Every animal has scent glands, from humans to insects. Humans are the only ones who don’t use them as a form of communication. That is, unless it’s so subtle that it’s nearly undetectable. For cats, scent glands form a very complex and colorful (aromaful?) language — one that humans, with their limited ability to grasp their own pheromones, will never fully understand.
Human Scent Glands Versus a Cat’s
Both humans and cats have scent glands all over their body. The ones most recognized in humans are contained in their armpits, and around the groin and genitals, but you’ll find them in a lot of other places too. These glands produce sweat, but don’t begin working until you reach puberty.
A cat’s scent glands are also all over their body, but a surprising number are focused around the head. You’ll also find them at the base of the tail, between the paw pads, and around their fluffy behinds, among other areas.
Humans tend to view their own glands as a necessary inconvenience, something that creates sweat — smelly, and meant to be washed away. We cats, however, use our scent glands for all sorts of reasons, and frankly, we hate having our smells washed away!
The Language of Scent Glands Starts Very Young
Unlike with humans, cats use the pheromones created by their glands from the time they are born. They establish the relationship between the kitten and its mother. The mother-kitten pheromones also create a sense of bonding and calm within litters. This is how scent glands develop into lines of communication between cats.
Cat Family Conversations
Cats most often use the scent glands in their heads as friendly gestures to other cats — and to their human family too. It’s more than an affectionate touch. It’s an intermingling of scents. As in litters of kittens, your cat feels more secure when their family members, and their homes, smell like them.
But no matter how much cats intermingle scents, they each still have their own distinctive scent. And cats can tell a lot by smelling each other. It’s not just a form of ID — they can also sense the other cat’s health, where they’ve been, and what they’ve been up to. It’s really a whole head-to-tail conversion.
Boundaries Through Scent
The glands in a cat’s paws are more often used to set boundaries. When a cat scratches something, whether it’s a cat tree or the sofa, they are claiming it as part of their territory. Yes, cats scratch because it feels good and keeps their paws and limbs flexible, but the scratch marks are also a secondary territorial marker.
This is why discouraging a cat from scratching a piece of furniture can be so difficult. You don’t just offer them an alternate scratching surface — you also need to offer them something that they prefer to claim as territory.
Sex and Territory
Scent glands in intact cats are also communication tools. They can tell males when a female cat is in heat, and are part of their “love” language. Intact males aggressively mark their territory through their scent and urine. But hopefully you’ve spayed and neutered your cats so you don’t need to be concerned with any of this.
I hope this brief explanation has given you a little better idea of why scent is such a big part of cat communication. Humans are at a disadvantage, having lost the ability to use their scent glands to know others better. But you go ahead and keep spraying on perfume and applying antiperspirant. We cats will keep headbutting you to at least keep up our part of the conversation.
