The sticky protein makes sprayed cat urine harder to smell

Cats do not spray their urine to excite their owner (or neighbor), but to communicate with other cats. Cat urine contains what is called… Volatile organic compounds that disperse quickly in the air and contain information for other cats. Therefore, scientists suspect that the smell of sprayed cat urine is stronger than the smell of urine in the litter box, but there is no evidence of this yet.

Therefore, Japanese researchers compared the chemical composition of sprayed urine with that of cat litter. They determined it was exactly the same urine. Therefore, it is not the case that other VOCs in sprayed urine cause the pungent odor.

The researchers said yes They noticed that the urine stuck to the wall of the tubes in which they collected the samples. Thus, they determined that adhesion is responsible for the strong odor. The coccine protein in cat urine ensures that the urine adheres better to vertical surfaces, which is useful if you want to communicate in this way with other cats passing through the same place much later. Because urine sticks to vertical surfaces, the moisture in the urine can evaporate more quickly from the litter box, and the odor of material left on walls or plants becomes stronger. Most likely, this is why sprayed urine smells harder.

The research was published in Journal of Chemical Environment.