Why is this???

[ScantyNebula]

Ok ...this is something I always notice Toby doing, and I dont' know why! Everytime he smells stuff, like really getting in deep and sniffing all the smell out of it, he opens his mouth a bit and it stays like it until he sorta stops 'zoning' out. Its hilarious You think they do it because they can smell better or something

[bluekat]

Hmmmmm.......that's interesting. I never see my cats sniff something like that. Maybe there's something in the things he smell that he likes. My cats only act like that with catnip. Also, if I'm eating something that they really like, they come up and smell my mouth for a long time. I've seen one of my cats a couple of times sniffing the floor, and his nose whould be touching the floor. He then sticks his tongue out and gives it a few licks, then leaves I don't know why he does that.

[ScantyNebula]

Yea, he smells everything ... especially socks..he loves to smell our socks after a long days work ROFL....we got back from the vet and he was smelling his carrier like that for like a half hour??? bizarre...

[Logan]

Mimi does that!!!! Strange behavior, but she has always done that!!!

[bluekat]

LOL, I don't think my cats have ever smelled socks before. I heard on a show that a cats's favourite smell are people's armpits I'm not joking, but I don't know if its true!

[HayleyRosie]

Hayley smells her carrier like that when she comes back from the vets as well.

[ScantyNebula]

Its soo strange!

[K & L]

This is called flehming, the cat isdrawing the odors into an organ (Jacobson's organ), in the roof of its mouth.

[ScantyNebula]

victory! So it makes them smell better or something like that?

[Lerah021399]

Originally posted by bluekat
I heard on a show that a cats's favourite smell are people's armpits I'm not joking, but I don't know if its true!

It is definitely true of my kitty Jack...if my husband is laying on the couch and has his arm raised up, Jack will literally try to bury his head in my husband's armpit ...and yes, he does the open mouth thing too! I have heard it does help them to smell better.

Maybe his nose is blocked??? Well, that's how humans act when they have a cold

[rosethecopycat]

Originally posted by K & L
This is called flehming, the cat isdrawing the odors into an organ (Jacobson's organ), in the roof of its mouth.

Thanks K & L .

I was searching for the name of that gland, I thought it was Johnson's or Thompson's ...
So, it's an organ, not a gland?

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by ScantyNebula
victory! So it makes them smell better or something like that?

Yes, it gets "more" of the scent to them, so to speak. You know how sometimes you smell something and it smells just like something else tastes? ('course I can't think of a good example right now) Well it's something like that. They use both their noses and this Jacobsen's organ to get the full scent of things. Seems they only do it when they're really interested in a smell.

I think it's funny when they are smelling something like that, then turn away and are onto something else, but forget to close their mouths.

[ScantyNebula]

yea!! Thats what makes me laugh! I'm like "Tob!! Close you mouth!" It looks so cute!

[Kirsten]

K & L is right, it's flehming. They do it whenever they smell something very interesting, for example a cat in heat. It's an additional sense, something between smelling and tasting.

Rose: It's true, it's an organ, not a gland.

Kirsten