Cats rely heavily on scent to make sense of their surroundings, picking up clues that humans barely notice. (Envato Elements pic)PETALING JAYA: To humans, a patch of cat urine is generally something to clean up as quickly as possible. To another cat, however, it may contain considerably more useful information.

Scientists have identified a group of unusual chemicals in domestic cat urine that appear to form a distinctive signature for each animal - effectively a chemical calling card that remains relatively stable after the scent is deposited.

The international study, led by researchers at Japan's Iwate University and published in "Current Biology", identified 13 branched-chain fatty acids (BFAs) in cat urine.