Kilito Chan/Getty Images: Cats don't seem to like the smell of their owners Kilito Chan/Getty Images
Anxious cats don't like objects that remind them of their beloved person. These reminders can even cause them to howl more when their owner is not there.
Pet cats tend to form strong relationships with their caregivers and find them reassuring. Kristyn Vitale, Unity College Maine, states that cats don't accept smell alone as a substitute for their human caregivers.
She says that olfaction is a vital sense for cats and it is related to their social behaviour. However, in our study, owners who scented objects did not reduce stress. Some cats might find the smell to be even more irritating.
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Sometimes, pet owners are told to bring a piece of clothing for their cats when they need to be separated from them. Vitale and her associates asked 42 cat owners to bring their pets and something that smelled similar to them to an unfamiliar testing area.
The owner was required to sit in a circle of approximately 2 metres on the floor while the cat could roam free throughout the room. The owner then left the cat alone. The cats then experienced one of two scenarios. Some cats saw their owners return, leaving them alone, then finally leaving them alone. Others saw the owner first, then presented the object to the cat, and the owners returned after the cat was alone for a while.
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Vitale says that the majority of cats displayed signs of bonding, with the cats rubbing against their owners when they returned to their room, and meowing nervously when they weren't there. No matter what sequence they went through, they didn't pay much attention to the scent object and were no more calm than when they were left alone.
38% of cats were actually more vocalized when the scented object was present than when they were left alone. The scent object could have been used as a substitute for their owner's presence, and many cats seemed less relaxed about it.
This could be because cats require more social interaction with their owners. She says that warmth, touch, and vocalisation are all important.
According to the findings, owners can do most cats a favor by not leaving their cat's odors behind when they are away. If the cat is in distress or needs to see a different environment, owners can try to be present physically with them.
Journal reference: Applied Animal Behaviour Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105444
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