Research overview: comparing feline and canine olfactory gene counts

Dogs are famed for their sense of smell, and comparing them with cats puts feline olfaction in perspective. This overview surveys estimates that cats possess a large but somewhat smaller repertoire of functional odorant receptor genes than dogs, reflecting differences in olfactory specialization. Despite the gap, the cat's olfactory capacity is still far greater than a human's and central to its behavior. The survey discusses how receptor gene counts relate to, but do not fully determine, smelling ability, which also depends on epithelial area and neural processing. It frames the cat as a highly olfactory animal that simply invests less in smell than the dog while compensating with strong vision, hearing, and vomeronasal chemosensation. Comparing gene repertoires corrects the assumption that cats have weak noses; rather, they have powerful olfaction tuned to a different sensory balance than the dog's scent-dominated profile.