Embed from Getty Images Cats can identify owners from strangers by scent: The study by Tokyo University of Agriculture found cats spent significantly longer sniffing tubes containing the odours of unknown people compared to tubes containing their owner’s smell. This suggests cats can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans based on their odour, the researchers…

Embed from Getty Images Two new studies identify the genetics behind orange house cats: Now two papers, published concurrently on Thursday in Current Biology,reveal a remarkably unique genetic pathway that has never been seen in other felines—or any other mammals. With their colleagues, two separate groups at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan independently arrived at the same surprising…

See Michelle Starr, Study Reveals a Simple Technique to Communicate With Your Cat, Science Alert, May 6, 2025.

As was earlier completed with dogs’ data, scientists are now building a vast database of cats’ genetic information: Cat owners are being asked share their pet’s quirky traits and even post researchers their fur in an effort to shed light on how cats’ health and behaviour are influenced by their genetics. The scientists behind the…