Scent emitted from anal sac secretions provides important signals for most Carnivora. Their secretions emit a variety of volatile compounds, some of which function as chemical signals with information about the scent owners. The domestic cat has a pair of anal sac glands to secrete a pungent liquid. Their anal sac secretions may give information about sex, reproductive state, and recognition of individuals. However, little is known about the volatile compounds emitted from anal sac secretions and their biological functions in cats. In this study, we examined the volatile chemical profiles of anal sac secretions in cats and their olfactory ability to discriminate intraspecific anal sac secretions. Analysis with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that the major volatile compounds were short-chain free fatty acids, whose contents varied among individuals, as well as other carnivores. There was no sex difference in the volatile profiles. In temporal analyses of individual anal sac secretions performed 2 months apart, the profiles were highly conserved within individuals. Habituation–dishabituation tests showed that cats can distinguish individual differences in the odor of anal sac secretions. These results suggest that cats utilize short-chain free fatty acids emitted from anal sac secretions to obtain scent information for individual recognition rather than species or sex recognition.

中文翻译：

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家猫肛门囊分泌物的嗅觉辨别和挥发性化合物的化学特征

肛门囊分泌物散发出的气味为大多数食肉动物提供了重要的信号。它们的分泌物会释放出多种挥发性化合物，其中一些具有化学信号的作用，可提供有关气味所有者的信息。家猫有一对肛囊腺，分泌刺激性液体。他们的肛门囊分泌物可能会提供有关性别、生殖状态和识别个人的信息。然而，人们对肛门囊分泌物释放的挥发性化合物及其在猫中的生物学功能知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们检查了猫肛囊分泌物的挥发性化学特征及其区分种内肛囊分泌物的嗅觉能力。气相色谱-质谱分析表明，主要挥发性化合物是短链游离脂肪酸，其内容因个人和其他食肉动物而异。在不稳定的配置文件中没有性别差异。在对相隔 2 个月的个体肛囊分泌物进行的时间分析中，这些特征在个体内高度保守。习惯-去习惯测试表明，猫可以区分肛门囊分泌物气味的个体差异。这些结果表明，猫利用肛门囊分泌物释放的短链游离脂肪酸来获取用于个体识别而不是物种或性别识别的气味信息。习惯-去习惯测试表明，猫可以区分肛门囊分泌物气味的个体差异。这些结果表明，猫利用肛门囊分泌物释放的短链游离脂肪酸来获取用于个体识别而不是物种或性别识别的气味信息。习惯-去习惯测试表明，猫可以区分肛门囊分泌物气味的个体差异。这些结果表明，猫利用肛门囊分泌物释放的短链游离脂肪酸来获取用于个体识别而不是物种或性别识别的气味信息。