Why Do Cats Open Their Mouth When They Smell
Olivia Luz
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.
When a cat curls back its upper lip and looks like it s sneering it has just discovered an interesting usually intense odor and smells it more deeply. I hear that a cat will also do this around an area that might contain cat urine. For that reason cats open their mouths when they smell something to facilitate the entry of pheromones and other chemical substances. According to studies cats have a habit of breathing with the help of their nose.
Why do cats open their mouths when they smell something bad. The cat uses its mouth not nose to suck in air and filter it into the vomeronasal area. Flehmen response in a stallion. They open their mouth baring their teeth for maximum exposure so they can access the most scent possible.
The ears also become flattened in some cats. This apparent grimace is also called the flehmen reaction sometimes also known as flehming. So cats are thought to smell their owner s mouths as they comforted by the unique smell of their owner s breath. But whenever the cat feels that there is an interesting scent present in the atmosphere it tries to suck the air so that it can try to recognise or identify the smell with the help of the vomeronasal organ.
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Why does your cat sometimes open its mouth to smell. I brought a rug home from my mother s house awhile ago and my cats all sat around it with their mouths open trying to get all the info they could about my mother s 3 cats. The reason your cat is making that strange face is that during the flehmen response your cat is using their tongue to flick the scent and molecules towards the ducts. Why is the cat s mouth open.
Called flehming it is drawing the odors. 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. That is because of flehmen s answer. The cats slightly raise the upper lip to create a pumping mechanism that allows odors reach the vomeronasal organ.
Source : pinterest.com