Can cats taste "sweet"?

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   flash167posted 11 years ago

   Can cats taste "sweet"?
   
   I've read that cats can't taste sweet however I have a Maine Coon that seems to love sweets.  He loves red licorice and sneeks up to steal candy corn out of your hands at Christmas time.  Sweets seem to be his favorite things.   I'm sure it's not that good for him but he sneeks up and takes sweets anyway.
   
   

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   JThomp42posted 11 years ago

   Our feline friends are only interested in one thing: meat (except for saving up the energy to catch it by napping, or a round of restorative petting) This is not just because inside every domestic tabby lurks a killer just waiting to catch a bird or torture a mouse, it is also because cats lack the ability to taste sweetness, unlike every other mammal examined to date.

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      flash167posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That doesn't explain my cat addiction to sweets.   He likes anything sweet.  I have six cats all together but this is the first cat I've ever seen that really wants sweets.

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      JThomp42posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      So far, cats are alone among mammals in lacking the sweet gene; even close relatives among the meat-eaters like hyenas and mongooses have it. And cats may lack other components of the ability to enjoy (and digest) sugars, such as glucokinase in their

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   duffsmomposted 11 years ago

   I have no idea but I had to click on this question because when I first read it, I thought, "OMG whose eating cats?"  It gave me a giggle!

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      flash167posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You gave me a good laugh.  Thanks!

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   Lisa HWposted 11 years ago

   My friend's cat made a habit of nibbling on Danish pastries.  My daughter's cat loves fruity yogurt (which I never would have thought a cat would).  My mother's cat used to love salty snack foods when anyone would drop a piece.  Then again, my daughter's cat can't resist licking the paintings she does - so nothing would surprise me about what cats will enjoy.  Apparently, cats do not live by cat food (and tuna) alone. 
   
   (In all seriousness, I do know that some eating behaviors in cats can come from dietary/vitamin deficiencies, so I suppose that could be a factor at least in some cases.)  (I wonder if cats that like sweets might have some "blood sugar issue".  Rapid drops in blood sugar can make people feel like they need sugar. Maybe the same kind of thing can happen with cats - or else some do just like sweets.     )

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      flash167posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This particular cat would rather have sweets, crackers, chips or cookies rather than have is regular cat food.
      
      One of our cats used to like to lick the Clorox bleach bottle so we had to hide it from him.
      
      Cats can do some strange things sometimes!

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      Lisa HWposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      On the other side of things, my daughter's cat (used to only cat food and a very few other items) doesn't really know what to do with some fish or poultry that hasn't been "turned into cat food consistency" for her.    She just won't eat them.

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   tlmcgaa70posted 11 years ago

   if cats are genetically  unable to taste "sweet" stuff, then they are definitely getting some other pleasurable flavor or taste from sweet foods, because cats everywhere adore sweet foods. some obsessively so. and perhaps it isnt even a taste. perhaps it is an effect that they love. like the effect chocolate has on us. maybe even though they cannot taste sweet, sweet still has a chemical effect on them. i love to eat whole kernel corn straight out of a can. apparently so do my cats. they fight with me to get their fair share, mostly of the sweet juice, but one cat adores the corn itself. they love frozen yogurt and ice cream, tho that shouldnt be to surprising as ice cream is made up of their favorite bad food, milk. purina, who have been making pet food for over one hundred years now, have done much research on grains and cats and dogs. they have found that our pets need some grain in their diet. i believe this, because when i had chickens my cats loved to chow down on the chicken crumbles (grain) alongside the chickens. i tried buying some expensive grain free foods and my cats refused to eat it. it makes me wonder just how much scientific knowledge concerning our pets is actually more assumption on things found than actual facts.

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      flash167posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have to agree with you.  Even if they can't technically taste sweets, there definitely is something they seem to love about them.  At least certain cats.
      
      Candy corn was one of my biggest surprises because it's almost all sugar.

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      tlmcgaa70posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      thank you

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   lisasuniquevoiceposted 11 years ago

   I'm not sure what cats can taste, but I'll tell you that my five-year-old cat loves cinnamon rolls with icing. Now I don't go feeding him these treats but he gets a taste here and there.
   Lisa

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      flash167posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Sounds like yours has a sweet tooth also.  My cat just enjoyed a little banana pudding this morning.

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   Shaurya Gungunposted 11 years ago

   yes offcourse cats can taste .. well my cat love to eat chilled butterscotch .. she is intresting too in candies .. bt ur query is can cats taste sweet ?? .. hmmm cat can eat sweet .. taste dont knw exactly

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   ii3rittlesposted 9 years ago

   They are not able to taste sweets but they can taste all the other ingredients. Why would a cat eat sweets then? Well, the texture, the smell, the taste of the flour, many reasons. I have a cat who pigs out on sweets if I let him.
   
   Here is a few more cat facts that you may enjoy reading...
   http://purrfectlove.net/2014/08/things- … at-part-1/

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