We hear a lot about search and rescue dogs: how well trained they are, how keen their sense of smell is, how eager they are to find lost souls. Last week, our local news reported on cadaver dog teams searching Manorville and the North Sea for victims who might in some way be linked to the Gilgo murders.
Let’s ask what at first glance seems like a silly question: can cats be used for search and rescue and/or disease detection, in the same way as dogs? The answer may surprise you.
Feline sense of smell: Yes, the feline nose could help humans. Dogs have 250-300 million scent receptors, compared to 200 million in cats. A 2017 study in the journal Applied Science of Animal Behavior found that although cats have fewer scent receptors than dogs, they have an enhanced ability to distinguish between a wider variety of scents than dogs.
Some mammals have a second, fluid-filled olfactory sensor called the vomeronasal (or Jacobson’s organ), which is better at identifying individual scents and pheromones. This organ is not located in the nose, but connected to it through cavities that run from the front tip of the upper mouth to the nose. The combination of the nose and the vomeronasal organ is almost magical. When the nose works with the vomeronasal organ, the olfactory system becomes a powerhouse of distinctions and range of aromas. If you’ve ever noticed your cat sniffing something, wrinkling its nose, and opening its mouth with its lips slightly retracted, your cat is actually smelling it in the air.
Mikey reading to his hero cat, Gino.
Mammals have three types of smell receptor proteins. One of them, called V1R, is believed to control a mammal’s ability to separate one scent from another. Dogs have nine variants of the V1R protein, humans have two, cats have 30, and rats have the most at 120. (Rodents are already being used to hunt for buried land mines and even track people in collapsed buildings.) )
Gino and Mikey butt heads with red hair.
Some researchers think that cats, if motivated by treatments, could be trained to find lost people, sniff out cancer or sniff out explosives or drugs, despite their independent spirit. The cat’s agility and smaller body size would make it easier to maneuver in tight spaces. An orange tabby led the search for a 75-year-old woman and two children buried under rubble after the 2023 earthquake in Turkey.
HOUSING is the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Cat Association, formed as a group of volunteers dedicated to training and using domestic cats in emergency avalanche rescue procedures. CARCA members feel that with proper training, cats can be as effective as dogs – and in some cases, more effective – and faster than probe line techniques when performing avalanche recovery operations.
In 2005, Steve Rusay, founder of CARCA, became a ski patroller in Fernie, British Columbia, involved in avalanche forecasting and search and rescue. He was frustrated by the difficulties faced by the traditional technique and canine searches that could not find a person quickly enough.
Because of his own avalanche experience and love of cats, Steve believed that an avalanche cat rescue program might be possible. It took until 2008 for Steve to convince other ski patrollers to start the first CARCA training session. They managed to rescue a victim alive from an avalanche in their first operation together. CARCA attempted to expand the training program by seeking out cat recruits. However, the last post I saw on the CARCA Facebook page was in 2014, so it’s unclear whether CARCA still trains cats for avalanches.
Hero cats: Certain cats with keen senses of smell, hearing, and alertness have saved people in ways other than searching. Below are four hero cats. The first two cats had ties to Last Hope Animal Rescue:
Houdini- In 2018, this 11-year-old black cat woke her sleeping Massapequa family with howls to alert them that the house was on fire. The family and dog escaped safely, but Houdini disappeared and is believed to have died. There were unconfirmed sightings and “someone” was eating cat food left on the upstairs deck. Nearly a month later, after Last Hope borrowed a trap and gave a humane trap tutorial, Houdini’s owner trapped her on the deck, and the cat heroine was reunited with her family.
Gino- Also in 2018, this orange tabby cat rescued from a Central Islip cemetery became best friends with little Mikey, who had red hair to match his pet friend. They played, butted heads with their red hair and slept together. Gino woke Mikey’s mother one summer night when his little friend was having a febrile seizure. Mikey had another seizure in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The following year, Gino and Mikey appeared on Hallmark Channel’s “Kitten Bowl.” They re-enacted Gino’s life-saving gesture “perfectly” for the camera crew.
Pudding- Amy Jung and her son Ethan went to a Wisconsin Humane Society to play with the cats and adopted two: Wimsy and Pudding, an orange Maine Coon mix. That night, Amy had a diabetic seizure and Pudding tried to slap and nibble her nose to wake her up. Once conscious, she called out to Ethan, who was sleeping and didn’t hear her. Pudding responded to Amy’s screams and woke up Ethan, who provided the necessary medical care. After the incident, Amy registered Pudding as a service cat and took him everywhere with her.
Missy- In 2013, this tabby cat from Newcastle started acting strangely. She kept groping her owner Angela Tinning’s chest and refused to stop, even when she got annoying. Angela found her cat’s behavior so unusual that she went to the doctor who discovered she had breast cancer. She had surgery to remove the malignant disease and from then on considered Missy her hero.
Paw Note giving dogs equal time: In 2014, whilst working in the Westminster press office ahead of the dog show, I gave the New York Daily News reporter an exclusive story that was quickly published around the world. The owner of three-year-old Doberman “Troy” (registered name: Ch Raindance Led Zeppelin of Marquis) explained that when Troy was just four months old, he alerted his wife, Diane, to a malignancy in his breast because the puppy was particularly persistent when stroking her on the left side. This led to the discovery, on self-examination, of a three-centimeter lump and a mammogram, even though she had had one six months earlier. Diane was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy to beat the disease. Diane felt she owed her life to Troy (who won an Award of Merit at Westminster).
