Friday, May 21, 2010

When my cat smells he shows his teeth?

Hi, just wondering why when my cat smells objects he opens his mouth after doing so and shows his teeth.its funny...just wondering why?
It DOES look funny - in their mouth they have what is called the "Jacobsen's Organ" that helps them to get a better sniff of something they are smelling :)
sumtimes cats open their mouths to inhale the scent of an object
I believe it is because what ever the cat is smelling is stinky to them. No harm thou...Best of luck.
Cats have a gland in the roof of their mouth that helps them smell better.
Cats have a sensory organ in their mouths called a Jacobbsen's organ (not sure I spelled it right). It helps with their sense of smell.
He's just trying to smell whatever's in front of him. It's normal.
Humans do not have this organ, therefore if we want to smell something that does not have a strong scent, we need to get close and inhale deeply.
all cats (even lions and such) have a gland on the roof of their mouth that takes smells from the air and straight to the brain so they know just what it is they can smell. (like if the food they eat is bad, or if they smell a female ready to mate or a male wanting to fight ect...) .. they open their mouth to draw the smell into the gland. ^_^
This is common in male animals of various species. It is called the 'flehmen' response. This allows the animal to utilize a very sensitive organ (in the mouth/sinus area) called the Vomero-Nasal Organ. The animal kind of 'eats' a mouthfull of air (which has scent in it) and forces the air into this organ. The animal then gets lots of additional information from whatever he was smelling. This is usually used in connection with reproductive/ sexual scents. Oftern to try and assess the reproductive status of females in the area (or to try and find a receptive female!)
When male horses do this they curl their upper lips up towards their eyes and raise their noses to the sky and shake their heads up and down - pretty odd looking :) Male dogs will often do this when they are smelling a female dogs urine and may even lick the spot, then smack their jaws up and down to force the scent/urine molecules into the vomero-nasal organ, and may even start foaming at the mouth a little!
There is good info on the net, if you want more info -
they can smell better like that..
i call it their "stinky face"--it is too cute!
well i never knew i do i didnt know why my cat did that either

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