they employ more than just this “sniffing” method—as with most things involving cats. Some cats interpret a wide range of scents using the flehmen response, such as when you take off your shoes after a tiring day and your cats start sniffing at your feet. I’m sure many cat owners can attest to this having occurred previously.

In conclusion, cats use the “stinky face” to help them understand and analyze their environment in a way that humans are unable to. It’s pretty amazing! It’s also likely that humans once possessed this amazing ability, that our ancestors once “flehmened.” ”.

A vomeronasal organ actually starts to form in human fetuses during development, but eventually it just disappears. The pits at the base of our noses, where the ducts would have attached to the organ, are the only remnants of it at birth.

FAQ

Why do cats make a weird face when they smell something?

Also called the flehmen reaction or flehmen grimace, the flehmen response is a behavioral response seen in cats (and other animals such as goats, tigers, and horses) that helps them process interesting smells, such as pheromones—chemical compounds secreted to help relay messages to other members of their species …

What do cats do when they smell something bad?

A: When a cat keeps their mouth open after smelling something—almost as if they’re making a “stinkface”—they’re exhibiting something called the flehmen response. This odd behavior is, in fact, normal (even a little funny to watch!), and it actually helps them to smell whatever it is they’re smelling.

Why do cats smile when they smell something?

Flehmen response Also known as “stinky cat face” the Flehmen Response is the scientific term for the open-mouthed, huffy sniffing cats can sometimes do. This can look like a smile, or even a grimace, but it’s actually just a way for a cat to enhance its sense of smell.

Why do cats open their mouth when they smell reddit?

Mouth open = olfactory senses. Part of your scent is being processed and to do that her mouth needs to be slightly open. It’s called the Flehmen response and horses (and some other mammals) do it too.