What smells cause a Flehmen response?

[fufpaw]

Hi, I have 2 female cats around 8 months old. The only time I have ever seen them do the Flehmen response is when smelling pee on the carpet (we were busy cleaning their bathroom when the pee happened) but I just saw one do it on a spot on the carpet. It looks like a yellow line but does not smell like pee to me... The spot is crusty. I never noticed it there before. Now I'm wondering if one of them threw up...

Believe it or not I could not find a list of what smells cause cats to do the Flehmen response by Googling.

What smells cause your cats do the Flehmen response?

 

[LTS3]

Any odor can cause a Flehmen response

Whatever the cats finds interesting may result in a Flehmen response.

You can clean the urine spot andother pet messes on the floor with an enzyme based cleaner such as Nature's Miracle. The spot may not smell to you but your cats can definitely smell it.

 

[fufpaw]

 
Any odor can cause a Flehmen response

Whatever the cats finds interesting may result in a Flehmen response.

You can clean the urine spot andother pet messes on the floor with an enzyme based cleaner such as Nature's Miracle. The spot may not smell to you but your cats can definitely smell it.

Interesting. What do your cats do it in response to? I can think of at least one exception to what you said about anything they find interesting... food lol

 

[raerae624]

My cat does it most especially in response to other animal smells, whether it be cat, dog, horse, chicken, etc, on my clothes, shoes, carpet or if she comes across any poo on the ground. Once in a while something I'm eating may cause her to react as well but she is very well trained not to eat people food so she just sniffs, absorbs, and then walks away.

 

[fufpaw]

Wow... I didn't even know you can train them not to eat people food.... I feel like sometimes I have to go inside a room and close the door or go outside to eat because the cats will be coming at me and they can't have this lol

Like earlier we were eating wasabi peas and they were trying to get one.... they smelled it and they still wanted it!!!???? but we did not let them get any lol

 

[raerae624]

Lol I have another outside cat and two dogs who are very very "beggy" when it comes to food, and I can't stand it! So when Iris was a tiny baby (I got her at 5 weeks) I started training her to walk away from anything that isn't her cat food or a cat treat. I never gave her scraps while I was eating and I made her wait till I was done eating to snuggle or sit on my lap...it worked very well! She will even walk away from a glass of milk!!

 

[losna]

The main thing that causes Sinbad and Tempest to do the flehmen thing is dirty laundry and slippers. I've never seen Bêlit do it, so I have no idea what might prompt hers.