Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 14, 2024

Ludvig won’t know he doesn’t like it until he’s tried it.

Cats have evolved a taste for Whatever That Is You’re Trying To Eat.

I question Arlo’s facts. Seen a meme of a cat eating watermelon and the way the eyes just light up when tasting the sweet red part for the first time.

Cats are exclusive meat eaters, they cannot digest plant matter like starch. They lack the genetic switch necessary to taste sweet things, because they do not need to ingest carbohydrates for energy. They can detect other compounds that are found in meat, unlike humans. In addition, cats have very few taste buds. Humans have about 9000, while cats have under 500. Some big cats, like lions and tigers, are said to have lost most of their ability to distinguish tastes, because they only need to be able to distinguish between edible and inedible meat.

“But I could like. Let me check.”

According to our cats the following must be made with meat.

Pizza crust, donuts, cantaloupe seed goop, and asparagus.

Our Siamese, Clue, loves whipped cream. He only gets a little bit occasionally, but when he hears the aerosol can spritz out cream, he comes running.

it must be chocolate mousse

Read the ingredients of most dry cat foods. Cats seem to survive on mostly rice and corn with a little chicken and other meat based meals thrown in.

My cat loved nacho cheese flavored Doritos

My Eddie always wants to check out what I am eating.

Ludwig: Yes

Ludwig is calling dibs on the cream part.

We’ve had many cats over the years, and they have all had unique tastes. One loved cantaloupe and another would eat corn right off the cob. Some have liked bread, and all seem to be very interested in dairy products like milk, yogurt and cottage cheese.

My cat, Bailey, loved crullers, olives, and cantaloupe. Go figure.

Mine do that with anything that’s got frosting or whipped cream on it. I don’t think it’s the sugar that’s attracting them, it’s the smell of cream, butter, lard, and eggs. I’ve read the fact that they can’t smell or taste “sweet” from many sources. I’ve also read that dairy and eggs are very bad for their health, since they can’t digest it, despite being attracted to the smell. I’ll usually give mine a bit of frosting or cream from my dessert if they want it, but only a smidgen.

My cats love chicken and ground beef. They do eat select veggies too.

My younger kitty loves junk food. He even eats carmel popcorn (within moderation).

mom’s cat would make you a liar too. :]

My cat loves yogurt, pudding and ice cream.

There are eggs and butter in that piece of cake. Ludwig knows.

My fur babies loved real whipped heavy cream too!!!!

Yes! And if he’s like mine, he just wants to put his germs on it. So, you can’t eat it!

Now I understand why my nephew’s cat died. He was a vegan and forced the cat to be one too. This is the guy that moved to Portland because Chicago was too conservative.

Tell that to my cat who licks the frosting off maple bars…

Arlo you are an idjit……

My cats enjoy a couple of licks of ice cream, and don’t get me started on homemade whipped cream!

is Arlo going to stay on this philosopher trend, he is not the old dude Mr. science anyway, and Mr. science is nuts now too.

Nah he just wants to ‘guick’ all over it then leave it.

We had a cat who would claw and climb her way to get a tiny bit of chocolate from a Little Debbie snack cake. We had her for more than 23 years.

Sometimes they just want a good sniff to make sure they want to reject it. Offering a piece can speed up the rejection process.

My tabby loves just a little drop of honey now and then. He’s also partial to potato chips (though maybe he just likes licking the salt off.) We used to have a cat who loved tomatoes and pumpkin guts. Halloween was one of his favorite times of year.

My mom had a cat who loved watermelon. I have one who tries to eat anything sweet that we have. She tries to “bury” any meat we offer, but will snatch a marshmallow cereal treat from you if you aren’t watching.

Maybe true, but don’t fall asleep, they will eat you.

The Conoco/Philips pop up is so frequent, I’m having a seizure from the strobe effect.

I had a cat that was crazy for green olives. He would bat it around and chase it for a bit, then settle down and eat it. Maybe it required a certain amount of dust for flavor? :P

Cats simply do not have taste receptors for sweet. All foods have many flavor components which a cat can detect but we cannot. Cats will also try a taste of something, if they see you or another cat eat it.

We had a big longhaired flamepoint male named Charlie that was absolutely crazy for lettuce! I couldn’t make a salad without him jumping up and grabbing a piece of lettuce from the spring mix container. Of course I made it easier for him to “steal” it by leaving a piece on the edge of the counter. Miss you, King Charles! Nineteen wonderful years.

I had 2 cats that used to run for the kitchen every time they heard the cookie jar open…they loved the chocolate chip cookies and I didn’t know chocolate was bad for them at the time…actually it never seemed to hurt them.

I have two cats; one will not touch soft (missing 2/3 of her teeth) cat food that has any sort of grain in it, the other goes bonkers when we cook potatoes or pasta, and will happily munch on Doritos.

My cat insists that all human food is better than what he’s fed. We tried to spell it out to him that he isn’t a D O G.

Our cat Charlie likes sweets. After Thanksgiving, I had to be careful with my snack plates to keep him from getting into them. He also wanted to lick the plate if I left it by my chair for a hot minute.