Looking past the recent vegan drama, have you ever wondered why your pet might not like particular foods? Have you ever actually tasted the food yourself?
I have, and some taste more like a chemistry lab than actual nutrition.
Animals don’t taste the same way we do. For example, cats don’t have the receptors for tasting sweet things…so they can barely detect sweetness at all.
Dogs only have 25% as many taste buds as humans, so most things have a very mutes taste for them. Plus, every dog I’ve ever had absolutely LOVED cat shit covered in kitty litter, so I never put much faith in their sense of taste.
Yeah, they’ll have flavors they like more or less, just like us, but even we can’t trust our sense of taste as a metric for nutrition…if we could, we’d all be addicted to brocolli and spinach instead of processes foods and sugar.
I’d say I love spinach just as much as sugar and processed food chomps on corncob pipe
Guess what?
If my dog refuses to eat what’s supposed to be a dog treat, and I try it and it tastes like a chemistry lab, then I think me and my dog both agree it tastes more like chemicals and more toxic than garbage.
Even if humans and animals have different taste buds, if the food tastes wrong, ain’t nobody gonna eat it.
I also wouldn’t know what my dog thinks of the taste of cat shit, as that’s not on his menu. Not sure where that thought came from even, that’s not even food.
I’m referring to actual food products for pets. If the pet doesn’t like it, there’s probably a reason why, and that reason is likely that companies tend to make substandard foods not suitable for human consumption for pets.
I had a Jack Russell who was crazy about eating out of the litterbox. Just horrifying, obviously. Maybe it tastes like meat, idk, who knows what it smells like to a dog.
A friend of mine back in middle school did a science project on what cat food tastes the best. He used his cat as the main experiment, but when he presented his project he also had samples for everyone to try and vote on their favorite. The cat liked Science Diet. The consensus among our classmates was Meow Mix.
Interesting. At the end of the day though, what matters is what’s healthy for your pet and what they like best.
I never suggested that humans and pets have the same taste buds and appetites, but when your dog refuses to eat a dog treat, and you taste it yourself and it also tastes like chemical garbage, then it only stands to reason that those particular dog treats are trash.
I didn’t realize you were trying to present some sort of argument here, I was just sharing a fun story that answered the post title.
All food tastes like chemicals. Taste is a function of chemical receptors on your tongue. Btw you are made entirely of chemicals, but many people have already told you this today.
I don’t know the exact brand of dog treats, but they tasted like they were soaked in diesel fuel and dried out. That’s what I mean when I say they tasted like chemicals.
Whatever brand they were, they were colored red and green. I don’t even think ants would eat those things.
I did, I can say that it tastes mostly like nothing, but my dog loves it because the smell is so strong (I think)
Milkbones taste like an unsalted pretzel. I was a bit stoned and teasing my dog.
deleted by creator
I’ve just returned to Lemmy after a while so I’m OOTL. Can anyone give me a gist of what happened with the recent vegan drama on here? Or maybe link to a post I can read?
The company Wild Life claims to have created a nutritionally complete vegan cat food, even though it’s common knowledge that cats need meat proteins and nutrients in their regular diet.
https://lemmy.ca/post/27549478
I am no expert in the field, maybe they’re onto something, maybe not. 🤷♂️
Edit: Guess they dropped the link ☹️
Proteins are just amino acids. You can find the same proteins in plant foods as meat. There are other details about what different types of basic foods contain, of course, but it’s theoretically possible to create something that contains all the same nutrients as meat out of plants.
When I briefly skimmed over the original article, they made a point to mention their food contains taurine. You know, like one of the things they put in Monster Energy drinks…
I’m no animal nutrition expert, so I don’t know how that does or doesn’t help with kitty nutrition, but I’d just as soon feed my kitty actual chicken or tuna and call it a day.
Well, check it out: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/taurine-in-cats
Taurine is an amino acid that’s an esssential nutrient for cats.
I tried a piece of kibble when I was a kid, mostly because it bothered my mom and I thought it was funny. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever eaten. Most of my dogs have eaten pretty much whatever you offer them, except (of course) my chihuahua. She’d eat buffalo sauce but not a carrot. When she lost all her teeth, she’d eat a flavor of wet food happily for like, a week, and then refuse to touch it ever again, so I don’t think it was the food being gross as much as it was her being a picky little shit.
deleted by creator
Back in the day, my mom fed their cat 9 Lives outdoor food. After a while she quit eating.
