Cats smell to communicate.
What the velvet paws want to tell you when they sniff your legs, face or hands.
Cats can be very moody sometimes.
They stand in front of the door and don't want to go in or out, they meow like crazy, but then don't want to eat the treat at all - or they just throw the flower pot off the windowsill.
And every time people think: Why?
Cat behavior is often difficult to interpret.
However, a few signals from the house tiger are clear and can be interpreted almost unmistakably.
Among other things, this applies when your own cat smells you.
What cat sniffing really means.
How do cats smell?
In addition to the nose, they have an extra olfactory organ
Cats have a much more keen sense of smell than humans.
The approximately 65 million olfactory cells enable them to perceive smells very intensively and also to smell things that humans with their 20 million olfactory cells no longer perceive at all.
In addition, cats have the so-called Jacobson organ behind their upper incisors on their palate, with which they can also taste smells.
When cats pull their lips down, breathe in through their mouths and pull funny faces at the observer, this is called "flehmen".
It is a biological reflex that allows the velvet paws to perceive even more smells, including pheromones.
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House tigers communicate with us by sniffing.
© Frank Röder/Zoonar/Imago
The scents, perceived via the sense of smell and the Jacobson's organ, are processed differently in the cat's brain, but are generally used for similar purposes: hunting, feeding, mating, and communication.
Cats sniff to communicate: what does my house cat want to tell me?
Cats use scents to hunt, to mate, to eat, or to communicate—whether with other cats or with their human.
In order to understand the communication of the house tiger, however, people sometimes have to take a closer look.
When cats sniff at us humans, they are initially curious.
They want to know who is standing in front of them and whether this person has been in contact with other cats before, for example.
In addition, house tigers can recognize their familiar human by their smell if they sniff them often enough.
For cats, sniffing at people is a feeling and getting to know each other.
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The cat, which now unmistakably recognizes its human, also sniffs for other reasons.
For example, you may be smelling something the cat likes.
If you just had a salami sandwich in your hand or if you ate it, the cat will notice it with its fine sense of smell and sniff your hands or face because it wants to follow the delicious smell.
A cat sniffing and rubbing your legs wants to say hello and recognize the human.
If it's your cat, it can also be a sign that it's happy to see you or would like a treat.
What smells cats like and which they don't
If you want to attract your cat with smells, for example to make them more cuddly, you can use a few scents that house tigers particularly like.
These include, for example, catnip and valerian, as well as buckbean and cat gamander.
If you sit near these plants, your cat is almost certain to come to you sooner or later.
On the other hand, cats do not like smells such as lavender, lemon, onions, vinegar, garlic, coffee and perfumes.
Other smells that are particularly sharp or acrid, such as nail polish remover or household cleaning products, also scare away the sensitive nose of the velvet paws.
You should also be careful with essential oils, because some smells are not only unpleasant for cats, but even dangerous.
These include, for example, thyme, cinnamon, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, oregano, peppermint or conifer oils.
These can be poisonous to cats.
List of rubrics: © Frank Röder/Zoonar/Imago