Some cats are very picky eaters, and they eat too much what they like, and won’t swallow a bite of what they don’t like. But many people say that cats can’t taste the taste. Why would they care about food if they can’t taste the taste? Are you picky? Let’s discuss the taste of cats.

1. What are the smells that cats can distinguish

Cats can distinguish four tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, but their sense of sweetness is weaker. Previous research said that cats cannot taste sweetness at all. In fact, cats are less sensitive to sweetness. The most noticeable taste to cats is sour, followed by bitter, spicy, and finally sweet. However, it’s not the taste of food that attracts cats, but the smell. Cats will just smell the food and walk away if they don't like it, rather than putting it in their mouths to taste it. In addition, cats don’t like food that is too cold or too hot. Only very hungry cats will eat food just taken out of the refrigerator; food that is too hot will burn the cat’s all-purpose tongue, and the temperature of the food will vary. It is most suitable when the room temperature is about the same.

2. Do cats like salt?

Generally speaking, people think that cats like to eat salty food, but in fact it is not so absolute. It goes without saying that cats can taste salty food, and they even enjoy salty food.

Cats like the salt contained in meat the most. Cats’ tongues are relatively sensitive to the salty taste and they feel very comfortable eating it. But cats prefer the salt in animal blood, so they prefer to eat animal offal than white meat. This is not only because it is rich in nutrients, but also because it tastes good and has a more prominent salty taste. However, salty taste is not the same as salt for cats. Although cats like salty food, they are actually not sensitive to the taste of salt. If you put salt in your food to attract them you are doing it wrong. Cats whose ancestors are desert animals have poor ability to decompose salt. They have no sweat glands, and salt can only be decomposed through the kidneys. If you deliberately feed them food with high salt content, it will affect their kidneys and bladder urine concentration. All have bad effects.

If you can prepare enough meat food for cats, there is no need to give them salt at all. It is enough to let them enjoy the light salty taste of the food itself. Although cats should not eat salt, when they are sick, they sometimes need to supplement saline to keep their bodies functioning. Drinking a spoonful of boiled salt water when they have diarrhea can also provide relief.

But some people have questions. Since cats are not sensitive to the taste of salt, why do so many salts be added to dry cat food on the market? Some people think that the salty taste in cat food is to attract cats to eat. In fact, the real food attractant ingredient in cat food is not salt, but some fragrance, because cats eat by smell rather than taste.

3. CatThe taste of rice is different from that experienced by humans

The taste of food is felt through the tongue and receptors called taste buds located around the tongue. Humans have about 9,000 taste buds, while cats only have about 800, so cats have worse taste than us humans. We can sense complex tastes, that is to say, for the same food, humans and cats feel different tastes. Originally, animals had their own tastes that they could and could not taste.

Let’s talk about the most basic things first. Different animals require different nutrients and rely on different nutrients to obtain energy. The same thing is that nutrients from energy sources will feel "sweeter". If animals want to survive, the first thing they need is an energy source. Therefore, when a certain nutrient becomes an energy source, it will be input into the brain as a "sweet" feeling. The "sweet" taste is associated with pleasure. It’s also a “reward” that forces you to eat.

For us humans, the energy source is sugar. That’s why we think of sugar as “sweet.” When people are tired, they want to eat sweet things because their bodies need to take in energy. For carnivorous cats, their energy comes from protein. Therefore, cats are sensitive to the sweet taste of protein-rich amino acids. The sweetness of crab meat also comes from the sweetness of amino acids. Because you can’t feel the sweetness of sugar, you can’t digest it well. Although cats like to eat whipped cream, they are not responding to the sugar, but to the fat in it.

After reading this, you will understand why cats like to eat meat! Don’t think of cats as humans. Humans are omnivores, but cats are carnivores. Although cats’ sense of taste is not as sensitive as humans, their sense of smell is But much more sensitive.