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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.
Related paper (from 2007): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2063449/
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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-...
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?
Bet a friend/family member that they can’t taste the difference between whole/2%/1%/skim milk, or some combination thereof. Blindfold them and have them begin tasting the milks. Now, replace the last milk with orange juice. The brain prepares the body for milk, and the unexpected acidity usually causes a gag reflex, and sometimes vomiting. Keep a bucket handy:
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…
Hmm, interesting. If I remember correctly, Stephen Jay Gould argued something similar about the human brain, except it wasn't about smell, it was about walking upright. He argued -- or quoted people who argued this -- that it's likely human intelligence arose as a side-effect from the brain structures needed for an upright stance.
Quoting from Wikipedia [1]:
"Gould was a champion of biological constraints, internal limitations upon developmental pathways, as well as other non-selectionist forces in evolution. Rather than direct adaptations, he considered many higher functions of the human brain to be the unintended side consequence of natural selection."
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'm always wondering how so many people know of this first-hand.
Why are you drinking OJ, something extremely high in sugar, so soon after brushing your teeth?
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I've always been suspicious of that. Why is it specifically OJ that tastes awful, and not other juices, or chocolate, or bread?
You don't even need toothpaste. Taste is also a state of mind thing. Bet a friend/family member that they can’t taste the difference between whole/2%/1%/skim milk, or some combination thereof. Blindfold them and have them begin tasting the milks. Now, replace the last milk with orange juice. The brain prepares the body for milk, and the unexpected acidity usually causes a gag reflex, and sometimes vomiting. Keep a bu…
I vowed that day to stop drinking OJ and stick to water.
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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-...
I've heard this a lot about dogs, and I know it is stated by reputable sources, but the Vet we had growing up told us that this is a myth, and it depended upon the dog; he used to give his dog a pound of fudge every year for christmas, and it had no ill effects except for being somewhat hyper afterwards. I still wonder about his judgment; it doesn't seem like the thing a veterinarian should be telling people. But anyway I wont give chocolate to dogs.
We don't really give her (the cat who likes the melty chocolate chips) much, but she might sneak a lick here or there. I'll be more careful now. Thanks again!
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.
> The taste of orange juice after brushing your teeth I'm always wondering how so many people know of this first-hand. Why are you drinking OJ, something extremely high in sugar, so soon after brushing your teeth?