2y ago

In an important breakthrough (to cats), scientists figure out why cats love tuna so much

www.science.org

Just a moment...

Ever wonder why cats love tuna? Well apparently a bunch of scientists did too, and they found the answer: the umami flavor (savoriness in English, I guess), is a cat's most favorite (as opposed to mine, which is definitely sweet).

14 comments

Cats can't taste sweetness.
They might like it, but that doesn't mean it's good for them
- This is a bigger problem the higher up the foodchain you go, so giving your cat Bluefin is worse (not to mention much more expensive) than the common stuff (albacore or light tuna) that comes in a can. And of course it's even worse for humans, for the same reason - and we live longer so the heavy metals have more time to accumulate.
Do cats eat mushrooms? They're supposed to be chock full of umami.
- I'll try some science.
  
  Posting here rather than tagging to keep engagement high. Let us know about the science.
Mercury is the elixir of immortality that grants them nine lives.
I wonder why we don't eat cats
- Meat from predators is very gamey - and an obligate carnivore like a cat would be the worst.
  
  But reproduce like removed... It might be a good protein in poor countries
- We did in times of desperation. During the Blitz, the Brits would sometimes resort to eating roof rabbit, id est, stray cat.
  It's gamey and there's very little meat for the effort so eating cat really is desperation fare. You might be better off training your kitties to hunt lizards and rodents and work out how to make them into a worthy stew.

14 comments