# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSfpqaqkt01
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/38101122-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a70f9fb062.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-20T18:00:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

“When cats head bunt, they’re creating a communal scent in a free-roaming universe. Cats recognize each other by scent first and foremost,” said Pam Johnson-Bennett, a cat behavior expert and author of seven books on cat behavior.⁠
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Head bunting, which most of us have been mistakenly referring to as head butting, is a way for cats to exchange scents so that everyone in their environment—their colony—smells the same. It’s similar to a jowl or cheek rub, which is also done to leave their scent on the things and people they have claimed, but it is not the same.⁠
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Ingrid Johnson, a certified cat behavior consultant who has been featured on Animal Planet, says bunting is a form of bonding.⁠
“They’re saying ‘I love you. You’re so wonderful, but you’re also a little stinky. Let’s get you smelling like us,” Johnson said.⁠
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Cats do that by activating the scent glands, which excrete pheromones on the area of their head just above the eye, but below the ear. Johnson affectionately refers to these areas as “male pattern baldness spots” because a cat’s fur can get a bit sparse there as he ages.⁠
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#cat #cats #bunting #biology #animals #science #pheromones

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## Tags

animals, science, cat, bunting, biology, pheromones, cats

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