Sense of smell develops in kittens and cubs well before hearing and sight, which enables newborns to sniff out the location of their mother's nipples for suckling. Later, when diet becomes more varied, cats routinely sniff food before tasting it. This practice is particularly important in the wild, where there is no provider of safe, nutritious food. Spoiled food, which could sicken the animal, is easily detected by the cat's super sense of smell because the food emits nitrogen, the signal to abstain.

In addition to their sensitive nasal nerve endings, cats, like most carnivores, are also equipped with a scent organ located on the roof of the mouth near the nasal palate — which sharpens odor detection and identification.

In a strange combination of gape, grimace and grin known as the flehmen response, a feline opens its mouth, wrinkles its nose, and curls back its lips. This unique facial contortion blocks off the cat's normal breathing route and channels odors to the pouch-like Jacobsen’s organ, which then telegraphs odor information to the brain. Cats typically employ the flehmen response to interpret the urine spray of other cats in a territory, particularly male cats assessing the sexual status of females. The urine of females ready to ovulate contains chemicals called pheromones that, when detected by the Jacobsen’s organ, send a powerful message to sexually mature toms. Interestingly, a chemical similar to the pheromones in female cat urine is present in catnip. This likely explains why male cats are generally more responsive to the charms of this vegetation than females. Their wildly ecstatic reaction is sexual in nature.

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