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Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#121

Post by zdragnar »

eigenschwarz wrote: post #37
zdragnar wrote: post #3

For some reason, I had always assumed there were a number of mammals that didn't care much for sweets, even though in retrospect I know that ferrets, also carnivores, will obsess over sweet drinks.

Perhaps because mustelids have an extraordinarily high metabolism for their size? https://nyti.ms/1Ur6S6C

As carnivores, I wouldn't expect them to have a use for tasting sweet things. The article doesn't address that point, but I think anyone who owns a ferret could tell you that they have a crazy metabolism!

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#123

Post by ddingus »

saalweachter wrote: post #116
danaris wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine gained the nickname "Cupcake" (alongside his variety of other nicknames) when he licked the frosting off a cinnamon-spice cupcake that was out on the counter for a party we were hosting once. He also licked the powdered sugar off half a box of linzer cookies another time. The frosting, I can definitely see being for the fat...the powdered sugar, I'm baffled by.

I had a cat who loved bread. Would climb on top of the refrigerator, tear open the bag, go to town. I would occasionally demonstrate by dropping a bit of meat and a bit of bread on the ground, cat would go for the bread. His most glorious moment (in his own head, as I imagine it) involved leaping from a loft bed onto a coffee table, grabbing an empty cupcake wrapper (still covered in cupcake crumbs) and swallowing it…

That's pretty glorious by cat standards. Total score. Smooth.

We had one that loved good, sticky bud.

One day, back in the 90's when good pot was hard to get, my brother in law set a big, dank bud on the coffee table. And he was all about having a smoke and good meal too.

Kitty perked right up! She could totally smell it, and from there?

Game on!

So, she jumped up on the table, snatched it and ran!

For the next 20 minutes we all watched this hilarious "get that cat" game happen. Brother in law went after the cat. Room to room. It escalated into closed doors and the cat still escaped him!

At one point, we heard crashing, yelling, and when the door opened, he started to apologize only to have the cat squeak through the cracked door and run out the little outside cat door with that bud.

He found it later, drool and hair covered after the cat had thoroughly mauled it, much like catnip.

Yeah, he smoked on it anyway. We all said, "pass."

The cat had an awesome time. Like, "this is what I DO!"

He was total mess. Loved that cat, but never brought bud anywhere near her again.

Yeah, that look. She had it, mixed with tail up, fur slightly puffed, eyes alight excitement. Total, "YES!" moment for the cat.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#124

Post by ddingus »

arethuza wrote: post #52
leftyted wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Well, I can confirm that it tastes quite nice as well - thought fortunately I am working at home today so nobody saw me conduct that particular experiment!

Interesting! Now I have to try this.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#126

Post by JimiofEden »

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.

This is interesting. I've never experienced the absolute aversion that other people seem to have to drinking when Orange Juice after brushing my teeth (though I'll admit that I won't willingly combine mint and citrus.)

But I also specifically use toothpaste that doesn't has sodium lauryl sulfate because it aggravates canker sores in my mouth. I wonder if this is why.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#127

Post by efa »

powersurge360 wrote: post #21
lightedman wrote: post #8

This leaves me with more questions as I have a cat that absolutely will not leave you alone if you're holding ANY fruit. She will cry and whine and do all she can to get to that fruit. Apple, plum, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, melons, it doesn't matter. She goes especially nuts for dragonfruit.

Citrus in particular is famous for cats disliking. Interesting that your cat enjoys those.

I had a cat that freaked out when he smelled oranges. I always thought he associated it with an orange scented shampoo we used once on him.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#129

Post by 0xffff2 »

Jolter wrote: post #105
scaryclam wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people drink fresh OJ as part of breakfast.

.. Which I would expect people to eat before brushing, not after.

My morning routine has always been to get up and use the bathroom, brush my teeth and then go about the rest of my day. If I eat breakfast at all, it's likely to be either after I've already left the house or the last thing I do before I leave. I've read somewhere (not sure how true it actually is) that you're not supposed to brush for half an hour after eating, so there's basically no point in time where I could brush after eating breakfast.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#130

Post by dlevine »

im3w1l wrote: post #86
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?

I found this article: https://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136473969/the-nose-knows
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