Latest news with #TokyoUniversityofAgriculture
Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Cats can sniff out owners, study finds
Cats can sniff out owners, study finds (AP) A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan has identified patterns of behavior shown by cats toward humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested that cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats' owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were then presented to the cats in a tube. And the researchers monitored the behavior shown by each cat and the time they spent sniffing the scent samples. They repeated the process with swabs from humans the cats did not know, and also with a blank swab, or placebo, as a measure to control or verify the test. Their results appear to show that the cats spent twice as long smelling samples from strangers than samples from their owners, and that they favored their right nostrils over their left nostrils when sniffing the swabs from strangers. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo The research team thinks the choice of nostril may correspond to the way in which many animals process new information. "Dogs, but also fish, birds, and other vertebrates process novel information using the right brain hemisphere," they wrote in a study paper published March 28, 2025, in the journal PLOS One. "The left brain is responsible [...] when a routine response emerges." The researchers said that while their findings suggested a cat's sense of smell was a tool for their recognizing humans, they could not conclude that smell was the most important mechanism for cats to do that. A cat's personality influences how they interact with humans Personality traits may also play a role in how cats interact with odors — human or otherwise. The researchers asked the cat owners to complete a survey about their cats' personalities. They then tried to match those personality traits with the behaviors they observed during the smelling test, in a hope that this would enable them to identify behavioral differences among cats in responding to smells. They observed that among male cats, the more "neurotic" ones repeatedly returned to the smell tubes, while those described as being more "agreeable" rarely returned to a scent. No behavioral differences were identified among female cats. The personality traits were quantified using a test known as "the Feline Five." That test was developed by another research team for a study of about 3,000 cats in Australia and New Zealand. In that study, published in 2017, highly neurotic cats were described as "insecure, anxious, fearful [of people], suspicious and shy." More agreeable cats were described as "affectionate, friendly to people and gentle." The test was originally pitched as a tool to support animal welfare in the home, by helping owners create safe environments for their cats. Another attempt to understand mysterious 'moggies' While dogs are often called "man's best friend," cats have a reputation for being mercurial, wayward, untamed domestic co-habitators. For example, one study from the University of Leeds found that cats don't bond with humans in the same way as dogs do. "Adult cats are typically quite autonomous, even in their social relationships, and not necessarily dependent on others to provide a sense of security and safety," said the authors of that study when it was published in 2015. So, although this latest study from Japan may suggest cats are able to recognise their human companions, they may still think very little of them.
DW
3 days ago
- Science
- DW
Cats can sniff out owners, study finds – DW – 05/28/2025
Cats use scent to tell their owners apart from strangers. But a cat's disposition also plays a part, according to a Japanese study. A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan has identified patterns of behavior shown by cats toward humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested that cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats' owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were then presented to the cats in a tube. And the researchers monitored the behavior shown by each cat and the time they spent sniffing the scent samples. They repeated the process with swabs from humans the cats did not know, and also with a blank swab, or placebo, as a measure to control or verify the test. Their results appear to show that the cats spent twice as long smelling samples from strangers than samples from their owners, and that they favored their right nostrils over their left nostrils when sniffing the swabs from strangers. Spanish lab clones dogs, cats for grieving owners To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The research team thinks the choice of nostril may correspond to the way in which many animals process new information. "Dogs, but also fish, birds, and other vertebrates process novel information using the right brain hemisphere," they wrote in a study paper published May 28, 2025, in the journal PLOS One . "The left brain is responsible [...] when a routine response emerges." The researchers said that while their findings suggested a cat's sense of smell was a tool for their recognizing humans, they could not conclude that smell was the most important mechanism for cats to do that. A cat's personality influences how they interact with humans Personality traits may also play a role in how cats interact with odors — human or otherwise. The researchers asked the cat owners to complete a survey about their cats' personalities. They then tried to match those personality traits with the behaviors they observed during the smelling test, in a hope that this would enable them to identify behavioral differences among cats in responding to smells. They observed that among male cats, the more "neurotic" ones repeatedly returned to the smell tubes, while those described as being more "agreeable" rarely returned to a scent. No behavioral differences were identified among female cats. A Japanese research group found cats use their right nostril when exposed to the scent of an unknown human, rather than their left nostril, which they tend to use when smelling the scent of someone they know Image: IMAGO/ingimage The personality traits were quantified using a test known as "the Feline Five ." That test was developed by another research team for a study of about 3,000 cats in Australia and New Zealand. In that study, published in 2017, highly neurotic cats were described as "insecure, anxious, fearful [of people], suspicious and shy." More agreeable cats were described as "affectionate, friendly to people and gentle." The test was originally pitched as a tool to support animal welfare in the home, by helping owners create safe environments for their cats. Another attempt to understand mysterious 'moggies' While dogs are often called "man's best friend," cats have a reputation for being mercurial, wayward, untamed domestic cohabitants. For example, one study from the University of Leeds found that cats don't bond with humans in the same way as dogs do. "Adult cats are typically quite autonomous, even in their social relationships, and not necessarily dependent on others to provide a sense of security and safety," said the authors of that study when it was published in 2015. So, although this latest study from Japan may suggest cats are able to recognize their human companions, they may still think very little of them. Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Science
- Perth Now
Cats can sniff out their owners
