A cat’s sense of smell is 15 times stronger than that of a human. Cats may even have a better sense of smell than dogs, with better ability to discriminate among more scents, although they probably won’t be doing search and rescue or bomb detection anytime soon.
It’s no wonder, then, that cats dislike strong-scented litter, potpourri and other things that people think smell good.
One of the scents that cats especially dislike is citrus, so avoid using air fresheners, detergents (especially for cat bedding), shampoos and other products that have lemon, orange, lime or grapefruit scents.
Read more, including how to cope with severe noise phobias in dogs, in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.
