# Why do dogs have more odor then cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814 "2025-06-18T18:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/21 "2025-06-20T13:53:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I can’t remember ever coming downstairs in the morning and thinking “Jeez, Mrs. J. needs a bath.” Presumably she _already_ bathes several times a week. People who don’t routinely bathe _stink_. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/22 "2025-06-20T14:44:19Z")
I do think a healthy clean cat is very mild, slightly pleasant smelling. Come to think of it, a healthy _clean_ dog smells pretty good too. Adult dogs are less concerned about being what we consider clean and actually take joy in rolling in horrific smelling things. Cats make an effort to manage their scent. There is a minor meme of annoyed cats cleaning where people have just touched them after they have finished grooming themselves. Cats do a lot of scenting; both with their chin glands and the nastier ones on the back end. Like many mammals odour is a much more significant part of their interactions with the world than it is for us, and they will take great interest in many odours that people consider unpleasant. One of my cats makes sure he gets a good snort of my socks when he greets me after my work day. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/23 "2025-06-20T14:52:42Z")
The odors of the different habitats & enclosures at the zoo are, even decades later, very clear memories for me. But even in that most artificial of environments, it’s plain to see & smell that some species generate more aroma than others, at least to our lousy noses. There’s a lot we don’t detect like insect pheromones. On the other hand, deer fawns are known for having virtually zero odor to help stay hidden. I believe birds are generally poor at smelling. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/24 "2025-06-20T17:32:10Z")
The majority of dogs don’t have much smell. I think the hound breeds tend to be the smelliest. I had a Boston Terrier that was awful stinky. Most of my bird dog just English Setters German Shores English pointers didn’t put out anything offensive ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/25 "2025-06-20T18:43:45Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > I do think a healthy clean cat is very mild, slightly pleasant smelling. Come to think of it, a healthy _clean_ dog smells pretty good too. This is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/26 "2025-06-24T12:07:17Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Probably many cats you know are also indoor pets while very few dogs are. Very few pet dogs don’t live indoors. They go out, sure, but they live indoors. Same with the majority of cats. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/27 "2025-06-24T12:08:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But dogs (and people who don’t bathe) stink. My dogs do not stink. They swim, and run in mud, and roll in stuff, and are never bathed unless they get skunked. But there are people who are very sensitive to certain smells. Like me, I cannot stand chemical scents, like those in soaps, candles, air ‘fresheners’ etc. Also rubber, gasoline, and much else. But dogs don’t stink except when they get old. That’s when I will start giving my dogs baths. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/28 "2025-06-24T12:09:07Z")
Do you bathe them? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/29 "2025-06-24T12:19:26Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Also, most dogs will eat carrion quite willingly, and appear to like the odor – if given the chance, they’ll roll in long dead carcasses. [![](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/far-side-dog-date-comic.jpg) ](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/far-side-dog-date-comic.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/30 "2025-06-24T12:29:16Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Wet dogs smell (or not) dependent upon the kind of coat they have, the degree to which their coat and skin serve host to bacteria and fungi, and the amount of oils they excrete. Dogs with long fur, wrinkled skin, that produce a lot of oils for water-resistance, and that don’t shed regularly tend to be higher on the odor scale, while short-haired and frequent shedding, smooth skin, and that aren’t oily are pretty odorless until they find something nice and smelly to roll in. This, sort of, with a caveat. Dogs come with, broadly, two kinds of fur. Those with a double layer of fur with oil, to keep them warm. These dogs will shed a lot, but probably don’t really need to go to a groomer much, as the shedding naturally keeps them close clipped. It’s their double fur with oil that smells. Think labrador or french bulldog. Other breeds have a single layer of hair rather than fur - these are the breeds that need a haircut every 6 weeks or so, but they don’t smell much at all because they don’t have that oily double fur thing going on. Think poodle, or like my fresh-as-a-daisy maltese, who only ever smells like a sunny day, or of the perfume that his last petter was wearing. They also don’t shed much at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/31 "2025-06-24T12:39:03Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Cats, like other felids, clean themselves all the time. Dogs, like other canids, don’t. In fear of being indelicate and sounding even snobbish, I was going to leave that unsaid, so I’m glad you pointed it out. Throughout human history and because of their behavior, cats have been associated with royalty and even the supernatural because of the mysterious and sophisticated creatures they are. Though loyal and hard working, dogs have never risen to such an exalted state. Cats are royalty, whereas dogs are the hoi polloi, so it’s not surprising that they would be markedly more odiferous. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/32 "2025-06-24T13:48:09Z")
