Why Do Cats Smell With Their Mouth Open?
Why do cats make a weird face after smelling something?
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Your cat has something called a Jacobson’s organ, or vomeronasal organ, located in the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth. When your cat makes this strange face, it is because he has smelled something interesting and is drawing the scent into the Jacobson’s organ to get a better smell.
Do cats open their mouths to smell?
Turns out, this open-mouth sniffing face is caused by something called the “flehmen reaction,” and it’s perfectly normal. Cats have an organ at the roof of their mouths behind the teeth called the vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson’s organ.A
Why do cats smell something then open their mouth?
When your feline friend takes a sniff and leaves its mouth open for a few seconds, it’s actually drawing air into the mouth and up into the Jacobson’s organ. This action helps the organ to process the scent more deeply than your cat’s nose can and sends signals to your cat’s brain.A
