How Far Can Cats Smell Food – Understanding A Cats Senses

Even if your cat doesn’t hear the can opening the scent of tuna, wet food will also summon cats from across the house. Sometimes cats’ uncanny sense of smell can be challenging to manage since they may come begging for human food just because it smells good. If you’ve ever made a tuna fish sandwich around a cat, you probably know all about their sense of smell. But how far away can cats smell food?

Generally, cats can smell food between 126 – 154 feet away. A cat’s sense of smell is 14x that of a human’s. Not only can cats smell things from further away, but cats can also smell a broader range of chemicals through millions of odor sensors in their nose.

It makes sense that your cat is ready to come begging; as soon as you open up a container of fresh sushi, they can smell it! Cats’ sensitive noses are essential for their survival, so it makes sense that they would have a world-class sense of smell.

How Strong Is A Cats Sense Of Smell

Cats have one of the most impressive senses of smell of any pet. It’s a pretty good bet that your cat can smell a little better even than your dog since cats are less domesticated than dogs, and their sense of smell is closer to their wild counterparts.

Cats can smell up to 14 times as well as people do in terms of distance and the intensity of the scent. Cats also have olfactory receptors (the part of your nose that processes different scents) sensitive to a broader range of chemicals than humans, so they can smell things humans can’t.

They also might get more information about your food, and theirs, from their sense of smell.

Smelling is so important for cats that they may not want to eat if they can’t smell. They won’t be able to tell if the food is safe or if it’s going to taste good unless their noses are working correctly.

Can Cats Smell Dry Food From Far Away

Yes, cats can smell dry food from far away. Cats can smell dry food, which is why they get excited anytime you open a new bag of kibble. The distance they can smell this food probably depends on a wide range of factors.

Chances are your cat can smell kibble from reasonably far away. Some people estimate that they can smell things like kibble and litter boxes from a mile away or more, but it’s hard to be sure.

Other factors, like how intensely scented your cat’s dry food is, how much air is moving, and how many other scents are in the air, also impact how far away your cat will be able to smell their favorite dry food.

It’s complicated enough that it’s hard to give a solid estimate. Some cats might be able to smell their kibble for hundreds of feet, while others might not smell much at all once they get a few rooms away.

Dry food also likely puts off less scent than wet food, so your cat won’t be able to smell their dry food from as far away as their wet food, which may be part of why they are more likely to beg for the wet food; than a dry!

The age of your dry food also matters. The older dry food is, the drier and staler it’s likely to be. The scents that dry food releases may dry out over time as the scents leech into the air and out of the food. That means that your cat can probably smell a newly opened bag of kibble from further away than an old one.

Kibbles with many heavily scented ingredients, like fish oils, may be easier for your cat to smell from far away.

How Far Can Cats Smell Wet Food

Cats can almost certainly smell wet food from farther away than kibble since the extra moisture in the food makes it easier for scents to transfer from the food into the air.

More scent in the air means that the scent can spread farther, making it easier for your cat to pick up from further away.

Remember that 14 times stronger part means that your cat can smell an open can of wet food from 14 times further away than you can. Because scents can expand in the air, the distance can increase.

Can Cats Smell Tuna From Far Away

Yes, cats can smell tuna from far away! Since tuna is a relatively highly-scented fish, pretty much all forms of tuna are appealing to cats. Canned tuna might be the most appealing version, but that’s because it smells, looks, and sounds more like the wet food most cats get than other types of tuna do.

As a rule of thumb, cats can smell anything you can, and from a lot farther away. So, if your tuna has any scent at all, even the very fresh tuna used for sushi and sashimi, your cat can smell it.

What Other Foods Can Cats Smell From A Far Distance

One interesting thing about cats is that they have fewer tastebuds than people do and do not have as many types of tastebuds. That means that cats rely on their sense of smell to taste things, far more than you do, which also means that cats can probably smell most foods except sweets.

Well, it’s possible that cats can smell sweet foods, especially the non-sweet flavorings in sweet foods, but they can’t taste sweetness. Since cats’ sense of taste is based chiefly on smell, the odds are pretty good that they can’t smell sweetness either.

That means that cats can smell all the things you’d expect, like fish, chicken, duck, and beef, but also seasonings, vegetables, and fruits. The stronger the odor, the further away cats can smell it. Chances are, though, that cats can smell meat proteins from further away than other foods.

Why can cats smell meats more powerfully than other foods? Because meats are cats’ primary food source.

As obligate carnivores, cats can’t get most of the nutrients from anything but meat. That also means that cats are more likely to smell meats, and chemical indicators of meat, because it would be an evolutionary advantage for them to have that sense of smell.

Cats can also probably smell other things, like onions and garlic, from a distance, though not for the same reason. Garlic and onions are alliums, a plant family that is highly toxic to cats and dangerous to eat.

Smelling alliums from far away can help keep cats safer by making it less likely that they’ll eat any part of those plants on accident.

Also, some cooking herbs like rosemary and catnip may be easy for your cat to smell from far away. That’s because they are heavily scented and have some advantages for your cat. Catnip is fun and relaxing, while rosemary is a good herb for getting rid of fleas and ticks.

If a plant or food is very beneficial for cats or very harmful, they can likely smell it from far away.