Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007) • Hacker News Board

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#81

Post by gaogao » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:42 PM UTC

andrewla wrote: post #58

I found this out when asking myself the question "are animals fooled by artificial sweeteners". The rabbit hole that that led into is not only do we not know the answer to that question, many animals don't even taste "sweetness" (or if they taste it they don't like it or don't prefer it). Not even all primates, if I recall correctly. And we've seen drift -- apparently we used to be able to bait cockroaches with sweet…

Kind of like the current ML boom. We evolved faster and faster GPUs for gaming and now are trying to use them for other things.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#82

Post by armandososa » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:42 PM UTC

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.

Mine too. But what he really likes is papaya.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#83

Post by namdnay » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:42 PM UTC

pzone wrote: post #74

namdnay wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Bread isn't particularly sweet compared to other foods. Orange juice has a strange and very strong flavor compared to other juices and has a significant bitter component to its taste due to crushing the peels. Never tried chocolate after brushing my teeth but I don't find 99% / unsweetened dark chocolate particularly offensive.

Hmmm good point maybe it's the bitterness profile of the peel

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#84

Post by RugnirViking » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:46 PM UTC

bsenftner wrote: post #66

About cats only eating meat: I have 3 cats, and all of them love any blades of grass, eating a full 'salad' every day.

As I understand it cats eat grass in order to deal with hairballs in their stomach caused when they clean themselves.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#85

Post by LifeLiverTransp » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:53 PM UTC

magic_beans wrote: post #68

pitzips wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

The forbidden flying crispys

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#86

Post by im3w1l » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

andrewla wrote: post #58

I found this out when asking myself the question "are animals fooled by artificial sweeteners". The rabbit hole that that led into is not only do we not know the answer to that question, many animals don't even taste "sweetness" (or if they taste it they don't like it or don't prefer it). Not even all primates, if I recall correctly. And we've seen drift -- apparently we used to be able to bait cockroaches with sweet…

> Dealing with smells was so hard that brains evolved to deal with the problem,

That's fascinating, where can I read about it?

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#87

Post by marzell » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

andrewla wrote: post #58

I found this out when asking myself the question "are animals fooled by artificial sweeteners". The rabbit hole that that led into is not only do we not know the answer to that question, many animals don't even taste "sweetness" (or if they taste it they don't like it or don't prefer it). Not even all primates, if I recall correctly. And we've seen drift -- apparently we used to be able to bait cockroaches with sweet…

I wonder if the cockroach thing is evolution/selection in action... The cockroaches that preferred sweet all fell for the bait got killed. I believe high protein diets cause roaches to make, so those that weren't drawn to sweets lived and were more likely to reproduce. Maybe it's not that they adapted or their tastes changed, just that certain ones survived with given traits.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#88

Post by phnofive » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

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.

Our best guess? Melons smell like meat to the felid mind:

https://feline-nutrition.org/the-blogs/cats-and-cantaloupe-a...

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#89

Post by snagglegaggle » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

magic_beans wrote: post #68

pitzips wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

Spicy flies

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#90

Post by ppcdeveloper » Thu, Nov 14, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

Strange. My buddies cat loves sweets. Especially pecan pie. I'm not sure if she's just trying to bond with him by eating the same food at the same time or she has a sweet tooth.