Here's
an interesting bit of science news. New research shows that cats can not taste sweet things.
Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and their collaborators said Sunday they found a dysfunctional feline gene that probably prevents cats from tasting sweets, a sensation nearly every other mammal on the planet experiences to varying degrees.
Researchers took saliva and blood samples from six cats, including a tiger and a cheetah and found each had a useless gene that other mammals use to create a "sweet receptor" on their tongues. The gene in question does not produce one of the two vital proteins needed to form the receptors.
...
Brand said the "pseudogene" in cats is probably a big reason why they are carnivores that get by on a high-protein, "Atkin's-like" diet. "Its sense of taste has driven it to become a meat eater," Brand said. "Losing their sweet receptor has probably changed their dietary habits."
There is just speculation about why this is and how it's changed the behavior and diet of cats over the ages. And I'm sure thousands of cat owners have their own, "My cat loves chocolate." anecdotes to offer up in dispute of this science. I wonder about Dusty; he likes to lick and eat every sort of sweet fruit, including cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, and so on. However he also likes broccoli and various other vegetables that are definitely not sweet. Jinx has no interest in eating any of those things, and always looks quite annoyed when we give Dusty something from that list, she sees him eating, runs over with a jolly little "Brrrollllffff?" and then retreats in confusion once she gets a sniff of it.
So is his taste receptor different than those of cats with more conventional eating desires, like Jinx? Or is it just a learned idiosyncrasy? And what explains Jinx's love of popcorn and French fries and other starchy stuff?
For cats in general, is their lack of a sweet taste what makes them like dairy so much? Dogs aren't big fans of milk and cheese and sour cream and such, as far as I know.
Lastly, this might be a blessing for those of us who own domestic felines. Though cats tend to scratch furniture and curtains and such, they rarely chew things up the way dogs notoriously do. Jinx has gnawed through a few wires in her time (eating Malaya's old headphones off right at the plug, for instance), but you don't have to worry about your cats chewing up your shoes, or clothing. (Though Dusty is partial to anything stretchy and resembling a rubber band, which endangers the straps on some of Malaya's underthings.) It probably helps that a cat is smaller too; comparing the destructive potential of a 10 or 15 pound cat vs. a big 100 pound dog is no contest, and while the cat will never destroy an entire room out of spite, it may well do far more damage, pound for pound.
Rodents and rabbits and such take that cake anyway; given the way they love to eat wires and other valuable things. A dog can ruin a nice pair of shoes in nothing flat, and cats might mar your furniture, but neither is likely to render your new plasma big screen inoperable by eating the cord right up into the back of the cabinet. Remind me why we allow animals in our homes again?
