Cat Communication: Pheromones

by Katharine Babatzanis RVN

If I had but one wish in this world, it would be to have the ability to communicate with my cats. This has been true since I was a little girl and would tell my cats how much I loved them repeatedly. I knew, even back then, that they had no idea what I was talking about, but that did not stop me from trying. Now, a mere 30 years later, we are still not able to communicate with animals, at least in the way that I had hoped. But we know more about feline communication and in ways that we humans can understand.

There are three main forms of feline communication: physical (i.e. body language and facial expressions), vocal (e.g. meowing, purring, yowling etc.) and chemical (i.e. pheromones and odours). While two of the forms of communication (physical and vocal) are easier for us human beings to understand, for this article, we are going to focus on the one that is not as well known; chemical.

The form of chemical communication we will be discussing is pheromones, as they play a large part in our feline friends’ lives, much more than you might think. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of it all, let’s start at the beginning.

What are Pheromones?

The term pheromone is derived from the Greek language; pherein which means to carry or transfer, and hormōn, which is to excite or stimulate.

Pheromones are scents that cats use to communicate ‘messages’ with other members of their own species. There are many different types of pheromones that cats can secrete, and each one is made up of many different chemical components. In fact, did you know that cats have five types of pheromones that they secrete from their face? These are known as the Facial Feline Pheromones, and each one has a specific ‘message’ attributed to it, which can elicit a specific response from the cat smelling and detecting that message.

There are eight areas (nine in females) over a cat’s body where pheromones are known to be produced. They are secreted through special scent glands:

1. The temporal gland: located on the head between each ear and the eye where the fur is sparse.

2. The perioral glands: are located along the lips.

3. The sub-mandibular glands: are located under the chin.

4. The cheek gland: located on the cheeks.

5. The caudal glands: are located at the base of and along their tail.

6. The plantar pad glands: are located on the pads on their feet.

7. Urogenital area: located around the urinary area.

8. The perianal glands: are located around the anus.

9. The intermammary sulcus: located around the mammary glands, in females only.

Picture 1: Cat Care Centre of Baton Rogue

How do cats use pheromones in communication?

Cats have two ways of detecting scents. The first is via their nose, which is their main form of picking up scents, but the second is through another body part that is used only for pheromones. It is called the Vomeral-nasal Organ (VNO). It is a mucous-filled sac that is located just above their hard palate with openings just behind their upper incisor teeth. Once the molecules that make up each pheromone pass through the opening, they are picked up by chemical receptors in the VNO, and this information is sent straight to the brain for insight.

Picture 2: Fear Free Happy Homes

This scent detection can be aided by something that is referred to as the Flehmen response. This is where the cat raises their upper lip, and their mouth is held slightly open for a few seconds. You may have noticed this in your pet cat before and wondered what they were doing. Well, now you know!

Once the message has passed into the cat’s brain, it then creates a specific response from said cat. The types of ‘messages’ they receive are in relation to:

Territory: This is used to protect the borders of their land, in turn protecting their resources and maintaining the claim they have on the land. For example, a cat will scratch at a tree trunk, not only to leave a visual indicator on the border of their territory, but they can also release a pheromone from their planter pads as a chemical indicator to let other cats know who lives there and that they have been there recently.

Recognition: Allows for cats already in a social group to recognise each other’s presence and belonging to that colony. For example, cats friendly with each other will rub their faces along each other or wrap their tails together, this is believed to help maintain social structure and build upon a mutual scent between colony members.

Reproduction: These pheromones are present in cats who are known to be sexually mature, as it allows them to attract a mate. For example, a male cat will “spray” using their urogenital glands to scent mark areas close to known female cats as an indicator of their testosterone levels and sexual maturity. This urine contains an amino acid known as felinine, which has been linked with testosterone concentration in the blood plasma.

How can we use this information?

Luckily, there have been some very smart and talented individuals that have been able to utilise this information, about cats and pheromones and have created ways in which we can communicate better with them. This comes in the form of a synthetic version that can assist with:

• Reduction of stress and anxiety with the use of facial pheromones (Feliway Classic & Optimum).

• Friendly interactions in a multi-cat household with the maternal appeasing pheromone (Feliway Friends).

• Enticing cats to scratch items that are specifically designed for them with the planter pad pheromone (Feliscratch - no longer sold in Australia).

So, while we may not be able to converse with cats, or detect feline pheromones, we are at least able to communicate back to them with these advances. Advances that will assist with your cat’s general well-being and help to build a better relationship with your cat.