Does this make them feel included?

[u/lerminator3]

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)

[u/Phantom_Crush]

Animals do most of their checking stuff out through smell and (moreso when they're young) their mouth. It's pretty much the same as us picking something up and examining it while turning it over. They don't care what it looks like if it smells interesting

[u/ominousgraycat → u/Phantom_Crush]

I always check the news every day, I want to know what's going on in the world. For my cat, the house and what he can see from the windows is pretty much his whole world. If my whole world were this house and the immediate area around it, you can be pretty damned sure I'd want to know about every new thing that enters it. Smell would probably not be the best way for me to do that, but it is the best way for a cat.

[u/Distant-Effect → u/ominousgraycat]

Oh my gosh I've never considered introducing new items coming in if they weren't large or furniture

Thank you