Sweets for cats
Most pets' tongues contain taste buds on the cell surface that bind to ingested substances. When something sweet enters the mouth, information about it goes to the brain, mainly because sweetness is a sign of rich carbohydrates. The answer to the question whether cats can have sweets is a definite no.
Cats can't detect sugar in sweet foods.
The benefits or harms of chocolate
Chocolate is very dangerous for cats. An overdose causes intoxication, which often leads to death. We can say that chocolate is not only useless for pets, but also has a harmful effect on their body. This is the reason why cats cannot have sweets.
The toxicity of theobromine and caffeine in chocolate leads to the following consequences when answering the question, can cats eat chocolate:
- vomit;
- diarrhea;
- increased heart rate progresses to a dangerous heart rhythm disorder;
- elevated temperature;
- seizures;
- coma;
- death.
Important! Chocolate products contain varying amounts of cocoa, which affects the amount of theobromine contained in these products. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains the most theobromine, followed by dark chocolate, milk chocolate last, and white chocolate.
If you think about whether cats can have chocolate, you should calculate the dosage. The lethal dose is calculated based on the cat’s body weight and the amount of theobromine in the product that was eaten.
Chocolate does a lot of harm to pets
Reasons why not
Constant consumption of sweets causes diarrhea, lethargy, refusal to eat, vomiting, and stomach upset in pets. Sugary snacks are especially dangerous for aging and chronically ill animals, kittens and pregnant cats. Even a slight taste of sugar in a weakened animal's body can cause hair loss, itching, blurred vision, mouth disease, aggression or panic, tooth loss and a weakened immune system.
Too many sweets when feeding causes thinning of the capillaries, deterioration of the pancreas, adrenal dysfunction, a significant decrease in the digestibility of proteins by the body, early cell death, which subsequently leads to rapid aging.
Important! Eating sweets increases the risk of pancreatitis.
Sweets should be prohibited in a cat's diet
Is it possible to give sugar?
Technically, yes. Sugar is not poisonous to cats in small doses. However, it is considered a food that may be harmful to health in the long term. Added sugar should be kept to a minimum in a cat's diet.
Most adult cats only need a couple hundred calories a day, which means empty calories like sugar can add up very quickly. Feeding cats table sugar on a regular basis tends to promote obesity, which in turn leads to other health problems.
Sugar in large doses can be poisonous to cats
Do cats smell sweets?
Do cats taste sweets? Pets do not taste sweets. This can be explained by the fact that cats' DNA lacks the Tas1r2 gene, which is responsible for the sensation of sweetness. Due to this, the pet cannot control the amount of sugar entering its body, which can lead to poisoning.
Important! Artificial sweeteners seem bitter to cats, so they refuse such food. It becomes quite clear why cats can’t have sweets.
conclusions
“The results of our work will pleasantly please cats and their caring owners,” says study participant Jiang Peihua, “We were able to find out that cats can taste different types of bitter foods. This knowledge will help improve the composition of dry cat food and remove unnecessary ingredients from it.”
The results of the study showed that cats are absolutely indifferent to various sweets. The capriciousness in food in cats is explained by the presence of various receptors for the sensation of bitter taste on their tongue. Also, thanks to the results of the study, cat owners will be able to choose a diet that satisfies the demanding taste of their pet, and cat food manufacturers will improve the quality of their products.
Reasons why cats desire chocolate
It is very unusual to see a situation where a cat eats sweets. If this happens, it may be due to several reasons:
- nutritional deficiency of substances;
- health problems;
- genetic predisposition;
- environmental factors;
- compulsive disorder.
Some cats prefer sweets because of the smell.
Healthy vitamins in chocolate
There are no beneficial vitamins for pets in chocolate. The only need may arise when the animal is experiencing a calorie deficit. This is where chocolate comes to the rescue. Instinctively, the pet feels that it needs additional calories (for example, when it is active), and eats sweets.
