Kitties who like sweet treats

[Kittenmommy]

As Thanksgiving approaches and I begin gearing up for the holidays, my mind returned to a question I've had for years.

I've always been told that cats can't taste sweetness, and so don't like candy or other sweet treats. However, I've had a few cats who enjoyed sweets, including one with a particular fondness for the sugar cookies I usually make around Christmas time. He also enjoyed chocolate cake which he's no longer allowed to have once I learned that chocolate is poisonous to cats.

Another cat we had liked to jump up on the fridge, knock down the box of Apple Jacks, chew a hole in it and help himself. He also loved kettle corn. Another cat we have likes fruit and fruit juices.

If they can't taste sweet things, why do they want to eat them? Could common wisdom be wrong about what cats can and can't taste?

ETA: No, I don't give my cats sweets on a regular basis. Perhaps just a little nibble on a cookie around the holidays, if that. Everything in moderation!

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[Azawakh]

I second your comments. I have been taught the same thing. That cats lack sugar receptors. I have a cat that loves bread, cookies, cake and dough (plain ole water and flour). I think cats have been pushed into a strict carnivore box based on their natural history but I am sure that they do in fact taste carbohydrates and some (mine) like it.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

My cat started licking a plate full of syrup (we were eating waffles), and she seemed to really enjoy it and was a little perturbed that I took it away. However, we also put butter on the waffles, so maybe it was that she liked? There might be something similar going on with the sugar cookies and the cake. My cat also likes ice cream a lot, and there I'm assuming she just likes the cream and can't really taste anything else.

 

[Kittenmommy]

Obligatory cat macro:

No matter how many times I see that, it still cracks me up!

 

[wivet2011]

Mine likes to lick the frosting off cupcakes.

 

[freyamaxine]

My cat loves to eat muffin wrappers (you know the paper casing that muffins and cupcakes come in?).

She much prefers the wrappers to the actual muffins

 

[chris03333]

So cats, we are told, do not have "sweet" taste buds. I think the issue you all are having is that you assume that since they do not have sweet taste buds, they do not taste anything if it is what we consider "sweet". I would argue that they do taste something, just not the same way we would. I imagine it like how some people have different spice tolerance, they likely have differing amounts of taste buds (those who have no tolerance, likely have more tastebuds)...

Just a thought...

 

[Kittenmommy]

So cats, we are told, do not have "sweet" taste buds. I think the issue you all are having is that you assume that since they do not have sweet taste buds, they do not taste anything if it is what we consider "sweet". I would argue that they do taste something, just not the same way we would. I imagine it like how some people have different spice tolerance, they likely have differing amounts of taste buds (those who have no tolerance, likely have more tastebuds)...

Just a thought...

It's a good thought!

And people with a high tolerance for spicy foods may have fewer "spicy" taste buds because all that spicy food fried their tastebuds right off their tongues!

 

[Taylor355]

Obligatory cat macro:

No matter how many times I see that, it still cracks me up!

It are teh Caturday already?

 

[Kittenmommy]

It are teh Caturday already?

And, in keeping with the theme of this thread:

ETA: No, that second kitteh isn't the one in my icon. S/he along with the other two kitties in the macros I posted are from ICanHasCheezburger.com.

 

[Poke]

:: double take ::

Wait.. This isn't Fark...

 

[Kittenmommy]

:: double take ::

Wait.. This isn't Fark...

I know. I just couldn't help myself.

 

[philomycus]

My cat loves a little nibble of the Krispy Kreme sugar-powdered do-nuts. He'd eat them all the time if I let him. It may the the carb craving though???? - he's got kidney disease.

 

[rexosaurus]

WARNING: off topic

so, what philo just posted makes me worry. my kitty recently started trying to eat the dog's food. i've always been told it isn't good for them because of the high carb/fat content in it, but she insists upon eating it! she will literally stick her head in the dog's bowl until the dog pretty much tells her that she will eat her head if she doesn't remove it from the bowl So, should i worry? is this abnormal/unheard of?

 

[Cheska]

My cats try to eat the dog food all the time (and vice versa with the dog eating cat food too, of course). I have spray bottles stationed around the house to spray those kittie monsters when they try to take his food. One of the cats loves the dog food so much, he will try to open the pet food closet, will pass up his own food and eat the dog food- it takes an 8lb weight in front of the door to stop him!

 

[pressmom]

WARNING: off topic

so, what philo just posted makes me worry. my kitty recently started trying to eat the dog's food. i've always been told it isn't good for them because of the high carb/fat content in it, but she insists upon eating it! she will literally stick her head in the dog's bowl until the dog pretty much tells her that she will eat her head if she doesn't remove it from the bowl So, should i worry? is this abnormal/unheard of?

From what I remember from domestic animal nutrition, cats have special needs when it comes to amino acids and vitamins that dogs don't have. That's why you wouldn't want to long-term feed a cat dog food.

 

[primadonna22274]

My Scout would knock you over for a buttermilk bar. Fresh from the bakery, warm and gooey doughnutty goodness caked in sugar glaze. She KNEW if there were buttermilk bars. Course she also loved Fritos (just the plain kind). Any other human food she could care less about.
Never pondered whether she could taste sweet or not, thought maybe she liked the carbs. But no other donut interested her, just the buttermilk bar.

 

[Kittenmommy]

My Scout would knock you over for a buttermilk bar. Fresh from the bakery, warm and gooey doughnutty goodness caked in sugar glaze. She KNEW if there were buttermilk bars. Course she also loved Fritos (just the plain kind). Any other human food she could care less about.
Never pondered whether she could taste sweet or not, thought maybe she liked the carbs. But no other donut interested her, just the buttermilk bar.

Wow. Buttermilk bars sound delicious!

 

[ri23]

From what I remember from domestic animal nutrition, cats have special needs when it comes to amino acids and vitamins that dogs don't have. That's why you wouldn't want to long-term feed a cat dog food.

Cats require taurine which is supplemented in all cat foods.

 

[rexosaurus]

alright, i feel a little better now. she's just a wierd kitty. maybe not considering the likes of this thread

 

[Meowthemalecat]

Meow really love sweets i don't undetstand how he turn down a can of his favorite food for a half of donut?

 

[KCgophervet]

Holy necrobump batman