36 Chapter 3sexual communication but this is not their only function. They are used by cats via urine,
faeces and secretions from skin glands in a variety of ways.
The skin glands
The skin glands associated with olfactory communication in the cat are found mainly
around the head. These are:
● The submandibular gland under the chin.
● The perioral glands at the corners of the mouth.
● The temporal glands on either side of the forehead.
● The cheek glands.
The skin glands found on other parts of the body are:
● The interdigital glands on the feet.
● The supracaudal gland at the base of the tail.
● Unnamed groups of sebaceous glands along the tail.
All of these are sebaceous glands or groups of sebaceous glands. Most appear to
produce very little or no obvious secretion except for the supracaudal gland, which is
most evident in adult entire males and can sometimes over-secrete, resulting in the
skin condition commonly known as ‘stud tail’ (supracaudal gland hyperplasia).
Testosterone also influences the development of the cheek glands and associated
sebum production in entire tomcats (Zielonka et al., 1994).
Five different pheromones, each a different chemical compound but all contain-
ing varying amounts of fatty acids, have been isolated from the facial glands and what
appears to be the function of three of them have been identified.
● F1 and F5: the functions of these have yet to be identified.
● F2: identified as being associated with sexual marking by entire males.
● F3: identified as being associated with facial marking of familiar and safe areas.
● F4: identified as the scent exchanged during allorubbing and allomarking (rub-
bing on the same inanimate object) by social group members (Pageat and Gaultier,
2003; Mills et al., 2013).
Scent from the facial glands is deposited on to inanimate objects by a behaviour
known as ‘bunting’ (Fig. 3.12). As well as scent-marking, it is possible that this activ-
ity might also be a part of visual communication.
A few of these facial pheromones have been synthetically reproduced and are
commercially available. These may be used, alongside appropriate behavioural advice,
to help prevent or treat behaviour issues (see Advising Clients in Chapter 11b).
Scratching
Cats scratch surfaces using the claws on the forefeet and often have preferred scratch-
ing areas where the behaviour is regularly repeated. They may demonstrate an indi-
vidual preference for using either a vertical or horizontal surface or may scratch
equally on both. One reason for scratching is to ‘condition’ the claws by helping to