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Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#61

Post by ajross »

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.

Cats' taste (in the strict sense) sense isn't great but isn't awful by mammal standards. What's notable, as pointed out in the article, is that the specific receptor for sugars is broken. Their ancestor lost it due to a mutation, and because the species was a strict carnivore it wasn't selected against.

But the "taste" you're talking about is the one we tend to use in general language, and it's a complicated mix of touch/texture/temperature sense in the mouth and tongue, taste bud chemical reception, and more than anything else smell, which "fills in the chemical blanks" that the coarse taste senses miss.

Cats miss one but have the others in spades. When they lick and eat random junk, it's for a very good sensory reason. Still weirdos, obviously, but ones with a good excuse.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#62

Post by TwoBit »

shagie wrote: post #24
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.

Many of the things that we eat that have “sweet” as part of the flavor profile also have fats as part of ingredients - those are things that cats do taste and recognize. When one looks at cat treats, the fat component is higher than non-treat cat food.

There's no fat in the jam or preserves that my cat likes.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#63

Post by TwoBit »

ceejayoz wrote: post #59
goatinaboat wrote: post #38

There is a reason cats prefer meaty wet food to dry kibble, and disdain sugar entirely This person has never met a cat. One of ours is obsessed with sweet foods like yoghurt, honey, pastries. Which we don’t generally let her have because of her teeth.

You're discounting several possibilities. Yogurt has protein, and many varieties have a lot of fat. Pastries tend to be fatty (butter/lard). Honey's less obvious, but my cat would lick clean wooden spoons just for the texture; perhaps yours likes something about the stickiness?

My cat loves sweet things, regardless of the presence of fat. I need to make videos of this to post.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#64

Post by draw_down »

lisper wrote: post #9
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.

> 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).

Come on

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#67

Post by Waterluvian »

namdnay wrote: post #60
cmiller1 wrote: post #53

Fun fact: the sodium lauryl sulfate in toothpaste dulls the sweetness receptors on your tongue. The taste of orange juice after brushing your teeth is what it would ALWAYS taste like to cats.

I've always been suspicious of that. Why is it specifically OJ that tastes awful, and not other juices, or chocolate, or bread?

Wild guess: the acid amplifies whatever effect in some way.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#68

Post by magic_beans »

pitzips wrote: post #55
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 hear ya! Mine is obsessed with eating cobwebs.

My dog used to love eating bees. Then her little muzzle would get all swollen. Silly gal :)

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#69

Post by stoobs »

gwern wrote: post #33
brycesbeard wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the milk fat they love! My kitty also goes crazy for coconut oil, which helps with hair balls.

Yep. I recently tried this out with my cat: skim milk vs 2% vs whole milk vs heavy cream. No prizes for guessing what his preference ordering was. (He wouldn't even drink the skim! Just licked it, looked at me, and walked away.)

Yeah, and will give you that look too as he walks away...

My little chonk monster is actually pretty good with food, and isn't interested in human food much at all, possibly because he had to fend for himself for a few months before he imposed himself on me. He's certainly partial to the odd pigeon which are too slow/stupid to get away.

He currently has mostly dry kibble and water, but with the odd wet pouch for some variety.

I've tried him on a little milk before and he wasn't bothered, but I have semi-skimmed lacto-free, so I don't know if it offends his taste-buds or not.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#70

Post by armandososa »

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.

One of my (5) cats loves papaya. He finds every other fruit offensive as much as his brothers, but goes crazy over papaya (and I think he kinda likes cantaloupe).
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