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Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#41

Post by bitwize »

whatshisface wrote: post #29
pcwalton wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hyenas and mongooses are feliforms and can taste sweetness, as can all caniforms (I think). Presumably that means that the carnivoran ancestor could as well. I'm not a biologist, but the lack of that gene is very conserved across all Felidae, I think (i.e. there isn't a single felid that can taste sweetness) which usually indicates that there's some evolutionary pressure.

The lack of genes for language, flight and laser eyes are also conserved across all cats, but I'm sure that those would be advantageous.

While I would love to meet a talking flying laser cat, all creatures have a fixed energy budget, and implementing any "feature" has an energy cost. So it could well be advantageous for creatures to not have a feature if they don't need it to survive in their EEA. Evolutionary pressure can make a feature go away or become vestigial if the energy requirement to support it is too great. This is how we get blind lizards in dark caves, for example. Or tailless humans (and other great apes).

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#42

Post by MisterTea »

mattkevan wrote: post #31

Some of the stuff I've seen our cat eating, it's both obvious and a blessing that he doesn't have much of a sense of taste. Goes nuts for the plastic wrappers you get around Pepsi cans and won't stop licking them. Little weirdo.

I have a cat who loves to lick crinkly plastic wrappers and bags. I use shopping bags for my bedroom trash can and I'll wake up to him just sitting there licking the folded over edge for upwards of 10 minutes.

Two theories I've heard are that beef tallow is sometimes used in the manufacture of such bags so they might be smelling that. Or it could be as simple as they enjoy the sensation and/or sound of licking the bag. Though, they certainly are weirdos.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#43

Post by starpilot »

pcwalton wrote: post #4

Evolutionarily, this makes sense. All felids are obligate carnivores that rely on meat for nutrients—for example, they need taurine for vision, which they can't synthesize and is only found in meat. So there's an evolutionary advantage for cats to not want to eat anything else.

Doesn't stop my cat from eating my plants.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#44

Post by thaumasiotes »

journalctl wrote: post #15
lisper wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All felids are obligate carnivores I think you meant "felines". [UPDATE] Nope, the OP meant felids (though my old eyes parsed it as "fields" (never heard of a "felid" before) which is why I thought it was spell checking or voice recognition gone wrong).

“felid” comes from “Felidae”, the family for cats. It’s synonymous, but a bit more formal.

Etymologically, "felids" are "things descended from cats", while "felines" are "things that are like cats".

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#45

Post by raattgift »

foobiekr wrote: post #30
JoelMcCracken wrote: post #2

Knowing this, when my cats desire something sweet that I was eating, I have always assumed they wanted something else they tasted in the food -- if ice cream, then the cream, etc.

I realize that raisins are not safe for cats and did not feed them to my cat deliberately. That said, I had a cat that was absolutely obsessed with eating raisins to the point where we simply couldn’t have them around. To this day I cannot understand what was going on if sweetness was not a factor. Same cat ate the tops off an entire box of glazed donuts once as well while we were out.

Perhaps it was pica, or something like it?

The second paragraph here is about pica in cats:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_psychopathology#Pica

and a brief web search for alternative sources finds

https://www.cathealth.com/behavior/how-and-why/2231-pica-in-...

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#46

Post by close04 »

whatshisface wrote: post #29
pcwalton wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hyenas and mongooses are feliforms and can taste sweetness, as can all caniforms (I think). Presumably that means that the carnivoran ancestor could as well. I'm not a biologist, but the lack of that gene is very conserved across all Felidae, I think (i.e. there isn't a single felid that can taste sweetness) which usually indicates that there's some evolutionary pressure.

The lack of genes for language, flight and laser eyes are also conserved across all cats, but I'm sure that those would be advantageous.

I'm torn between upvote for funny and downvote for (probably) wrong. :)

The gene is present in all (most?) other mammals except cats. One can reasonably assume that there was some evolutionary pressure to it. A whole family/species most likely does not lose a gene without some major outside pressure. Either the population shrinks suddenly and is recovered from individuals missing the gene, or that gene is eliminated presumably for good reason. This is not evidence but it's the more likely explanation.

Of course laser eyes are great only for the first individual that evolves them. Then basically every other population tends to start dying off because you can't just not use them.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#47

Post by minikites »

pcwalton wrote: post #4

Evolutionarily, this makes sense. All felids are obligate carnivores that rely on meat for nutrients—for example, they need taurine for vision, which they can't synthesize and is only found in meat. So there's an evolutionary advantage for cats to not want to eat anything else.

So then why doesn't this appear in any other mammal obligate carnivores?

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#48

Post by hombre_fatal »

rbritton wrote: post #7
JoelMcCracken wrote: post #2

Knowing this, when my cats desire something sweet that I was eating, I have always assumed they wanted something else they tasted in the food -- if ice cream, then the cream, etc.

Mine loves cantaloupe. I’m curious which part of that she likes other than the sweetness.

This is probably the first time I've seen someone else say this online.

The cat I grew up with (lived 21 years) loved cantaloupe as well. It would smell it from far away and come trotting into the kitchen. Seemed to be able to eat as much of the fruit as we were willing to chop for it.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#49

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

JoelMcCracken wrote: post #22
rbritton wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine loves cantaloupe. I’m curious which part of that she likes other than the sweetness.

Exactly; its interesting to think about. One of my cats LOVES melty chocolate chips from freshly baked cookies. When I read the article, I wondered what they could like in marshmallows, but looking it up I bet its this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshmallow#Protein

FYI, Like dogs or birds, cats should not be given Chocolate, as it is toxic to them:

https://www.purina.co.uk/cats/health-and-nutrition/what-not-...

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#50

Post by leftyted »

arethuza wrote: post #35
foobiekr wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize that raisins are not safe for cats and did not feed them to my cat deliberately. That said, I had a cat that was absolutely obsessed with eating raisins to the point where we simply couldn’t have them around. To this day I cannot understand what was going on if sweetness was not a factor. Same cat ate the tops off an entire box of glazed donuts once as well while we were out.

My cat will lick the inside of mugs that contained black coffee - I know caffeine isn't good for cats so I don't encourage this behaviour but he definitely seems to enjoy the taste (I don't take sugar so its not sweetness he is after).

To me, dried coffee residue from black coffee smells absolutely delicious, sweet, almost pastry-like.
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