Felines Follow Their Eyes Rather Than Noses

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Trying to to determine the dominant sense amongst cats, researchers at the University of Lincoln found that when it comes to food, domestic felines tend to follow their eyesight more than their noses.

Surprising as cats are known to have a sense of smell that is around fourteen times stronger than humans.

The study published in the journal of Applied Animal Behavior Science, found the animals tendency is to use their eyesight to find food. When deprived of their ability to see, the cats reverted to using their noses -especially if they associated the smell with a treat.

The Mail Online report: The scientists found that four of the six cats chose the visual cue that had led them to the treat over the smell.
One of the cats tended to pick the route that contained the paper.
When the scientists then removed the visual cues altogether and gave the cats a choice between smells, the cats consistently chose the smell that had been associated with a treat.
Professor Mills said that it showed that while many cats used vision as their dominant sense, smell was still important to them.

He said the findings may also explain why some cats have a tendency to scent mark new objects when they come into a home and others do not.
He said: ‘One thing to realise is that some cats are very smell focused and others are more visual.
‘So two individuals may respond very different to a similar change in the environment.
‘For example we know many cats will spray on a new bag or article brought into the home, and perhaps this is because the cat is a smell orientated cat, whereas to a visual cat this is not as meaningful.’

 

Baby Feline_Kitten
Baby Feline_Kitten
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Young Feline_Ginger

 

 

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