Collation of anecdotes and speculation about why many cats like earwax, and human earwax especially. Is it the valeric acid?
In August 2024, I ran an Internet survey on Prolific of n = 250 East Asian cat-owners asking about earwax type & if they had observed an earwax response from their cat. A majority had dry earwax, and most had not exposed their cat to earwax; of those who did, a majority observed no response; and of responders, 26% of dry earwax owners noted a response vs 43% of wet. This confirms that cats have individual differences in earwax response, and that dry earwax can trigger a weaker response—consistent with the valeric acid theory.