Research overview: chemical assessment of mates and rivals via flehmen

Beyond the mechanics of the flehmen response, felids use vomeronasal sampling to extract social information from scent marks. This overview surveys research on how cats assess reproductive status, individual identity, and recency of marking by performing flehmen over urine and gland deposits, and how this guides mate searching and rival assessment. It discusses sex differences in flehmen frequency, with intact males sampling female urine intensively during breeding seasons, and the integration of vomeronasal input with the main olfactory system. The topic explains how chemical communication enables spatially separated solitary cats to coordinate reproduction and avoid conflict without meeting directly.