Improving cat food flavors with the help of feline taste-testers

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-cat-food-flavors-feline-testers.html

by politelemon • 2 years ago

36 56 2 years ago

bell-cot• 2 years ago

The researchers found that most cats preferred and ate more of the foods sprayed with their attractants, particularly the sprays with proteins that were further broken-down by the enzymes and contained more free amino acids.

Even-yummier premium cat food would probably sell quite well.

OTOH: Of the cat owners I've known, quite a few have described their cats as overweight - to degrees which were of concern for their cats' health. But unless some major health problem was the root cause, I can't recall a single cat being described an unhealthily underweight.

ajb6• 2 years ago

Some cats will self regulate intake to maintain a healthy weight, but a large fraction will not. If your cat is one of these then you need to regulate it's intake. But I think it's also a bad idea to reduce abruptly.

kortilla3• 2 years ago

But I think it's also a bad idea to reduce abruptly.

Why? That’s usually the advice from vets. Immediately take away free feeding and switch to portions that result in a calorie deficit until they get to a healthy weight.

hanniabu• 2 years ago

Indoor cats are often under-stimulated and depressed and have nothing to do to pass the time except to eat and sleep

jbaber• 2 years ago

I agree inside a house is more boring than an alley, but have you seen how much time big cats spend sleeping?

kennyadam2• 2 years ago

I have had a few cats that had cat flaps, so they could come and go as they pleased. They slept indoors, often on the warmest lap they could find, a lot. However, they also disappeared into the trees and bushes in the neighborhood for hours at a time and often came back grubby and spent ages cleaning themselves. Pretty obviously a sign they had been doing something engaging.

When I visited my friends who had indoor cats, they always seemed either timid or bored, spending hours just sitting looking out windows or sleeping.

I always found it hard to watch a cat staring out at the world, with their only stimulation/interaction happening in the small amount of time each day when people were at home and not busy with something else or sleeping.

jjtheblunt• 2 years ago

...unless they are entertained by other cats and dogs in the family, we have found. in that case, and "mileage my vary", one can end up with Looney Tunes style frivolity sideshows all day.

wl• 2 years ago

Anecdote: I’ve got an otherwise healthy cat who requires an appetite stimulant to stay at a healthy weight.

onion2k• 2 years ago

My two cats don't appear to care what flavor food I give them so long as there's a lot of variety. Giving them the same flavor for a few days results in untouched food. I have to cycle a few different brands and types to keep them from wasting a lot of food. Which I do, of course, because they're in charge.

candiddevmike• 2 years ago

Cats are so intelligent they managed to hack humanity's need to serve for their own self interests. My cats show me fleeting amounts of affection and it just makes me want to do more things for them.

Compared to my dog, a cat's independence creates an unspoken understanding that they are only here as long as I keep them happy.

notepad0x90• 2 years ago

unspoken understanding that they are only here as long as I keep them happy.

This is a big misunderstanding people keep repeating. You expect cats to act like dogs and then assume the reason why that isn't the case is because you don't keep them happy, which is only partially true. Think of this differently, cats are like people, they consider themselves in a social relationship with you.

If you have a friend over but don't entertain them, spend time with them or give them foods and drinks that are tasty, then they may not want to hang out at your place a lot in the future right?

Also,similar to humans, they don't show you their personality right away, they are very guarded and won't reveal themselves and open up unless you do the same. Cats have a very high emotional intelligence compared to other pets. They are the only animals that have domesticated themselves. They consider themselves our partners not our servants (unlike dogs), and historically speaking they would be right, since cats living indoors has only been a thing since the cat litter was invented 40-50 years ago. Before that, they had lots of uses like chasing mice and other pests or keeping humans entertained,a mutually beneficial relationship if you will. in many ways they were useful to humans more than even most other humans at times.

In short, you get from having a cat what you put into that relationship, just like with people and each cat has it's own personality. Don't compare them to your dog, dogs are domesticated by humans and heavily bred with a purpose. Think of having a cat being more like befriending a wild animal instead of having an obedient servant.

JumpCrisscross2• 2 years ago

Compared to my dog, a cat's independence creates an unspoken understanding that they are only here as long as I keep them happy

I had a fussy beagle and have a gregarious cat. They both followed me around the house with similar frequency, were similarly food motivated and both enjoy(ed) tagging along with me in the car while I ran the day’s errands.

There are certain fundamental differences between the species. But there is more personality variation within them than there is between, in my opinion.

chiph• 2 years ago

My elderly cat has to be on a limited-protein diet because of food allergies. Rabbit is commonly used since none of the commercial foods have it as an ingredient (it's stupid expensive). I recently added a new kitten to the household and she is being fed a good quality wet food with lots of variety.

