ArticleJournal of chemical ecology2018
The Chemical Basis of Species, Sex, and Individual Recognition Using Feces in the Domestic Cat.
Article in Journal of chemical ecology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Non-Invasive Sampling of Odours from Tiger (Panthera tigris) and Leopard (Panthera pardus) for Wildlife Conservation.Journal of chemical ecology · 2026Article
- Isopod feces-mediated shifts in germination timing enhance seedling establishment.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Common scents? A review of potentially shared chemical signals in the order Carnivora.Chemical senses · 2025Review
- Reduction of urinary felinine in domestic cats with renal diseases leads to decreased catty odor.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2025Article
- Sprayed Urine Emits a Pungent Odor due to its Increased Adhesion to Vertical Objects via Urinary Proteins Rather Than to Changes in its Volatile Chemical Profile in Domestic Cats.Journal of chemical ecology · 2024Article
- Characterization of the microbiome and volatile compounds in anal gland secretions from domestic cats (Felis catus) using metagenomics and metabolomics.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Assessing the safety and suitability of using silver vine as an olfactory enrichment for cats.iScience · 2023Article
- Characterization of the microbiome and volatile compounds in anal gland secretions from domestic cats (Felis catus) using metagenomics and metabolomics.Research square · 2023Article
- Article
- A Feline Semiochemical Composition Influences the Cat's Toileting Location Choice.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Influencing Elimination Location in the Domestic Cat: A Semiochemical Approach.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Control of felinine-derived malodor in cat litter.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Symbiotic microbiota and odor ensure mating in time for giant pandas.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Dealing With Stress in Cats: What Is New About the Olfactory Strategy?Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Review
- GC × GC-MS-Based Volatile Profiling of Male Domestic Cat Urine and the Olfactory Abilities of Cats to Discriminate Temporal Changes and Individual Differences in Urine.Journal of chemical ecology · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Scents emitted from excretions provide important information about the owner. Volatile compounds with higher levels in a species and/or sex, or that vary among individuals could be odor cues for species and/or sex, or individual recognition. However, such compounds have been identified in only a few vertebrate species. In domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus), it is known that unburied cat feces are territorial markers asserting the border of their home range, but little was known which fecal compounds are scent cues for species, sex, and individual recognition in cats. In the present study, we demonstrated the chemical basis for species, sex, and individual recognition using feces of cats. For males, major contents were fatty acids and 3-mercapto-3-methyl-1-butanol (MMB), a derivative of the unusual amino acid, felinine. MMB emission levels from feces had sex-based differences (male > female) and dynamic temporal changes during aging. Cats distinguished fecal odors with and without MMB, and different fatty acid compositions among individuals. No cat-specific compound, such as MMB, was detectable from their anal odor emitting fatty acids. We concluded that fecal MMB is a male sex recognition pheromone in cats and also provides a temporal trace of the owner. After sensing MMB, they may distinguish individual differences of conspecific feces with variable subsets of fatty acids. In contrast to scent marks, since cats can obtain species information from visual cues before sniffing conspecific anal odors, they may use their efforts to distinguish individual differences of anal odors during sniffing.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.