The power of our sense of smell

We all draw the attention to what we just have learned; otherwise the reflection would never have come to us.

Did you know that we all have between 6-10 million of receptor cells so we can perceive an unlimited number of odorants?

When my 18-year old cat Molly died on March 1st, due to a renal failure, my vet told me something very interesting:

Cats starve themselves to death when they lose their sense of smell. Molly had indeed lost weight rapidly when she started to have secondary effects of her illness (runny nose) and she suddenly stopped eating. This in total contrast to dogs and humans who still will use the visual to keep eating.

Today during the Aromatics and Mental Health class, Jade Shutes explained how "smell training" works. I found this most interesting especially when you think about the millions of people struggling with COVID-related smell loss. I found it most fascinating to learn more about the disorders of olfaction. I never thought there were so many of them. The potential impact of the loss of sense of smell is a topic that hits home. During my 6 first chemo treatments, I had lost my sense of smell for 2 weeks which each treatment. It was very hard. I can't even imagine how this must be for a cat.

I had just posted about this previous part when my husband suggested we watch a movie based on true events on Netflix.

The couple's first film for Netflix, "Rescued by Ruby" premiered as number #2 worldwide and has been ranked as the #3 favorite Netflix movie of the Year by IMDb.

It is based on the "Dogwink Ruby", a short story from the book "Dogwinks" by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt.

The following paragraph was said just before the movie begun. I guess you will understand why my attention was heightened:

"Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses. Their sense of smell is 100 000 times more acute than ours. If we can sense a teaspoon of a sugar in a cup of coffee, a dog can detect a teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic-size pools filled with water."

I knew I was going to love this movie! It is a must see. I cried. I miss my two cats every single day.