Britannica Sources used in this answer

How does a cat’s sense of smell compare with a dog’s?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) with tufted ears and spotted fur walking through snow in a winter landscape. — feline The Eurasian lynx (*Lynx lynx*), a member of the family Felidae, can be found in forests that range from Scandinavia to far eastern Russia. It is the largest member of the genus *Lynx* and the third largest predator in Europe.

Cats and dogs both possess highly developed senses of smell that are significantly more acute than that of humans, though they differ in their biological capacity.

While cats have approximately 200 million odor sensors, dogs possess an even more extensive olfactory system. For instance, some dogs have an olfactory epithelium covering about 170 cm² with roughly 1 billion olfactory receptor cells, compared to the 5–10 cm² and 10–40 million receptors found in humans. Additionally, dogs have as many as 5,000 glomeruli—the structures in the brain that process olfactory information—which allows for a high degree of sensitivity to environmental scents.12

Both animals utilize sniffing to increase the volume of air sampled and enhance their ability to detect odors. Furthermore, both species utilize the Jacobson’s organ (or vomeronasal organ) to detect pheromones and other chemical signals. Cats access this organ through the flehmen response, a grimace-like behavior that directs scent molecules to the roof of the mouth, providing them with nuanced information about their surroundings, such as territorial boundaries or mating cues.2341