My Dad and I Feed Our Cat Odd Foods - What Gives?

[scott_alexsk]

I noticed something interesting recently. Sometimes my dad and I are really mean and we feed our cat relative junk for him like small peices of fruit, cereal bars, etc. Yet he does not seem to get sick and it seems like he is even attracted to some of the sweeter stuff. This makes very little sense to me because if cats in the wild were meant to eat just meat why would they have any affinity whatsoever for sweet things?

Thanks,
-scott

 

[Evo]

I noticed something interesting recently. Sometimes my dad and I are really mean and we feed our cat relative junk for him like small peices of fruit, cereal bars, etc. Yet he does not seem to get sick and it seems like he is even attracted to some of the sweeter stuff. This makes very little sense to me because if cats in the wild were meant to eat just meat why would they have any affinity whatsoever for sweet things?

Thanks,
-scott

Cats love tuna, ever see a cat out in the deep sea catching a 400 pound tuna? Or see a cat take down a cow, yet they love beef. Domestic cats don't "normally" eat anything that a cat "in the wild" would eat. Ever read the list of ingredients on a bag of dry cat food?

One of my cats loved lemon cake, another would drink my cappucino if I left it uncovered.

 

[Math Is Hard]

One of my cats loved canned peas, and another one would do anything for marshmallows. I had a little tabby cat who used to split a croissant with me every Sunday morning.

 

[scott_alexsk]

Interesting, but like I said before, why would they be at all attracted to it, if their bodies truly required only meat? Has your cat ever seemed unhealthy after eating any of these things?
-scott

 

[Evo]

Interesting, but like I said before, why would they be at all attracted to it, if their bodies truly required only meat? Has your cat ever seemed unhealthy after eating any of these things?
-scott

It probably doesn't apply to all animals, but at least all domesticated animals seem to like "junk" food. Horses love sugar, for instance.

Oh dear, this piqued my curiosity so I did a google search and one of the first articles I ran across was titled "cats - friend or food?"

What was scarier was the vegan diet for cats. That cannot be healthy for a cat, it's not even healthy for a human without the addition of nutritional supplements such as vitamin B12.

Sorry, I've found so much bizarre material that it will be awhile before I have an answer.

 

[MeJennifer]

What was scarier was the vegan diet for cats.

Indeed, it is sometimes mind boggling how some people think.

How about Kosher food for pets?
http://www.kosherpets.com/fordogs.html"

 

[Evo]

How about Kosher food for pets?
http://www.kosherpets.com/fordogs.html"

At least it's nutritionally sound. Got to love these titles!

Fancy Schmancy Chopped Liver Dinner

Schlep Less with our Freeze-Dried Beef Patties

Bring out the Mensch in your pooch!

 

[Evo]

Ok, the answer is that our "sweets" loving cats are freaks of nature. Supposedly cats don't care for sweets, they can't taste them.

Cats' Sweet Tooth Long Gone
Genetic Mutation Leaves Felines Unable to Taste Sugar

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/24/AR2005072401107.html

 

[hypatia]

One of my cats eats the the red thing from the middle of green olives, yet not the olive. The other one goes nuts for bananas..go figure?

 

[Math Is Hard]

How about Kosher food for pets?
http://www.kosherpets.com/fordogs.html"

Oy vey!

 

[Evo]

One of my cats eats the the red thing from the middle of green olives, yet not the olive. The other one goes nuts for bananas..go figure?

Ok, you win the prize for weird cats Even my cats won't eat the pimentos from inside olives, heck they won't even eat the olives, but they WILL eat sweets, I think those researchers are full of it. "we have an elegant explanation", my toosh.

 

[NoTime]

All of this just goes to prove that cats use people for playthings.
Bet those cats conspire on what they are going to get the researcher to believe this time.

 

[scott_alexsk]

What continues to not make sense to me is why wild dogs are truly dependent on meat, but still have cravings and an affinity for suger. The only explanation I can think of for it is that a common ancestor used to be an omnivore, but through time the dogs' source of nutrition changed producing something that needs meat but still likes the taste of sugar?
-scott

 

[scott_alexsk]

Ok I looked up some articles on the subject. The one below concludes that dogs and cats are not at all omnivores since they were truly 'meant' to only eat meat. The problem with what we are feeding the average pet manifests itself in dental problems.

http://www.doggedblog.com/doggedblog/2004/11/of_carnivores_o.html"

Yet my possible explanation as to why dogs and other pets may have a craving to sugar does not stand up since the supposed common ancestor of dogs was a small insectivore.

-scott

 

[larkspur]

Even if cats cannot taste sweets they can smell them. If it smells good they either eat it or rub it all over themselves. I had a cat that LOVED the smell of ripe peaches. I could not leave them out on the counter or there would be fur and tooth marks all over them. This is the same cat that ate a pine apple chunk and half a canned pear.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Even if cats cannot taste sweets they can smell them. If it smells good they either eat it or rub it all over themselves. I had a cat that LOVED the smell of ripe peaches. I could not leave them out on the counter or there would be fur and tooth marks all over them. This is the same cat that ate a pine apple chunk and half a canned pear.

Are you sure you didn't have a fruit bat?

 

[franznietzsche]

Are you sure you didn't have a fruit bat?

 

[larkspur]

Are you sure you didn't have a fruit bat?

She was definitely a fruit cat!

 

[Evo]

Possible fruit cat siting.

 

[franznietzsche]

Possible fruit cat siting.

Awww, its so pudgy!

 

[larkspur]

Possible fruit cat siting.