Why Do Cats Open Their Mouth After Smelling Something
Camila Farah
It s thought that by using the flehmen response cats can identify certain information like the cat s identity if it s a stranger if the cat is male or female and if he or she has been spayed or neutered.
Why is the cat s mouth open. They do this when they smell a particularly intriguing smell. If a smell is particularly interesting you may see a cat make a face with its mouth hanging open. We all know that the sensory organs of the felines remain most active all the time and in the case of cats they open their mouths accompanied by the sniffing to identify any scent more closely.
Cats most often make the face after smelling where another cat has sprayed. Although the cat sort of looks like it s smiling or grimacing when it takes a big whiff the act of opening the mouth and drawing up the air to the jacobson s organ is called the flehmen. It is a common misconception among cat owners that cats make the flehmen grimace yes it actually has a name because they are disgusted with a certain smell. Cats especially house cats exhibit a natural and very noticeable teeth baring grin due to a strong vomeronasal organ and the resultant flehmen response all for merely enhancing their sense of.
For that reason cats open their mouths when they smell something to facilitate the entry of pheromones and other chemical substances. There are plenty of jokes about how cats smell their owner s feet or shoes and then make the surprised face with their mouths open because they simply cannot stand the smell. Scientists think the sensory information moving through the vomeronasal organ falls somewhere between the. The cats slightly raise the upper lip to create a pumping mechanism that allows odors reach the vomeronasal organ.
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The jacobsen s organ as it is known can be described as somewhere between smell and taste. If the smell is food and makes them hungry they might also lick their lips due to excessive salivation. The most commonly believed reason for cats opening their mouth for some time is that they do so after smelling different types of scent.
Source : pinterest.com