- Many animals, including the cat, mark their territory by urinating in the territory area and around the perimeters. A dominant cat will also not bury its feces after defecating as a sign of its dominance of the area. Marking the perimeter sends a clear message to visiting animals that the territory has an owner. When the dominant animal explores its territory boundaries and smells its own urine and feces it takes comfort in knowing that other animals have not visited. Cats, as well as other animals, have an acute sense of smell enabling them to identify information including the gender of another animal by sniffing urine and feces. Every cat's mouth is equipped with a special organ on the roof that is able to detect chemical scents floating in the air. This is the cat's vomeronasal organ and it enables cats to know when another cat is in heat and ready to mate. These smells emit from the urine and feces of these animals. You will know when a cat is using the vomeronasal organ by its face. The cat will bare its teeth, wrinkle its nose and curl its lips.
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A cat likes to rub its head and body against furniture, trees, other cats, dogs that will tolerate them, outdoor buildings and their people. The cat is marking its territory by rubbing its scent or sebum on everything. Sebum is a substance made by the sebaceous glands found at the base or root of each hair follicle, so they are all over the body of a cat.
Cats are always licking themselves, their kittens and sometimes their people. The saliva of a cat carries its scent. When your cat is licking, it is marking its territory, which includes its body. - Cats love to claw and scratch everything in and out of the house. Trees and outdoor buildings make great scratching posts. Indoors, a cat will scratch furniture, bedding, carpeting, toys and bookshelves to the dismay of most owners. It may appear that your cat is just sharpening its nails, which it is. However, the cat is also marking its territory. Whenever a cat scratches, it is also releasing its scent, leaving its mark in more ways than the obvious visible marks.