After I figured out the difference between outdoor and indoor food (basically extra preservatives), and got the same exact food, but the indoor variety, kitty chowed down!
Animals can taste the fucky chemicals as well.
My 13 years older sister gave me a chocolate piece when I was a kid, and asked afterwards if I liked it. I did. She gave me more, and didn’t tell me they were dog “chocolates”.
Tried one a few years ago - not as good as I remembered, and wouldn’t ask for another.
Not really. I don’t Have a wish to try eating live insects.
Regarding pets that eat insects, at least you know they’re not some chemical processed garbage. No need to be curious what that tastes like, nor would I expect you to, you know it’s natural.
“natural” doesn’t mean “good”. Arsenic is natural. Oleander is natural. Hemlock is natural.
I think you understood exactly what I meant. It’s natural for certain pets to eat insects. I never mentioned anything about poisons.
I did understand what you said. “You don’t need to taste that, it’s natural, and natural things don’t contain chemicals”. Everything contains chemicals, and whether those chemicals are natural or artificial has no bearing on whether or not they’re harmful. You’re spreading hippie-dippy misinformation. Knock that shit off.
Well, guess what? He refuses the chemical infused dog treats, but he loves ham and hot dogs, and also Gravy Train Chicken Flavor, ground up version, not chunky.
I think we can both agree that’s nutrition, and also the dog is basically saying without words that the dog biscuit treats taste like absolute shit.
Our adopted dog definitely ain’t starving, we’re just tuning into what he does and doesn’t have more of an appetite for.
No “chemicals” in hot dogs, nosiree lmao
Obviously everything is made of chemicals, you don’t have to keep thumping that book. I think you understand everything I’m getting at and are just trolling now.
Look, if I give my dog something that’s supposed to be a dog treat, and he refuses to eat it, then I get curious and try a little nibble myself. When I taste it and it tastes like pure chemical shit, then I’m like no wonder he won’t eat that, guess I ain’t going for that brand again.
It’s like almost half the comments here are like ‘aNImAls tAStE dIfFerEnt tHaN pEopLE’. Yep, no kidding. But if the animal won’t eat what’s supposed to be a treat, then maybe it’s the humans that manufactured the food that ain’t got a clue.
If the pet ain’t eating what’s supposed to be pet food, maybe just maybe the pet is trying to tell you the shit tastes horrible.
Literally everything you taste or smell is a chemical. Taste and smell are just biological chemical detection systems.
Preference for taste varies by individual. Every family has that one weirdo who likes black jellybeans. I don’t understand it, and those people are actually members of my own species. You’re taking a sample size of one hominid and one canid and saying that since you agree, this taste is objectively bad. Do you honestly think the manufacturer invested in marketing this product without ever giving it to a dog? Is it possible that there are things your dog likes that you wouldn’t like, and vice versa? It just seems like you’re leaping to a lot of conclusions here, like you started out with a conclusion and are trying to prove it. That is not good science.
It’s not exactly a ‘science’ to figure out when your pet refuses to eat a particular food. It just makes me curious, like what is he actually experiencing when he tastes the foods he don’t like.
There are a plethora of other pet foods out there, I’m not gonna force him to eat anything he don’t like. If he doesn’t like a particular food, and I think it tastes horrible as well, then maybe just maybe the dog has a point, certain foods taste terrible.
I was going to ask WTF… but they like everything I feed them. (Cats) Hard food by an independent company that is no carb all protein. (Edit, young again pet food, my older cat had diabetes until I started this food, now he doesn’t!) Seafood Reveal cans, all pure fish. And not sure what’s in Friskies Temptations… but they want those like it’s crack.
I was tricked into eating dog biscuits when I was a little kid. Tasted like ash more than anything else. But dogs like vomit too, so our tastes are not very similar.
But maybe some vomit can be tasty?
Dog food and treats, cat food and treats, rabbit food, fish food, I’m sure others; i was curious, they were terrible.
I’ve eaten cat biscuits. They don’t taste offensive, but there’s nothing in them for me to enjoy. Even so, they’re the one thing all my cats agree is worth eating.
I always taste test my pet’s food to make sure it’s not poisoned.