I think that when that person said “indoor pets” they were referring to the fact that most pet cats either don’t really go outside at all or don’t really stay inside at all. I’ve known people who had “outside” cats that mostly live outside and “inside” cats that stay inside but never people who walked their cat, or let their cat out into a yard and expected it to come inside every night. Nearly every dog owner does one or both of those. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/33 "2025-06-24T14:09:10Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’ve known people who had “outside” cats that mostly live outside and “inside” cats that stay inside but never people who walked their cat, or let their cat out into a yard and expected it to come inside every night. I let my cats out loose on the farm every morning and shut them all into the house every night. (They go in and out a lot during the day.) So if an 80 acre farm counts as a yard (not that I expect the cats to recognize the same boundaries as human law does) and ‘post back and forth on a message board with’ counts as ‘know’ – now you do. I know multiple other people who let cats outside and also have them routinely come inside the house; as well as those who never let them out and those (mostly dairy farmers) who never let them into the house, though they certainly come into the barns. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/34 "2025-06-24T14:40:17Z")
I used to let some of my cats out during the day, and kept them inside at night. I love in the burbs. I stopped because i lost too many cats to outdoor causes. But i stopped with new cats, and let the existing outdoor cats continue to go out. (Outdoor cat mortality drops sharply if they survive for a year. That means they’ve learned to avoid cars and most predators.) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/35 "2025-06-24T15:39:13Z")
I’m on the last place on a dead end road. Traffic is much less of an issue. And I’d have cats outside on the place whether I let mine in or not: if the territory’s not claimed, the neighboring barn cats will come to hunt it (there’s a lot of excellent mouse habitat.) So my choice is to have cats in the fields and woods who are semiferal and probably unvaccinated; or to have indoor-outdoor cats who I can (they say must!) handle, and can take to the vet. Nearly all of them over the last 30 years have lived to between 16 and their early 20’s. It does depend a whole lot on where you live; and some on the individual cats. Mine all lived outside for a while at some point in their lives, and are pretty determined about getting out. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I love in the burbs. Good typo! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/36 "2025-06-24T15:56:01Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’ve known people who had “outside” cats that mostly live outside and “inside” cats that stay inside but never people who walked their cat, or let their cat out into a yard and expected it to come inside every night We live in different worlds. It’s completely standard here for cat owners to have a catflap in their backdoor - the cats come and go as they please and residential streets are full of wandering cats as a result - much to the chagrin of my leashed dog. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/37 "2025-06-24T15:56:23Z")
Puh-lease 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/38 "2025-06-24T16:17:52Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I know multiple other people who let cats outside and also have them routinely come inside the house I might not have been clear - I didn’t mean the people with “outside” cats don’t _allow_ them inside. What I meant is that in my experience, cats can’t be contained in even a fenced yard and they will come home when they want to - which may not be every night. I could absolutely make sure any dog I let out into my fenced yard was in the house before I went to sleep - I don’t see how that could be done with a cat. Not unless I specifically got a fence the cats couldn’t climb and took everything out of the yard (bushes, trees) that they could use to get to the top of the fence - and I’m not even sure that would work. If you say yours all come in every night , I’ll believe you - but I’m actually talking about something more like @SanVito describes minus the cat flap , where the cats come and go as they please , wander through the neighborhood and might come home before the owners go to sleep but if they don’t, they will be out all night. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/39 "2025-06-24T16:44:23Z")
My cats came in (almost) every evening, before dark. It might be relevant that that’s when the wet cat food was distributed. There are a lot more predators of cats from dusk to dawn than there are during the day around here, so bringing the cats in was important. I did lose one cat when i failed to bring her in in the evening. I heard her scream in the night, and never saw her again. But the cat who survived indoor-outdoor for many years, until killed by a cancer, also usually came when i called her. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814/40 "2025-06-24T17:05:54Z")
I’m not sure we have any cat predators where I am - I think even the local foxes come off worse in a cat fight. It’s the cars that are the chief problem! When I had cats I would lock the catflap once they were home for their dinner, but if they chose to stay out, they did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-have-more-odor-then-cats/1019814.md?page=3)