It is well known that pets cats are very picky eaters. Anyone who likes cats knows their failure, but they don't know why they are picky eaters. Now, scientists have largely unraveled the secrets of this feline diet, and the answer is: a genetic defect. To be more specific, cats lack sweet receptors, and they cannot taste sweetness at all, which may be an important reason why cats become carnivores that rely on high protein to survive.

Norwegian forest cat

Cats have many hobbies: stealing fish, catching mice, sleeping late. But no one can associate cats with sweets. Even the best quality sweets are put in front of cats, and they won't even smell it. But, have you ever thought about why cats don't like sweets? In fact, it's not just cats, cats basically don't like sweets, why is this?

Due to genetic defects, cats Couldn't taste the sweetness.

Researchers at the Menier Center for Chemical Sense Research in Philadelphia, USA, and their collaborators recently published their findings. They found a faulty gene in cats that could prevent them from experiencing sweet tastes. In addition to cats, almost all mammals on earth can taste sweet to varying degrees.

The researchers took saliva and blood samples from six cats, including a tiger and a cheetah, and found that they all had a defective gene, while other mammals Animals use this gene to create sweet receptors on their tongues. The sweet receptor is formed by two proteins called T1R2 and T1R3, but felines have a genetic defect that does not form T1R2, one of these two important proteins.

We spent about three years trying to figure out why cats don't like sweets, said Joseph Brand, deputy director of the Menier Center for Chemical Sensory Research, who led the study. Because cats can't taste sweetness at all, so if you feed them sweets, they'll naturally feel dull and even throw tantrums, joked Brand's report in the latest issue of Science In Genetics, a journal published by the Public Library.

Lack of sweet receptors may be an important reason why felines are carnivores.