Confessions of an American Cat Huffer

cat huffin' cat lovers united

Over the past few years, I noticed with one particular cat, Vera, who likes to cuddle in bed with me, that I can smell a very faint smell from the occipital bone area when I get in very close and put my nose right in her fur. Vera is a very clean cat and generally has no "animal"-y odor, but this odor is sort of a vaguely sweet, caramel musk-y smell. I have noticed it most prominently on her, but I have also been able to pick up the smell in the same area (right at the back of the head) from 2 of my other cats, Zosia and Claude.

All 3 of them are long-haired but all are rescues and otherwise totally unrelated. Other parts of their bodies don't seem to have the same smell. I'm not worried about it at all but I am curious to know if anyone else notices a particular "scent" that their kitty has. My best theory so far is that I have become very attuned to their chemistry and have somehow learned to pick up or recognize the scent of their pheromones.

Yes! We always ponder why Gohan smells like drier sheets. He always has that freshly laundered scent. Olive smells like damp mushrooms. She tends to groom a lot and usually smells vaguely like a swamp (a clean swamp). Our tabby Trin typically doesn’t really have a smell.

Merlin had the most wonderful smell there. I seem to have been the only one that could detect it and for me it was strong and comforting.

I call it love.

Sometimes I close my eyes and 'sniff' to remember that precious odor.
He crossed the Rainbow Bridge in December.
New cat Louie does not have it.

KarenKat said:

smells vaguely like a swamp (a clean swamp)

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LOL! Glad it's a clean swamp type of smell, not a dirty one. Yeah, I get the dryer sheets type of smell from my cats, or maybe similar to baby powder.

Gypsy's odor is difficult to put a name to however it's a very clean nice smell.

dorkbait said:

I can smell a very faint smell from the occipital bone area when I get in very close and put my nose right in her fur.

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Yep. That's Atticus's sweet spot, too! The rest of him smells fine, but that area right there, on the back of his neck, is golden.

margd said:

Your litter box description is iGreat Literature. [emoji]128077[/emoji]

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I had kind of a bad day and your post made me laugh out loud, mainly because I have the same thing in ou catbox.

I love the smell of cat fur. None of mine smell bad. Right now I have 2, 3mo. old fosters and they smell like babies. I had tears picturing a bunch of happy adults sniffing a cat!!! Dog people would not understand.

On another note, as far as litter, I just got some donated litter for my fosters. It is "World's Best Litter - Lavender" (I get donated litter from the shelter for my fosters from time to time). It is the best I have ever had. The only thing is that you have to dump it all after about a week - that is with just 2 kittens using it. But it smells great.

The worst I have ever had is the Light Weight by Tidy Cats - evidently the clumping and odor control ingredients are what weighs a lot. (probably why it was donated )

I love the smell of my four cats. Nothing smells better than a clean and well cared for kitty. Izzy, my big, black chunk of fluff, is the best to sniff, as she is super friendly and lets me bury my face in her soft fur. Its hard to describe what a cat's fur smells of, but they smell amazing.

I also like the way their paws smell. Cat paws smell of popcorn.

banana queen said:

I also like the way their paws smell. Cat paws smell of popcorn.

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You're so right! I love the way Atticus and Thirteen's paw smell. One would think that with them scratching around in litter that they wouldn't smell so great but both of mine have awesome smelling paws. My kitten still has that kitten smell about her, too. In my humble opinion there ain't no human baby out there that smells better than Bella Roma!

I'm going to have to do some sniffin' when I get home. I never thought about their paws smelling like popcorn.

banana queen said:

I also like the way their paws smell. Cat paws smell of popcorn.

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I'll be darned, they DO! I must now go and get the iodine and bandaids. Hekitty was less than pleased with the paw sniffing.

I’ve just spent the last few minutes huffing the top of Lily’s head. It smells sweet, like some kind of pastry. Perhaps a scone.

I think I’ll go eat a brownie now.

LOL . . . all these years later and Atticus still smells just as good!

Patches smells really good everytime I kiss the poor cat I have a sly sniff.

I’ve never forgotten this thread; it’s always been one of my favorites. And when Lily’s head smelled so sweet, I just had to resurrect it!

I tried to take a sniff when I snuck a smooch on Mooch’s head earlier. I discovered that she has peed on her foot or her pantaloons. Poor lil old lady.

MoochNNoodles said:

I tried to take a sniff when I snuck a smooch on Mooch’s head earlier. I discovered that she has peed on her foot or her pantaloons. Poor lil old lady.

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Yeah, Lily is 16, long haired and arthritic, and occasionally the scent of Eau de Cat Urine will waft up to my nostrils when she wants a cuddle. I don’t huff that too deeply, but obviously huffing has side benefits in terms of what may be going on with our kitties.

MoochNNoodles and Tobermory, When you love them, Eau de Cat Urine is every bit as good a newborn baby scent! Your lovely ladies are very lucky to have such wonderful custodians.

Whether the scent of Eau De Urine or Lovely Lavender we love them from the top of their head to their toes.