The most stressed and anxious felines do not seem relaxed by the smell of their owners that they perceive on objects and clothes
The most stressed-out felines do not seem relaxed by the smell of their owners on objects and clothes
When we are stressed, anxious or feeling lonely, smelling the scent of the person we love on our clothes or around the house can have a reassuring effect and can help us feel better. This however does not apply to our cat friends, who instead they seem to get even more nervous when they smell their owners' scent on clothing and other objects in their environment, according to this new study.
Smell is a very important sense for cats, and is closely connected to their social behavior - explains Dr. Kristyn Vitale, one of the authors of the study. - But in our study, objects that smell of the owner do not seem to reduce the tension in stressed cats, indeed: the smell would even seem to worsen the psychological state of the animal.
To those who live with a cat at home, it has probably been suggested, when leaving the animal for some time with someone else (for example, before leaving for holidays), to also leave some object that carries its own smell - for example for example a scarf or a t-shirt: in this way the cat should be calmer and miss the human friend less. To see if this practice is actually useful in reducing cat stress, the researchers asked 42 cat owners to entrust their four-legged friends to them, leaving an object that 'knew' about them - a sock, a pillowcase. pillow, a shoe.
(Also Read: Find Out If Your Cat Is Stressed Out And Use These Tricks To Help Him)
Each cat was then placed, together with its owner, in a room never seen before; later the owner was removed and the cat was left alone. Some of the cats have seen their owner return soon, to leave a 'scented' object in the room before leaving again; in other cases, the 'odorous' object was brought into the room by a researcher and the cat was left alone.
Most of the cats showed signs of 'belonging' to their owners, rubbing against them once they returned to the room and meowing nervously in their absence. The presence of the owner-smelling object had no effect in making the animals calmer and more peaceful - the cats paid no attention to it when they were left alone in the room.
According to scholars, this depends on the fact that cats need direct interaction with their owner, rather than with a mere surrogate: the warmth, the cuddles and above all the voice of their human friend make the difference for their psychological state.
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Fonte: Science Direct
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