Mary Allen
Not only does the taste of the served food have to be right for the cat, but also its smell, shape, and temperature.
Suppose the cat is served her favorite meal on a plate that still smells of onions, or perhaps has traces of lemon-scented dishwashing liquid on it. Then it may well be that she does not touch the food. Because the nose eats with the cat. Touch and temperature also contribute to whether the cat finds something tasty – so there are a number of factors at play.
On the one hand, of course, the sense of taste. The cat’s tongue is covered with differently shaped papillae. Some of these, namely the leafy papillae, incumbent papillae, and mushroom-shaped papillae, have taste buds and are clustered at the tip, along the sides, and on the back of the tongue. Their receptors transmit information to the brain so that the cat can taste sour, salty, and bitter.
Cat tongues taste water In addition, their sense of taste reacts to water and chemical compounds containing nitrogen and sulfur, particularly amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. But she has hardly any receptors for sweets. All typical of a carnivore. But the sense of smell also has something to report, because in cats it is closely linked to the sense of taste and the receptors of both send signals to the brain. For example, if a cat is attracted to the smell of animal fat, it will analyze it before tasting it. It’s so subtle that the owner doesn’t even notice.
Cats can even literally taste the air, and ability dogs and humans lack. Jacobson’s organ is located at the top of the cat’s mouth, just behind the front teeth. When the cat is captivated by an odor, it pulls back its upper lip and inhales the odor molecules with its mouth slightly open. She then presses her tongue against Jacobson’s organ and holds her breath while her brain analyzes the chemistry of the smell. (This pleading is often misunderstood as an expression of disgust).
Food must feel good Has the food served met your taste? That still depends on its nature. Cat food manufacturers have carefully researched how food should feel in a cat’s mouth and have found that canned food is more popular in pieces than the whole. And if she has the choice between a snack at body temperature or one straight from the fridge, she usually opts for the one with (mice) body temperature. Added meat extracts can increase the palatability of a dish.
Crunchy like a mouse bone Dry food on sale needs to be crunchy, and many house cats seem to like it because it gives them the pleasant sensation of biting bones. Interestingly, most of the test eaters showed a preference for star and disc-shaped appetizers, for which there is still no explanation. No matter how choosy a cat may be, its critical taste cannot protect it from harm: it cannot taste whether meat is contaminated with toxoplasmosis, drink cow’s milk although it cannot tolerate it, the poison itself by nibbling on poisonous plants. Unfortunately, they have no sense of pollutants.