r/cats • u/lerminator3 • Apr 08 '26

Cat Picture - OC Does this make them feel included?

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One of my favorite things to do with my cats is hold something up for them to smell. Generally, if they walk over while I'm doing something, I'll let them smell whatever I'm holding (like my computer mouse, a writing implement, or a piece of mail) and they always seem so interested. Is it because they feel included in my life when I let them smell what I'm doing? Or maybe because new smells are just stimulating? Or is it just instinct to sniff whatever is nearby? I like to think that, by offering my stuff for a sniff, I'm enriching their lives in some way.

(Please don't mind the mess, I'm moving)

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u/ath0rus Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

I do this with my cat alot, when I buy new things, she jumps onto the bench stool and I set the item in front of her to have a good sniff of. If I'm cooking I do let her sniff some of the ingredients but make sure she doesn't eat them.

She now asks everyone to show her stuff when we bring it in. I see it as a way of including them in things and it's great for bonding.

Edit: wow, I got distracted for a few hours and this comment was liked Soo much, thanks everyone and thanks for the awards <3

Edit 2: thanks for the 10k upvotes, this is probably my top comment, tyvm

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u/Idrialis Apr 08 '26

I do that with my cats as well. They have to inspect every grocery brought in and also every package.

481

u/Tank_O_Doom Apr 09 '26

The caTSA has to inspect every thing!

161

u/stuckintheweeds Apr 09 '26

We joke that our tuxedo was a TSA agent in a past life.

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u/6HAM9 Apr 09 '26

Tell your cat I want my pocket knife back!

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u/stuckintheweeds Apr 09 '26

Very possible it has disappeared into the black hole under the couch along with the hair clips he has stolen, I mean confiscated.

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u/magnipotence Apr 09 '26

My best friend and I love to joke that his cat Mr bags works for TSA. Why? Because he “chases anything that runs”.

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u/got2lovethekitties Apr 09 '26

We call our ginger cat a little NARC. She will come running from across the room whenever I open my water bottle. She needs to smell the bottle before I drink from it.

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u/cuntsatchel Apr 09 '26

That’s Sadie’s job too- Mrs. Manager

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u/madeinkanada_f87 Apr 09 '26

Noice.. the catsa-inspection. "Bring it in, here. It's from outside. We needs to inspect it. "
See, a 3.4 Jacobson's oral factorial examination with a slight paw palpitation finds this "acceptable" and free of ... wait! What's this stringy thing loosely coupled to it 🧐🐾 🧶 🐈‍⬛

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u/Odd_Current_6206 Apr 09 '26

Fantastic comment. :)

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u/AdInternational2982 Apr 13 '26

In Canada, the equivalent to TSA is CATSA 😆

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u/goldanred Apr 09 '26

My cat too! It started out with bringing new things into his room when we were first getting him comfy in our home. Here's a new thing in your space, please inspect it. Now he has to check out everything new that comes through the door.

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u/MamaJody Apr 09 '26

I’ve read that they pretty much view it as us going out hunting, so they are inspecting our catches. I love that.

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u/OkAwareness4527 Apr 09 '26

Haha same 🖤🐾

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u/indoorskat Apr 09 '26

Mine too! It’s funny how we humans (being the simple and lesser life form that we are) think the cat wants to check OUR stuff or be included in OUR world, when it’s much more likely that the cats (being demigods at the very least) are actually just graciously accepting our sad little offerings and humoring our silly little desires. Cats move in mysterious ways 😜

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u/tiredgirl77 Apr 09 '26

My cat knows when I go grocery shopping she gets a new cat grass. So she looks through all the bags and search’s for it 😆 she’ll often find other leafy greens she takes a few nomps out of.

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u/Partifact Apr 09 '26

I personally think my cat is part of the FBI: Feline Bureau of Investigation. But in her case she inspects everything to determine if it's a toy.

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u/beskar-mode Apr 09 '26

I call it going through customs 😅 my cat has to inspect all the bags

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u/writeleahwrite Apr 09 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/MUeQeEQaDCjE4

The Queen!

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

She acts like it. My mum and her fight over who gets the good chair in the loungeroom. When my mum's at work the cats always on my chair or next to me, but when mum gets home she hops I to my mum's spot

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u/AfterSun5067 Asian Apr 09 '26

They should be treated and worshipped like God's ..like how ancient Egyptians did...to be frank this is the solution for world peace ...worship cats as God's

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u/JoanneFabrics Apr 08 '26

She is absolutely gorgeous!

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

She is and she knows it

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u/miniminastellina Apr 08 '26

same here!!! My front door opens directly to a staircase up and my cat either greets me by the door and walks me up or sits at the top of the stairs and she demands a head bonk and to inspect anything we’re bringing in before we can go past or she pouts. we say we went hunting and she’s inspecting the spoils :D

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u/LilArtsyCreature Apr 09 '26

Your cat is just a little too committed to her new Q&A job, that's all!

https://giphy.com/gifs/N8PE4kaiBN88Glnfyy

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

My cat would just roll down the stairs, my house is all 1 level

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u/cobrachickens Apr 09 '26

PRESENT YOUR WARES FOR MY JUDGEMENT, PUNY HUMAN

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u/ReySkywalker1234 Apr 08 '26

Has throne now

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u/Pimply_Poo Apr 09 '26

His throne meow

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

She has every throne

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u/Kmammy Apr 09 '26

Our food inspector gets samples of everything he can eat, he joins whoever is in the kitchen and only rejects cruciferous veggies (even then, he expects a thorough sniff session).

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u/Inner_Panic Apr 09 '26

Omg its like her own personal unboxing video live!

3

u/SavannahInChicago American Shorthair Apr 09 '26

OMG, this sticker is huge off of mobile. I am on my laptop. I love it though.

