Your cat may be doing more than just tolerating your presence—it might actually recognize you by your smell. In a recent study published in PLOS One, researchers from Tokyo University of Agriculture discovered that domestic cats can distinguish between the scent of their owner and that of a stranger.
“Cats use their olfaction for the recognition of humans,” the study’s authors concluded, marking one of the first pieces of concrete evidence that our feline companions can tell us apart using smell alone.
Testing the Limits of Feline Recognition
To explore this phenomenon, the researchers tested 30 pet cats by presenting them with plastic tubes containing cotton swabs soaked in human scent. Each swab had been gently rubbed on three body areas of either the cat’s owner or a stranger: under the armpit, behind the ear, and between the toes. A third tube remained scentless to serve as a control.
The cats consistently spent more time sniffing the scent of unfamiliar people than their owner’s or the unscented tube—indicating they could differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar humans based solely on smell.
“This is consistent with previous findings that weaned kittens sniff unknown female cats for longer than their mothers,” noted lead author Yutaro Miyairi.
More intriguingly, the cats often began sniffing with their right nostril, before switching to the left as they became more accustomed to the scent. This right-to-left nostril switch suggests a lateralization of brain activity, similar to that seen in dogs, fish, and birds.
Personality May Shape How Cats Smell the World
To examine whether a cat’s personality influenced its behavior during the experiment, owners were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their cat’s temperament and the strength of their relationship.
The results revealed some striking differences—male cats with more anxious or reactive temperaments were observed sniffing more frequently and repetitively, while those with calmer dispositions engaged in slower, more deliberate sniffing.However, female cats did not show notable variations in behavior linked to personality.
“These behavioral patterns in male cats suggest personality may affect olfactory exploration, although further research is needed,” the authors explained.
Exploring Familiarity and Marking
Although the findings demonstrate that cats can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people by scent, researchers caution that the study doesn’t prove cats can identify a specific individual just by smell.
“The odor stimuli used in this study were only those of known and unknown persons,” said co-author Hidehiko Uchiyama. “Behavioral experiments in which cats are presented with multiple known-person odor stimuli would be needed.”
Independent researcher Serenella d’Ingeo, who studies cat responses to human smells but was not involved in this project, agrees the conclusions should be measured with care.
“We don’t know how the animal felt during the sniffing… we don’t know, for instance, whether the animal was relaxed or tense,” d’Ingeo told reporters. She also pointed out that cats might have found the unfamiliar odor more interesting simply because their owner—and their scent—was already present in the room.
“In that situation, owners present not only their visual presence but also their odor,” she said. “So of course, if they present other odors that are different from their personal one, in a way they engage more the cat.”
The study also noted that many cats rubbed their faces against the tubes after sniffing, a common behavior cats use to mark their scent. The researchers suggest that sniffing may act as a prelude to scent marking, though the link requires more exploration.
What This Means for the Human-Cat Bond
This growing body of research is reshaping how we understand the feline-human bond. For years, cats were thought to be distant or indifferent, but science continues to reveal just how attuned they are to the people in their lives. The fact that cats can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar humans based on scent alone adds another layer to our understanding of their social intelligence. It suggests that cats form a mental and sensory map of their owners—not just through sight or sound, but through a deeply ingrained chemical recognition.
Far from being aloof, cats may be quietly tracking our presence, our routines, and even our emotional states using their powerful sense of smell. These findings remind us that our relationships with our pets are often more complex than they appear on the surface.
Recognizing that cats use scent as a form of connection helps us appreciate the subtle ways they show affection and awareness—and why they always seem to know when we’ve had a bad day.
