It’s because the cat’s tastes were formed in the wild, and they don’t live there any more.
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It’s been known since the 1970′s, from research at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, that cats cannot taste sweetness. In the last few years, scientists have even isolated the missing gene that keeps cats from tasting sweetness. The reason cats have no taste for sweet, and a reduced taste for salt, is that their natural diet did not require them to have this ability. What cats are good at tasting are fats, amino acids, (the building blocks of protein,) and certain textures that remind them of their prey.
Cats are not drawn to sweetness because they lack glucokinase in their livers, which prevents them from digesting it. No point in alerting the cat to something they can’t use. Likewise, scientists theorize that cats have a weak taste for salt since their carnivorous diet would supply their needs, making it unnecessary for them to seek it out.
Cats are drawn to green plants, meat, and fresh water. How does this get them into trouble?
Popular holiday plants such as poinsettias, holly, and mistletoe can be ingested by cats who are drawn to greenery, yet they are toxic and irritating to the cats digestive system, and in the case of Easter Lilies, downright poisonous. We can prevent problems by being careful about what plants we bring into the house.
Cats did not evolve in an environment where such leafy plants were problems, so they don’t have any discrimination to keep them from trying almost anything. We can fulfill their needs by offering them pots of kitty grass. Many people find cats so supplied will leave their houseplants alone.
When a cat shuns their water dish because it has crumbs in it, it can puzzle us that they can poison themselves with such substances as antifreeze, or, as a commenter pointed out recently, the water from Christmas tree stands. That’s because cats are sensitive to the “off” scent of decomposing proteins, and shun such spoiled sources.
But many chemicals, such as in humidifiers, plant preservatives, or in antifreeze, are designed to prevent decomposition. They do it so well cats detect no scent of spoiled food, and unwittingly ingest something they think is safe.
Chlorine is another substance that causes problems for cats. To us, it smells terrible, and we wouldn’t think of drinking it. But to cats, the chemicals can have a pheromone-like scent, and can drive them to have too much interest in the liquids that contain it.
We should go lightly on the bleach in any case; cats have been known to find it signals “go here,” and we don’t want that. Instead of bleach or ammonia, we should clean with vinegar, which deodorizes and is not dangerous. Cats, sensitive to bitterness, will not drink it.
Since cats live in a world they did not make, it is up to us to make that world, safer.
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There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.
