We can often see some funny videos about cats on the Internet. Some time ago, a poop scraper posted a video of his cat eating creamy sweets on the Internet. He was very happy and said to everyone: "Look !Our cat follows me and loves sweet things!”

There is a very interesting comment from a netizen below. He said: "Stop making trouble for yourself! Your cat can't taste sweetness at all."

So can cats eat candy?

Let me talk about it in detail below.

1. Cats cannot feel sweetness because their genes have mutated.

It is a generally recognized phenomenon that mammals have a sense of taste, but cats, including cats, lost their sense of sweetness due to genetic mutations in their early evolution. They can even taste the taste of water. , but I just couldn’t taste the sweetness.

Scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in the United States once studied the genome of cats, and they discovered a very interesting phenomenon. The 247 base pairs related to proteins T1 and R2 in cats are all There are huge flaws.

We all know that protein is one of the two major receptors for mammals to sense sweetness. It is precisely because of the deletion of genes that leads to defects in protein receptors. Therefore, cats lack the ability to taste sweetness, that is, Says cats can't taste sugar or carbohydrates.

In fact, the phenomenon of felines losing their sense of taste for sweetness is not a special case. Researchers from the Monneau Research Center and the University of Zurich published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which shows that cats like sea lions, Seven species of mammals, including fur seals and hyenas, have all lost their ability to perceive sweetness. What is very interesting is that they are all carnivores.

2. Why are cats still so interested in sugar when they have lost their ability to perceive sweetness?

I believe many shit-sweepers have this question. Since they have lost the ability to perceive sweetness, why are they still so interested in sugar? Is it not as interesting as chewing on a stick?

　1. Cats are actually interested in the fat in butterscotch.

According to researchers, cats have lost their ability to perceive sweetness, so they have a very sensitive sense of smell for fats and proteins. This has also forced cats to develop super hunting abilities, otherwise they would Unable to survive.

What animals use as a source of energy will naturally have a special preference for food containing that energy source.

Just like we humans use carbohydrates as our main source of energy, we humans have an innate preference for sweetness. I would like to add secretly: If you can’t lose weight, it’s really not our fault, it’s your genes!

Cats use protein as their main source of energy, so they are naturally more interested in meat and fat. This is why they are interested in butterscotch. Their strong sense of smell makes them They can easily smell the fat content in butterscotch.

I believe some cat owners may ask, but our cats are not interested in butter candies, but in fruit candies. There is no fat in fruit candies, right?

2. Cats may have a special perception system.

I believe all of you must have heard the saying that when God closes a door, he will definitely open another window. This is true for some mammals that have partially lost their sense of taste.

Their perception of sweetness will be somewhat lost, but they have an olfactory system that is different from other animals. Many organs, including the intestines, pancreas, nose and lungs, have the ability to sense small amounts of taste.

Although the existence of these receptors is not necessary for their survival, they can play a certain compensatory role for the loss of sweetness on the tongue.

Therefore, scientists reasonably speculate that although cats cannot taste sweetness on their tongues, other organs can recognize it! Cats have not lost all sweetness perception!

3. Cats have a very strong sense of smell.

Moreover, cats’ olfactory system is very powerful. Cats can smell the fruity aroma in fruit candies, and they will naturally be interested in these delicious-smelling things!

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3. Even if the cats are interested in sugar, the cat should not be fed!

However, although cats are interested in sugar, they cannot feed them in large quantities. After cats have evolved over a long period of time and lost their sweet taste receptors, they have also undergone some special changes in their bodies.

The most direct impact is that their bodies lack part of the sucrase enzyme that breaks down sucrose and the amylase that breaks down starch. Therefore, the poop shovel should neither overfeed sugar nor starch food in large quantities.

A large amount of starch will be difficult for cats to digest, and a large amount of sugar will cause a series of diseases in cats, such as diabetes, obesity, and secondary diseases caused by obesity.

Therefore, cat owners should never let their cats eat a lot of sugar just because it is fun. This is absolutely not good for them. From a biological structure point of view, carbohydratesThings are joy to us, but they may be harmful to cats!

In fact, there are many foods on the Internet that are not suitable for cats to eat. Cat owners must not try to be fresh and put cat owners in danger!