Before giving chocolate to your cat, you should consider certain rules:
- calculate the safe amount of chocolate;
- a dangerous dose is considered to be 20 mg of theobromine per 0.5 kg of weight;
- Give chocolate rarely;
- At the same time, you should drink water.
Important! If your pet loves chocolate, you should give him white as it is the safest option for his health.
Nice smell
Cats love delicious smells. Everyone has their own preferences in smell. Some of them love the smell of chocolate, which can make them want to eat it.
List of sweets that should not be given to cats
There is a certain list of products that are strictly prohibited for cats:
- sweets containing sugar substitute: xylitol;
- chocolate. The explanation for why cats can't eat chocolate is that it contains a lot of theobromine;
- ice cream;
- condensed milk;
- fermented milk products with sweeteners and artificial additives.
Sugar in dairy products is very harmful
List of products that you can eat a little at a time
A list of products has been established that an animal can consume in small doses. They contain natural fructose (glucose):
- apples contain many minerals, vitamins and fiber;
- pears also contain minerals, vitamins and fiber;
- Apricots and plums are recommended to be consumed in small quantities;
- melons are used with caution;
- figs, dates, dried apricots;
- raspberries, blackberries, blueberries in the absence of allergies.
The owner decides which option is best for the pet.
Options for replacing sweets
The best substitute for sweets for your pet is natural fruits and vegetables. They contain fructose, glucose and are a source of large amounts of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which are very beneficial for the animal.
Important! In pet stores you can buy specially made sweet cookies for cats. It is enriched with vitamins A, E, D3. Made without GMOs, preservatives and dyes.
You can please your pet by purchasing a special packaged pudding in the form of a dairy product.
The most important sugar substitute may be honey. But you need to be especially careful with it, as it causes allergic reactions. Literally a drop of honey is added to cat food, which adds sweetness to the product and is not harmful to health.
There are many natural sugar substitutes for pets
You can replace sweets with the following crops:
Important! Seeds, nuts, almonds, and sesame have a certain sweetness after processing.
Giving your cat sugar will not poison it, but it can cause many long-term health problems. Sugar is a waste food that contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. It should be excluded from the pet’s diet or replaced, if necessary, with natural products.
Cats were domesticated more than 10 thousand years ago. Since then, they have become man's favorite animal companions, helpers and friends. According to statistics, 58% of people have owned a cat at least once in their life. However, the majority do not know their pets at all and are not aware of how they hear, see, feel, what signs they give with their eyes and tail.
What is the taste like?
Taste is one of the most complex senses of cats. To understand a cat's sense of taste and give him the best, you need to know how his taste buds work. The latter are located on the sides of the tip of the tongue and on the underside of the cat. Animals feel the taste of food that has entered the tongue with the help of sensitive papillae located on it.
The taste can be sweet, bitter, salty, sour.
- Salty taste . Animal foods contain optimal levels of sodium chloride. Cats and cats can add a little salt to their food, so they feel the taste brighter and eat with more pleasure.
- Sour taste . Cats recognize sour smell and taste. Moreover, the sour taste is attractive to them. What cat would refuse a bowl of sour cream?! A rhetorical question. And what cat doesn’t want some kefir at night? But foods high in acids are detrimental to your cat's health.
- Bitter taste . On the tongue of cats there are various receptors for the sensation of bitter taste, which explains their capriciousness in food. In the wild, cats do not eat carrion. And the latter is not without bitterness. Bitter taste for cats is a warning about poisonous and poisoned food.
Reasons for the popularity of cats
A century ago, cats were bred mainly to hunt mice and rats. Now, for this purpose, a cat is taken into the house only in 10% of cases. The main reason why people now decide to adopt a kitten is the opportunity to interact with the animal.
It is important for people that someone is waiting for them and meeting them, that they need them, that they show affection.
According to statistics, the main cat lovers are pensioners over 60 years of age (43%) and single women (36%).
