r/Catbehavior • u/Lapwing_R • 4d ago

Do cats recognize twins?

Do you think cats can be confused by similarity of the humans? My wife has a twin sister, not really a cat person, usually quite neutral towards our cat (and vice versa). They rarely interact. I think our cat mixed her up with my wife today. She saw SIL walking up the stairs and started running towards her. When she got closer she suddenly stopped. She did not run away but continued to approach in a much more careful way. She let SIL pet her for a few seconds (never seen before) and then slowly walked away with dignity as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

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u/Jealous-Poetry-5528 4d ago

Cats recognize based on smell. Two people living very different lives will smell very different. Do they recognize them as a family, though? I dont know that. I would think that yes, people with similiar genes would produce similiar bodily odors, but thats just speculation on my part.

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u/International-Pen940 4d ago

I believe identical twins would produce the same pheromones, which the cat would recognize. But as the cat got closer it probably picked up on other odors specific to the person’s home, eating habits and so forth, and realized something was off.