Science College, General Science Dept

Organs that smell

Cats receive, feel, and absorb information through various chemical receptors located in their bodies. The nasal cavity opens into the mouth where olfactory organs, referred to as olfactory mucosa, sends a message to the olfactory area of the brain.

Only a small part of the cat’s organ responsible for receiving smells and sending the messages to the brain is visible to the human eye. A maze of bones and cavities is hidden to the naked eye. When a cat breathes, air passes across these bones and cavities and is moistened, and then part of the air crosses an area of nasal lining, the already named olfactory mucosa. This covers about 20 to 40 cm squared (3 to 6 sq. in). To give you an idea of the importance of smell to a cat, this is twice the mucosa of a human. So keep in mind your mucosa, and that of your mucosa challenged human. Poor thing. If you forget, remember mucus and then change the spelling. You will probably find some more references to this, and find it important in the exam.

Further investigation by microscope has revealed 200 million olfactory cells. They are responsible for making the first response to an odor and then to transmit it to the brain by connecting nerves to the olfactory area of the brain, located at the front lower section of the brain. See picture. To help identify the olfactory mucosa cells, they are the ridges that run from the nose to a little bit beyond and beneath the eyes. The bulb just above the mucosa that is in the brain area is the olfactory lobe.

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