Welcome to issue #18 of Chumka’s Weekly!

Hello there furriend and happy Caturday! I have been absolutely slammed with work this past couple weeks. I have been working on the inventory at my local hospital, helping out to analyze their product usage and creating a way to track it all. It’s been my biggest project (so far) and it took all of my brain energy. It’s not fully finished yet but I am happy to take couple days off and rest my brain! 😸💛

Cats noses are like… super cool

Link to the study

Domestic cats possess a highly complex nasal cavity and a well-developed sense of smell, which plays important roles in feeding and social interactions.

Their sense of smell is very sensitive which you probably are aware. Has your cat ever come to eat their food, smell it, and then absolutely refused it? My cat just did this with his breakfast 🙄🤦‍♀️

Introduction

Mammals usually have three sets of bone structure in their nose (we don’t need to get into the details of their names etc)

In the cat, these bones are significantly more complex than in either humans or rodents and are comparable to those of the domestic dog!

The area of olfactory mucosa (small area where scent receptors are located) in the cat is around 20 cm2. That’s about four to five times that of humans and only twofold less than the average dog.

Researchers have created a detailed 3D computer model of a cat's nose and simulated the flow of air carrying various food odours. The study reveals that the air in the cat's nasal passages separates into two distinct streams. One stream undergoes cleansing and humidification, while the other efficiently delivers the odour to the olfactory region (smell receptors region).

Now here is some really cool comparison - but very scientific language.

Simulation of air and odor flow through the virtual cat nose showed that it appears to function similarly to a parallel coiled gas chromatograph.

A parallel coiled gas chromatograph is a laboratory equipment used for highly efficient analysis of the chemical makeup of substances. It separates chemicals in vaporised form AKA: super cool scientific equipment in the labs

The scientists said that cat's nasal structure is so proficient that it could potentially inspire improvements to existing gas chromatographs!

Some more really cool findings

The simulation also revealed a surprising finding: once the odourant-laden air reaches the olfactory region, it is recirculated through parallel channels for an extended period.

"That was actually a surprise," Kai Zhao, the study's senior author said adding, "It's like you take a sniff, the air is shooting back there and then is being processed for a much longer time."

This recirculation allows for more thorough odour processing. The researchers estimate that the cat's nose is over 100 times more efficient at odour detection compared to species with straight, amphibian-like noses of a similar size!

CT scans showing nasal cavity cross sections of a) human, b) rat, and c) domestic cat. The dark spaces on the scans are the nasal airways. As odorous air is drawn into the nose, it flows through these labyrinthine structures.