Abstract
The association between humans and cats (Felis catus) is well known. This domestic animal is also known for its malodorous urine and feces. The complexity of the odorous urine and feces impacts human life by triggering the human sensory organ in a negative way. The objective of this research was to identify the volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and associated odors in cat urine and feces using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and simultaneous sensory analysis of fresh and aged samples. The solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique was used to preconcentrate the VOCs emitted from urine or feces samples. Twenty-one compounds were identified as emitted from fresh urine, whereas 64 compounds were emitted from fresh feces. A contrasting temporal impact was observed in the emission of VOCs for urine and feces. On aging, the emission increased to 34 detected chemicals for stale urine, whereas only 12 chemicals were detected in stale feces. Not all compounds were malodorous; some compounds had a pleasant hedonic smell to the human nose. Although trimethylamine, low-molecular-weight organic acids, and ketones were contributors to the odor to some extent, phenolic compounds and aromatic heterocyclic organic N compounds generated the most intense odors and substantially contributed to the overall malodor, as observed by this study. This work might be useful to formulate cat urine and feces odor remediation approaches to reduce odor impacts.
Highlights
The companionship between humans and cats (Felis catus) is more than 8000 years old [1]
This work reports that longer (e.g., 50 min) exposure of the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to the aged urine headspace allowed the pyrazines, pyrrole, and pyrimidine to be absorbed onto the fiber and to be detectable in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)
This study reported several volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) emitted from fresh cat urine and feces that were not reported in previous studies
Summary
The companionship between humans and cats (Felis catus) is more than 8000 years old [1]. The market research statistics by the American Veterinary Medical Association counted 74 million domestic cats in the USA in a report presented in 2012 [2]. This popular companion of humans builds importance in human life as a family member. Using GC–MS total ion chromatogram of the cat urine headspace analysis, Miyazaki et al (2006) identified a total of 25 compounds in male domestic cat urine [4]. They reported the urinary protein Cauxin to be involved in felinine production. Several organic chemicals can be emitted from cat urine and feces, depending on the age and sex-related factors of cats
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