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Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#131

Post by xKingfisher »

gwern wrote: post #104
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.

One thing I've noticed with cats in general is they seem to have a thing for human earwax. I'm not the only one to have noticed this: https://www.gwern.net/Questions#cats-earwax

Interesting. On the rare occasion that I use a q-tip I've noticed my kitten would aggressively fish them out of the trash and chew on them.

I always figured that they were just fun to bat around. This explains a lot.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#132

Post by indecisive_user »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #118
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…

>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. The article said cats are the only mammals that can't taste sweet.

A quick search suggests that's not true.

>Our feline friends carry broken versions of the genes that build sugar detectors on the tongue. As such, they’re completely oblivious to the taste of sweet things. So are Asian otters. And spotted hyenas. Sea lions and dolphins too.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2012/03...

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#133

Post by mike_hock »

gaogao wrote: post #81
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.

Without the consumer market (read: games), CPUs probably would have evolved slower, too.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#134

Post by xKingfisher »

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.

My old cat was obsessed with margaritas. It made zero sense.

One time I caught him licking a counter that I had just sprayed with a bitter lime deterrent.

Cats are weird.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#135

Post by scrumbledober »

nullspace wrote: post #100
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

I does not even have to be OJ. Think morning coffee with sugar, right after brushing. It tastes like crap.

does it not just taste like morning coffee without sugar?

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#136

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

indecisive_user wrote: post #132
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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. The article said cats are the only mammals that can't taste sweet.

A quick search suggests that's not true. >Our feline friends carry broken versions of the genes that build sugar detectors on the tongue. As such, they’re completely oblivious to the taste of sweet things. So are Asian otters. And spotted hyenas. Sea lions and dolphins too. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2012/03...

Guess we are getting some https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/ in one of the articles. I suspect you are right.

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#137

Post by NoodleIncident »

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.

I grew up thinking that this was correct. "Just got my teeth dirty, time to clean them."

At some point, I heard that the opposite was true, ostensibly from a dentist on reddit. According to this anonymous stranger, after eating, your enamel is at its weakest, and you'll do the most damage to your teeth by brushing them. The reason was something about saliva and/or plaque that's been recently fed, I think.

(As a side note, some other dentist(?) in the same thread said that if you're going to brush your teeth once a day, it's most important to brush before going to bed.)

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#138

Post by walshemj »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #119
Chinjut wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa. Smell was more important than sight for brain evolution? Is there somewhere I can read more about this?

There are lots of blind animals that can smell. I don't know of any sighted animals that can't smell.

some humans have a mutation that means they don't smell

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#139

Post by okonomiyaki3000 »

For some reason, our cat used to be absolutely crazy for anko. The first time he ever encountered it, he stole a dorayaki out of someone's hands and hid with it in the closet growling (it was wrapped in plastic so he couldn't actually eat it). After that, I used to give him a tiny taste any time I had some but I noticed he would always throw up soon after. Now that he's a bit older he seems to have no interest in it at all.

Could it be that they can taste sweets at a young age but gradually lose that ability?

Re: Cats Cannot Taste Sweets (2007)

#140

Post by GuiA »

mattkevan wrote: post #95
magic_beans wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

A friend’s dog used to catch the bee in his mouth, carefully turn it round and bite the stinger off.

That’s pretty wild. Do you remember what breed?
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