Research overview: scent marking and chemical communication in cats

Much cat communication is olfactory, and this overview surveys the chemical signalling that structures feline social and territorial life. It covers the main marking behaviours, including urine spraying, scratching that deposits scent from paw glands, and cheek and body rubbing that leaves facial gland secretions on objects, people and other cats. The survey examines how these marks convey information about identity, reproductive state and territory, how cats investigate scent using the vomeronasal organ and the flehmen response, and the welfare relevance of marking, particularly problem spraying linked to stress or conflict. By organizing knowledge of feline scent communication, the survey underscores that the cat's social world is heavily mediated by odour, a channel less obvious to humans but central to how cats relate to their environment and each other.