"Growing up with cats" is a disadvantage in this case - people don't really notice the 'default' environment that they're used to, your nose 'turns off' that specific smell and doesn't record it. My relatives who have cats (especially in the plural) are unable to distuinguish their own items that smell of cat from similar items that don't.

It's similar for smoking - nonsmokers can easily identify traces of smoke smell (like, this particular jacket was worn recently to a place where people smoked) that are not noticeable by the smoker itself.