Cats are able to differentiate between the smell of their owner and that of a stranger. A new study by Japanese researchers has found that felines spent a lot more time sniffing tubes containing the scent of unknown people compared to tubes containing the odour of their owner. The researchers suggest that the animals can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar humans based on smell but cannot prove whether they can identify specific individuals. The idea of sniffing the unknown has been shown before in felines, as research has demonstrated that weaned kittens sniff unfamiliar female moggies for longer compared to their mothers. Hidehiko Uchiyama, one of the study's authors at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, said: "The odour stimuli used in this study were only those of known and unknown persons. "Behavioural experiments in which cats are presented with multiple known-person odour stimuli would be needed, and we would need to find specific behavioural patterns in cats that appear only in response to the owner's odour."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Cats smell — their owners, that is
A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan, identified patterns of behavior shown by cats towards humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats' owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were then presented to the cats in a tube. And the researchers monitored the behavior shown by each cat and the time they spent sniffing the scent samples. They repeated the process with swabs from humans the cats did not know, and also with a blank swab, or placebo, as a measure to control or verify the test. Their results appear to show that the cats spent twice as long smelling samples from strangers than samples from their owners, and that they favored their right nostrils over their left nostrils when sniffing the swabs from strangers. The research team thinks the choice of nostril may correspond to the way in which many animals process new information. "Dogs, but also fish, birds, and other vertebrates process novel information using the right brain hemisphere," they wrote in a study paper published May 28, 2025, in the journal PLOS One. "The left brain is responsible [...] when a routine response emerges." The researchers said that while their findings suggested a cat's sense of smell was a tool for their recognizing humans, they could not conclude that smell was the most important mechanism for cats to do that. Personality traits may also play a role in how cats interact with odors — human or otherwise. The researchers asked the cat owners to complete a survey about their cats' personalities. They then tried to match those personality traits with the behaviors they observed during the smelling test, in a hope that this would enable them to identify behavioral differences among cats in responding to smells. They observed that among male cats, the more "neurotic" ones repeatedly returned to the smell tubes, while those described as being more "agreeable" rarely returned to a scent. No behavioral differences were identified among female cats. The personality traits were quantified using a test known as the Feline Five. That test was developed by another research team for a study of about 3,000 cats in Australia and New Zealand. In that study, published in 2017, highly neurotic cats were described as "insecure, anxious, fearful [of people], suspicious and shy." More agreeable cats were described as "affectionate, friendly to people and gentle." The test was originally pitched as a tool to support animal welfare in the home, by helping owners create safe environments for their cats. While dogs are often called "man's best friend", cats have a reputation for being mercurial, wayward, untamed domestic cohabiters. For example, one study from the University of Leeds found that cats don't bond with humans in the same way as dogs do: "Adult cats are typically quite autonomous, even in their social relationships, and not necessarily dependent on others to provide a sense of security and safety," said the authors of that study when it was published in 2015. So, although this latest study from Japan may suggest cats are able to recognize their human companions, they may still think very little of them. Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany Behavioral responses of domestic cats to human odor, PLOS ONE, 2025 The Feline Five: An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus), PLOS ONE, 2017
DW
4 days ago
- Science
- DW
Cats smell — their owners, that is – DW – 05/28/2025
The nose knows, goes the saying. And it seems to be true for cats as well as humans: Cats use scent to tell their owners apart from strangers. But cat personality also plays a part, according to a Japanese study. A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan, identified patterns of behavior shown by cats towards humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats' owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were then presented to the cats in a tube. And the researchers monitored the behavior shown by each cat and the time they spent sniffing the scent samples. They repeated the process with swabs from humans the cats did not know, and also with a blank swab, or placebo, as a measure to control or verify the test. Their results appear to show that the cats spent twice as long smelling samples from strangers than samples from their owners, and that they favored their right nostrils over their left nostrils when sniffing the swabs from strangers. Spanish lab clones dogs, cats for grieving owners To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The research team thinks the choice of nostril may correspond to the way in which many animals process new information. "Dogs, but also fish, birds, and other vertebrates process novel information using the right brain hemisphere," they wrote in a study paper published May 28, 2025, in the journal PLOS One. "The left brain is responsible [...] when a routine response emerges." The researchers said that while their findings suggested a cat's sense of smell was a tool for their recognizing humans, they could not conclude that smell was the most important mechanism for cats to do that. A cat's personality influences how they interact with humans Personality traits may also play a role in how cats interact with odors — human or otherwise. The researchers asked the cat owners to complete a survey about their cats' personalities. They then tried to match those personality traits with the behaviors they observed during the smelling test, in a hope that this would enable them to identify behavioral differences among cats in responding to smells. They observed that among male cats, the more "neurotic" ones repeatedly returned to the smell tubes, while those described as being more "agreeable" rarely returned to a scent. No behavioral differences were identified among female cats. A Japanese research group found cats use their right nostril when exposed to the scent of an unknown human, rather than their left nostril, which they tend to use when smelling the scent of someone they know Image: IMAGO/ingimage The personality traits were quantified using a test known as the Feline Five. That test was developed by another research team for a study of about 3,000 cats in Australia and New Zealand. In that study, published in 2017, highly neurotic cats were described as "insecure, anxious, fearful [of people], suspicious and shy." More agreeable cats were described as "affectionate, friendly to people and gentle." The test was originally pitched as a tool to support animal welfare in the home, by helping owners create safe environments for their cats. Another attempt to understand mysterious 'moggies' While dogs are often called "man's best friend", cats have a reputation for being mercurial, wayward, untamed domestic cohabiters. For example, one study from the University of Leeds found that cats don't bond with humans in the same way as dogs do: "Adult cats are typically quite autonomous, even in their social relationships, and not necessarily dependent on others to provide a sense of security and safety," said the authors of that study when it was published in 2015. So, although this latest study from Japan may suggest cats are able to recognize their human companions, they may still think very little of them. Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany Sources: Behavioral responses of domestic cats to human odor, PLOS ONE, 2025 The Feline Five: An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus), PLOS ONE, 2017
