Like dogs, cats have a powerful sense of smell. It helps them survive. But can they use their nose to tell human scents apart? To investigate, scientists conducted an experiment with 30 kitties!
First, they asked each cat’s owner to rub cotton swabs behind their own ears, between their toes, and under their armpits. These are stinky parts of the body—especially to a cat! Next, they asked a stranger to do the same. Finally, they presented each smelly swab to the cat. In each test, the cat spent longer sniffing the stranger’s unfamiliar scent. That means your kitty might recognize you just by smell.
The hardest part of the test? Getting the cats to participate! “Cats understand many things as well as dogs do, but they don’t show it in their behavior,” says Hidehiko Uchiyama. He’s one of the scientists. “That makes it difficult to conduct experiments with them.”