When the older cat smelled it, it was like the Best Thing That Had Ever Existed and she learned to push the kitten away from the bowl and eat it all herself. And naturally vomit it up shortly afterwards.

I had to buy a couple of the microchip feeders to keep their diets separate. They work, but are expensive. But where they get you are the cost of the stainless steel bowls, because of course you need more than what came in the box.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_and_blades_model

ajb6• 2 years ago

Yeah, if those are the surepet feeders, I was shocked to see they had gone up in price by a factor of 2.5.

post_break• 2 years ago

Switching my cat to raw food has been the best thing I could have done. It’s not cheap but it saved his life due to IBD. Wish it was more wide spread to bring the price down.

walthamstow• 2 years ago

Our little guy gets a mixed diet of half dry kibbles, half raw food. He loves it and his digestion is so much better than when he is on kibble only.

I have managed to keep the cost down by buying it in bulk. We get 1kg frozen bricks of minced turkey/rabbit meat/bones/offal/blood that I defrost in the fridge and batch into containers that hold 2 days worth and refreeze.

I don't know where you live but this is the website I use in the UK https://www.kiezebrink.co.uk/

ziofill• 2 years ago

I have a friend who tasted dog food and cat food (don’t ask) and swears that cat food is a hundred times worse ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

adolfojp• 2 years ago

I can confirm.

gbuk2013• 2 years ago

I agree with your friend that it tastes worse, but only like 3 times worse. :)

matsemann• 2 years ago

Some cat food is basically canned tuna. Tasted fine to me. But the stuff we normally serve smells vile.

shepherdjerred3• 2 years ago

Is it "inhumane" to feed cats (or other animals) the same thing every day? Should one try to give them as much variety as humans prefer?

I've given my cats the same food for years. I don't think that's abnormal, but I don't think I would enjoy being fed the same thing (aside from occasional treats) for my entire life.

JumpCrisscross2• 2 years ago

Is it "inhumane" to feed cats (or other animals) the same thing every day?

Plenty of people eat the same thing every day. If your cat is fine with it and you’re fine with it I don’t see the issue. (I say this as someone who loves food, eats a variety of it, and so does my cat and did my dog.)

blitzar• 2 years ago

My cat ate fillet steak for dinner every night, the only complaint would be if it was not chopped fine enough and he would send it back with orders to try again.

shepherdjerred3• 2 years ago

Are there really people that eat the same meal, breakfast/lunch/dinner, for the vast majority of their lives?

I don't think anyone would choose that, though I'm sure one could do it if the circumstances demanded it, e.g. due to poverty or being Dr. Mark Watney.

If your cat is fine with it

How would one know? My cat's options are to:

* Eat what's available

* Starve

ajb6• 2 years ago

They do like variety. But if they get the same food every day for a long time, they may be unable to accept other food, which could be a problem if you need to change their diet due to a health condition. (But this is from a book I read 30 years ago so there is likely more recent advice)

Do you give them a food which has different flavours? That might be enough. I tend to switch mine occasionally.

shepherdjerred3• 2 years ago

I feed them a fairly nice brand that's kibble + freeze dried chicken. They do seem to like it.

I just can't help but think I'd hate my life if I ate the same thing day in and day out. Being an (indoor) cat sounds really boring -- eating the same thing every day, sleeping 16 hours a day, and being unable to mate or hunt.

I wonder if animals feel the need for a sense of purpose like humans do.

bradknowles3• 2 years ago

In my experience, it depends on the cat(s). Many cats prefer stability, so the same food all the time is what they would prefer. But some cats seem to prefer variety.

I don’t know if this comes from us trying out various different things to see what they like best, and they decide what they like best is the variety of trying different things, or what.

But, based on my personal experience, you need to be able to know and understand your cat.

fny• 2 years ago

Fun fact: pet food is professionally taste tested by humans.

hetspookjee• 2 years ago

I love cats and this way of thinking. I had a pet rabbit for some years and often wondered why the food seemed to be more geared towards what humans would like (e.g. cream strawberry candies), rather than what would be nice for a rabbit.

Off topic, but I wish there was a way to marry the desire for a feline partner and the survival of native bird species. Here in the suburb of Utrecht in the Netherlands they do wreak havoc on the local bird population. I like to feed the magpies to keep the cats a bit at bay as they are so aggresive towards cats. Sure, magpies also eat birds but they're so far inferior in hunting (and already well fed) that I'm sure their presence is a net positive for the smaller bird species in the neighborhood. I don't see another way cause forcing your cat to remain inside is also not fair towards the cat, but introducing them in a foreign hunting game walhalla is also not right.

Improving cat food flavors with the help of feline taste-testers

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