Most pensioners keep cats at home
Interestingly, only 25% of cat owners preferred purebred and rare animals - in this case, when choosing an animal, cat owners are guided not only by the desire to find a friend, but also to confirm their status or start a business selling kittens.
What is taste
The taste sensory system is a type of chemoreception that allows you to analyze the chemical composition of substances that enter the body during eating. Information about a substance entering the oral cavity is “read” by receptors located in the papillae of the tongue. From these biological “mini-sensors” the signal is transmitted along nerve fibers to the cerebral cortex.
Several types of flavors are known: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, as well as the recently discovered protein (“umami”). Each type of receptor reacts only to a certain type of taste, and if any type of “sensor” is missing, then the taste sensation will not arise. The human tongue has about 9 thousand chemoreceptors; most animals have much fewer: canines have about 1,700, and cats have about 500.
Cats and dogs have several types of taste buds, differing in shape: mushroom-shaped along the perimeter of the tongue, leaf-shaped along its edges, and groove-shaped at the root of the tongue. It is assumed that with the help of the groove-shaped papillae, animals determine the bitter taste, and with the help of the leaf-shaped and mushroom-shaped papillae - the rest. Both dogs and cats have more “bitter” receptors than others, but this is understandable: almost all poisons have a bitter taste, and the ability to distinguish danger is important for preserving life.
Interesting facts about cats and cats
Pet owners tend to humanize their pets, and this is their big mistake. Domestic cats, despite their long history of living side by side with people, have not lost their special animal habits. They do everything differently, and even hear, see and taste differently than you and I.
The difference between how a person and a cat sees the world around them is obvious
Taste perception
People have 9 thousand receptors on their tongue, but cats have only 473. Our meowing friends distinguish tastes, but their palette will not be as bright as ours, without the ability to distinguish taste “halftones” (for an animal there will be several variations of hot or sour united). The only taste that a cat does not feel at all is sweet. Any sugary dessert for a cat will be tasteless.
A cat may try sweets, but not because of the taste, but because of curiosity or an interesting smell for them
They have little discernment of salty taste, so they will easily eat a very salty dish, and this is unsafe. But cats secrete bitterness better than us - this is a protective mechanism that protects the animal from possible poisoning.
Do cats sweat?
Cats have 10 times fewer sebaceous glands than humans, so they sweat very little. This is due to the fact that cats rarely run for a long time (in their nature they lie in wait for their prey, and do not catch up), moreover, the copious secretion of odorous sweat would prevent them from hunting. If cats need to lower their temperature, they try to lie on a cold surface, use changes in the frequency and depth of breathing, and wet their fur with saliva, which will increase heat transfer.
Answer options
4
sour
bitter
salty
sweet
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Feedback from cat owners
My cats are fans of hiding. They choose not only boxes, but also all small spaces. We hold the shelves in our closets in special esteem - in the morning I often find someone’s fluffy tails or ears sticking out of a stack of clothes. I think this is due to the instinct of self-preservation - in nature, cats rarely sleep just on the road, but look for some secluded places.
Pitchezz https://mainecoon-forum.ru/archive/index.php/t-20953.html
I have always dreamed of a snow-white cat. I started it, but she turned out to be deaf in both ears. My observations: 1) deaf cats scream very loudly; 2) they have a manic passion for cleanliness, for example, it takes 1.5 hours to bury the tray with a terrible roar; 3) a deaf cat hides all the time or climbs up, trying to lie with her back to the wall - it’s clear that she doesn’t hear footsteps and is afraid that someone will sneak up on her unnoticed. And deaf cats not only love their owners, they are dependent on us, which they value very much.
Katarina1619 https://pikabu.ru/story/glukhaya_koshka_i_kak_ee_vospityivat_5297034
There are features that are common to all representatives of the cat world. And you need to know these features of the behavior and attitude of pets, then you can try to understand your cat and become true friends.
