More Than Meows: How Bacteria Help Cats Communicate

Andy Fell — November 15, 2023 - 10:15am

Many mammals, from domestic cats and dogs to giant pandas, use scent to communicate with each other. A new study from the ��Ƶ, Davis, shows how domestic cats send signals to each other using odors derived from families of bacteria living in their anal glands. The work was published Nov. 8 in Scientific Reports.

Microbes Make Chemicals for Scent Marking in a Cat

Andy Fell — September 13, 2019 - 4:06pm

Domestic cats, like many other mammals, use smelly secretions from anal sacs to mark territory and communicate with other animals. A new study from the Genome Center at the ��Ƶ, Davis, shows that many odiferous compounds from a male cat are actually made not by the cat, but by a community of bacteria living in the anal sacs. The work is published Sept. 13 in PLOS ONE.

Scent marking Content

More Than Meows: How Bacteria Help Cats Communicate

Microbes Make Chemicals for Scent Marking in a Cat