Why does my sweet cat sometimes make an evil face?

[WhatchaCallKitty]

After smelling certain things, one of my cats jaw drops a bit and her face looks angry, like she wants to kill something.

I don't know if she's actually mad, or it's just an instinct, as she does not bite or growl, she just makes the face for a few seconds then goes back to normal.

 

[Furballsmom]

It's just the way a cats' facial muscles work, especially when smelling some things

 

[Maria Bayote]

It would be cool if you would be able to catch that moment on a video tape and post here.

 

[Caspers Human]

My guess is that your cat is displaying the "Flehmen Response."

Flehmen response - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Several types of animals, including cats have a secondary olfactory (smell) organ called the "Vomeralnasal Organ" (AKA: "Jacobson's Organ") It is used to detect certain types of smells.
Many scientists believe it is used to sense pheromones and other similar chemicals. When an animal uses its Jacobson's Organ is curls its upper lip back, opens its mouth or sticks out its tongue for several seconds.

An animal that is displaying the Flehmen Response often looks like it's grimacing or making a "Yuck Face." It could also be interpreted as an evil grin.

If your cat is doing this it's probably because she smells another cat. Male cats often do this when they are looking for a mate.
Since you have several cats, it's probably because this cat is smelling one of her other housemates.

 

[WhatchaCallKitty]

My guess is that your cat is displaying the "Flehmen Response."

http://[URL][URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flehmen_response

[/URL][/URL]

Several types of animals, including cats have a secondary olfactory (smell) organ called the "Vomeralnasal Organ" (AKA: "Jacobson's Organ") It is used to detect certain types of smells.
Many scientists believe it is used to sense pheromones and other similar chemicals. When an animal uses its Jacobson's Organ is curls its upper lip back, opens its mouth or sticks out its tongue for several seconds.

An animal that is displaying the Flehmen Response often looks like it's grimacing or making a "Yuck Face." It could also be interpreted as an evil grin.

If your cat is doing this it's probably because she smells another cat. Male cats often do this when they are looking for a mate.
Since you have several cats, it's probably because this cat is smelling one of her other housemates.
View attachment 312475

Yes!
You are right, this is exactly what it is.
Ty

P.s. It looks like this (not my cat):

 

[Caspers Human]

That means your cat is smelling something in a way that humans can't do.
The best way we can describe it is to say it's a sense that is half way between smell and taste.

Since humans don't have a Jacobson's Organ, we can never really know how it is used but scientists believe that it is used to sense pheromones and other such scents related to mating or to identification of a particular species of a specific animal.

Cats might use it to find a mate or to figure out who's who.

I assume that all your cats are spayed and neutered so mating is likely out of the question, for the most part. However that doesn't mean that there isn't another cat around, somewhere that hasn't been fixed. Your cat could be smelling that other, unseen, cat. Even if that other cat is totally outdoors, your cats could smell its presence almost as if the walls weren't there.

There is debate about which animal has the better sense of smell... Cats or Dogs.
Dogs have more individual smell and taste receptors but cats have more different kinds of receptors.
The dominant theory is that a dog's sense of smell might be more acute (sensitive) but a cat's sense of smell is more discriminating and can differentiate more kinds of smells.

So, let's imagine that you were cooking dinner there was a cat and a dog in your kitchen.
As the theory goes, the dog could smell the food from farther away but a cat could tell what the individual ingredients in your soup are.

In the end, it's probably a toss-up. To decide which animal has the better sense of smell, you have to specify what you classify as "better."

Again, since humans don't have the same sense of smell as cats do, we can only guess what they smell, how well or what information they get from their sense of smell. Our best guess is that, besides finding a mate, cats use their sense of smell and the Flehmen Response as a means of social communication.

In the end, since your cat has housemates, it's my guess that your cat is smelling around to see which of her brothers and sisters are nearby and to determine where they might be.