Volatile faecal components related to sex and age in domestic cats (Felis catus)
2018
Uetake, Katsuji | Abumi, Tomonari | Suzuki, Takehito | Hisamatsu, Shin | Fukuda, Minoru
Volatile components of faeces from 55 domestic entire cats (36 males and 19 females) aged 1–12 were investigated using gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer headspace techniques. Twenty-four volatile organic compounds were found in the faecal samples. There was no significant difference in complexity, in terms of the number of compounds detected, between males (mode: 23, median: 23, quartile range: 0.6) and females (23, 21, 2.0). On the other hand, males (15.0, 13.0, 8.9) had a significantly (P < .05) higher concentration (mg/kg) of 1-butanol than females (11.0, 7.1, 3.1). In male cats, the concentrations of six compounds were significantly correlated with age: 1-propanol (rs = 0.409, P < .05), methyl propionate (rs = 0.464, P < .01), propionic acid (rs = 0.443, P < .01), ethyl propionate (rs = 0.333, P < .05), phenol (rs = 0.370, P < .05), and indole (rs = 0.467, P < .01). Similar correlations were not found for the females. These results suggest that domestic cats get information about the sex and age of males via the volatile organic compounds of faeces.
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