No matter how cute they are, there’s no denying that cat urine really stinks, especially when sprayed.
Scientists have never been exactly sure why sprayed urine smells worse than what’s left in the litter tray, but now some think they’ve found the answer.
Researchers at Iwate University, Japan, discovered that cat urine contains high levels of a protein called cauxin.
They suggest that this chemical increases the “wettability” of urine, meaning it sticks to surfaces and dries quickly, releasing many smelly volatile compounds.
If you’re tired of your house smelling bad, luckily scientists say there’s a simple way to eliminate cat odor.
Scientists have revealed that cat urine smells worse when sprayed because of a protein called cauxin that causes urine to stick to surfaces.
Cats, like many other animals, communicate with each other through scent and spray their urine on vertical surfaces such as walls and trees.
But for humans who have to deal with their cats’ olfactory messages, the results are an extremely pungent odor.
Until recently, some scientists thought that cat urine smelled worse when sprayed because it contained additional chemicals from anal sac secretions.
To test this theory, scientists took samples of sprayed urine, normal urine, and urine taken directly from the cats’ bladders using urethral catheters.
When these samples were analyzed chemically, the urine from each cat had a high degree of similarity, regardless of its origin.
The behavior of the cats that sniffed the samples also suggests that an animal’s samples smell the same regardless of whether they are sprayed or not.
That shows that sprayed urine and urine in the litter tray are actually the same on a chemical level, although they smell very different to a human observer.
However, during their testing, the researchers noticed that the cat urine samples “easily stuck” to the inside of the plastic syringes used to transport them.
Reiko Uenoyama, the first author of the paper, says: “This observation prompted us to explore the underlying mechanisms.”
Cat spray smells bad because the proteins in urine allow it to stick to surfaces even outside. That means you need to clean it quickly before the urine dries and the smell gets stronger (file photo)
It was already known that cat urine contains high levels of cauxin, which contributes to the distinctive “malicious” odor of urine.
However, it was not known what effect this had on the smell of urine when sprayed.
Mrs Uenoyama says: ‘Generally, the wettability of a liquid on a solid surface increases as the surface tension decreases.
“Based on this knowledge, we hypothesized that the high protein concentration in cat urine could reduce the surface tension of cat urine, increasing the emission of urinary volatile compounds from the large vertical surface area that extends over the urine. “.
When comparing cat urine to samples that had the protein removed, the researchers found that urine with protein had much lower surface tension and showed significantly greater adhesion to the vertical glass plates during testing.
In a miniature garden built by the researchers, observers could easily smell when a block sprinkled with cat urine was introduced.
However, when that same urine sample was poured onto sandy soil and then covered, no odor could be detected.
Professor Miyazaki, who first discovered that cat urine contains cauxin, says: “The sprayed liquid droplets of urine can easily dry on the surface of the block, resulting in increased emissions of volatile chemicals from the olfactory mark quickly in compared to normal urine.
Previous research has shown that cat urine odor is produced as cauxin and a second compound called felinin.
To eliminate cat odor, researchers say owners could add a cauxin inhibitor to their cats’ food, although they caution that this would be difficult.
As a simpler alternative, scientists recommend treating the area with compounds that contain metal ions such as gold, silver and copper.
These ions bind to volatile odor-producing chemicals, eliminating the odor at its source.
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR CAT? THE 13 SECRET SIGNS THAT FELINES GIVE TO THEIR OWNERS
Cats are often dismissed as distant, solitary creatures who spend their days plotting the demise of their human owner, but such characterizations couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether through their whiskers, their tail, their face or their body language.
In her insightful new book Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat, author Lili Chin, with the help of animal behaviorists, explains how to interpret your pet’s movements.
Below are some of the most common behaviors and what they might indicate.
Our feline friends constantly communicate their feelings of affection to us, whether through their whiskers, their tail, their face or their body language.