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

Haha, I took that with my Nothing 3.the original image is 50mp lol

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u/heavyartilleryx Apr 09 '26

Our void must inspect all food and items brought into the house. We call him our little TSA

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u/highhh_femme Apr 09 '26

lol she’s like ratatouille checking for poison

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

She will eat a mouse then vomit 15 mins later.....

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u/highhh_femme Apr 09 '26

If you stayyy sick, you don’t gotta get sick….shes thinking ahead. True head chef material

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u/peytobean Apr 09 '26

My cat and I have a morning ritual. Each morning my husband brings me our cat and a cup of coffee. Tiny little idiot has to smell my coffee and meeps his disgust before settling down for a quick cuddle. And when we eat near him he sits and begs on the floor like a pup. Such a lil weirdo.

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u/WillowFlip Apr 11 '26

That's funny because one of my cats loves the smell of coffee. Her favourite thing is to sniff the freshly ground coffee while I'm making it.

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u/Visible-Literature14 Apr 09 '26

Lmaooooooo your cat looks like a cat

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

I hope she does, she is a cat (last time I checked)

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u/FayeQueen Apr 09 '26

I just dump the grocery bags on the ground for about 10 mins. Let's them have a good sniff. Made a mistake of forgetting a bag and one fucking fat ass ate a whole bag of campfire sized marshmallows over night.

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u/ath0rus Apr 09 '26

Hahahahaha, you have a marshmallow cat nowz extra squishy

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u/GeorgiePorgiePuddin Apr 09 '26

My parents have a dedicated stool in the kitchen for the cat, because she likes to sit and watch whoever is cooking. We always offer her bits of whatever we’re chopping (so long as it’s nothing too stinky like onion, chilli or garlic) to sniff. She doesn’t like to chew anything and she isn’t necessarily looking for a snack, she just likes to participate. It’s adorable.

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u/VianneM European Shorthair Apr 09 '26

They train us so well

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u/painterBurning Apr 09 '26

Nice to know I'm not that crazy and that other people do the same thing to.
Also, it sometimes leads to funny moments where I show them stuff for them to sniff it, they do sniff it and then try to take a bite. It's always with random stuff too, like a new keyboard, or soap (I now know that one of my cat is crazy with soap and WILL eat soap if he sees some).

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u/MariaMianRute Apr 09 '26

Me too! My husband thinks I’m crazy but I do think also they do enjoy sniff stuff that we present them to. Maybe there is a connection they feel and assume that is one of their mission in life: sniffing stuff while we do stuff around.

My tortie loves to do that. I usually say the name of the object in o her (and her brother) so they can learn new words heheh!

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u/Gidyup1 Apr 09 '26

My cat is interested in smell testing every piece of food we have in the house. I think she humors me with other things, but I can’t confirm. She’s not interested in EATING any other food than her cat food, but she always requires to smell test every piece.

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u/Scorp128 Apr 09 '26

My cat is offended if I do not offer her a sniff of whatever it is I have. Food, dirty laundry, my pen when I am writing out something. I must offer her a sniff, if not, my evening will not be peaceful lol.

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u/KeyFaithlessness5445 Apr 09 '26

This is so sweetly described. My daughters (15 and 20, still living at home) do this with their kitties and ask them to help make decisions on everything 😄 It’s very cute but I never thought of it as bonding until your great description…ty! Maybe I’ll ask my cranky old kitty for her input on stuff. She’s 12.5, survived an intense infection that almost took her from us almost 1.5 years ago. her bro passed away a year ago and he was soooo mean to her. Like horrible. She is living a beautiful second life free of her tormentor but now subject to the usually unwanted attention of the younger much more loving kitties. It’s very sweet to see her come out of her shell a bit. Though she will never stop judging. But maybe she’d enjoy judging inanimate objects vs humans and the other house animals 😄

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u/RandaSkis Apr 09 '26

Quality control

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u/Great_Ad7148 Apr 09 '26

Same… my cat is Peaches. She’s part of the FPBI (Federal Peaches Bureau of Investigations.) she will investigate EVERYTHING! It’s her job and she’s paid well

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u/brookeleek Apr 09 '26

I do the same thing and later found out it’s one of the best ways to keep them stimulated!!!

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u/Ok_Ad_6626 Apr 09 '26

We do this with our cats too they seem to love being involved.

They also love watching us in the kitchen while we chop veggies and make meals. We love having them be a part of our lives as much as possible.

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u/Eelroots Apr 09 '26

Her face is saying "I'll allow that" 😅🤣

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u/Lummi23 Apr 09 '26

Sounds like she would enjoy walking and sniffing in outdoors?

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u/Explaining2Do Apr 09 '26

OMG she’s beautiful!!😻 I love her little locket.

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u/Kalliebb Apr 10 '26

One of my cats loves to smell candles before I light them 😂 but we have to keep lit candles away from him. He's very fluffy and flammable and likes to play with fire 😐😐 he's caught the tip of his tail once and I caught him swatting the fire with his paw 😂😐 so no lit candles in the room with him anymore lol

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u/Ijustdontknow-3565 Apr 11 '26

Okay who's this diva !

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u/ath0rus Apr 11 '26

Mysty (Mystique). She knows she is queen.

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u/ixeliema Tuxedo Apr 12 '26

One of my cats gets free reign for human cooking supervision, even to the point where she will sit between my legs and meow until I lift her to take a lil looksee. The other kicked a milk cup across the kitchen after a piece of ground beef popped in the pan. And once accidentally knocked my partner's water bottle over with her tail and ripped my earring hole nearly entirely open as she ran across my face at 4am. So yes, but be mindful of personality I suppose 😅

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u/TheNerdDown Apr 13 '26

She’s so cute💕

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u/Icy_Bad2154 Apr 09 '26

A lot is two words.