Question about scent marking

Question
I had a friend and his cat visiting my house for a few weeks and while they were here, the cat marked his territory by rubbing his head against my furniture. Inspired by that visit, I'm considering adopting a cat myself. Once that visiting cat has left, how long would his scent linger? Is a newcomer cat likely to respond to the pre-existing scent with anxiety or by spraying? Thank you!

Answer
Brad,

Everything I have read about cats and in my own experience, the only marking which seems to really bother other cats is urine marking (a.k.a. spraying).  We have brought numerous cats in over the years and there seemed to be no tension over another cat scent marking with its cheeks, lips, or forehead.

I have found nothing indicating how long the scent from scent glands will last, except for spraying. In your case, I would not worry about it.  A new cat will probably do little more than apply its cheeks, lips, and forehead scents over top of whatever the other cat left behind.

Sorry I could not be of more help.

Best regards... Norm.