Could cats replace search-and-rescue dogs? If we can motivate them.

SOON, your very survival could depend on a cat. Research shows they have a much more sensitive sense of smell than dogs. It’s just that we haven’t convinced them to use it. Yet.

When it comes to cats versus dogs, cats may have regained the lead — by a nose.

WE know dogs have owners.

We know cats have staff.

So how does one motivate an aloof feline to care about the fate of its human minions?

With difficulty.

But the effort could be well worth it, new research argues.

The wideranging study, published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, upsets a common misconception.

Cats have a more sensitive sense of smell than dogs.

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Specifically, their genes reveal they have a significantly better ability to discriminate between a greater variety of smells.

And that means they could be employed to seek the scent of anything from cancer and tuberculosis to explosives and humans. And their light, lithe bodies can much easier access difficult spaces — such as collapsed buildings.

“Given the importance of olfaction in cat sensory perception, cats could be trained to discriminate between a variety of odours, therefore serving in working roles for detecting specific humans, medical scent detection, bomb sniffing, or drug sniffing,” Oregon State University’s Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences researcher Kristyn Vitale Shreve told Seeker.

And the smell study suggests the way to win a cat’s co-operation may also be through its nose.

Search and rescue cats? A new study says it’s a real possibility.

THE NOSE HAS IT

There are three different kinds of scent receptor proteins in mammal noses. One of them, V1R, is believed to control a mammal’s ability to separate one scent from another.

Dogs have nine variants of the V1R protein.

Humans have two.

Cats have 30.

All up, this shows scent has a far more important role in a cat’s every day life than we realise.

“A better understanding of cat chemical signals, especially as it relates to within and between species communication, may lead to an increase in cat wellbeing as humans can use this knowledge in applied settings,” the study reads.

Such as search and rescue.

DELVE DEEPER: Never doublecross a cat. It will not forget it.

“It may be possible to train cats for search and rescue or other scent detection applications in settings where a cat’s physical agility or size would make them a superior choice.”

Cats may have more sensitive noses than dogs. But rats top the lot, with 120 V1R protein variants.

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Which is why rodents are already being employed in the hunt for deadly buried antipersonnel mines. Others are being put through their paces in detecting medical conditions and tracking down humans in a collapsed buildings.

Would cats allow such an indignity to pass unchallenged?

The study’s authors think our feline friends are simply misunderstood.

“Although millions of cats live among humans worldwide the scientific community knows relatively little about cat behaviour and cognition,” the study reads.

Hard at it ... cats have much better smell discrimination than dogs.

LEAD BY THE NOSE

How do you get a cat to conform?

Understanding a cat’s need for familiar scents can be used to improve its home life — by placing scratching posts and litter boxes close to spaces they most commonly use.

A lack of appropriate scent varieties may be the cause of much stress for housebound cats, the study finds.

This is why owners — and trainers — should take care to “socialise the cat to experiences outside of the home, find rewards or experiences the cat most wants to work for, and use positive reinforcement to reward those behaviours you are trying to train.”

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Key to getting a cat to conform is its stomach, Shreve says.

But not just any kind of treat.

Forget carbohydrate-packed biscuits. Cooked chicken or tuna is much more likely to succeed.

But rewards such as play and social interaction are a cat’s standout motivators, she says.

“Although many hold the false belief that cats are untrainable, both empirical and applied evidence has demonstrated that cats can be trained — including the skill of walking on lead — especially when started early in life,” the study reads.

Can you picture a cat doing this job? Or any job, for that matter?