Have you ever tasted your pet's food? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by over_clox@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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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.

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[-] blunderworld@lemmy.ca 56 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I mean, animals don't necessarily experience taste in the same ways humans do. What tastes terrible to me may still be very appealing to a dog or cat etc., regardless of taste.

[-] ElderReflections@fedia.io 78 points 2 months ago

The way my dog licks his balls you'd think they taste really good, but they didn't taste great to me

[-] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 2 months ago

A dog eats poop. That might as well say that taste is experienced very differently.

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 months ago

I’ve licked some good balls before tbh

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Thanks 👍

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 3 points 2 months ago

That's not true! That dog's balls tasted average, at worst.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago

If you could reach yours, you would too

[-] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 2 months ago

He's just asking for a favor bro

[-] tom_was_taken@lemmynsfw.com 10 points 2 months ago

Exactly. We like sweet things as this is our way to detect glucose for our brain; salty things for minerals, etc. Our pets diets are different, so are their taste preferences. Iirc, a totally blunt piece of dried food tastes great for a cat, since they seek protein more than anything.

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

Yup, cats can't taste sweetness for that reason, while birds don't have receptors for spice and can eat chillies easily.

That's just the taste buds themselves, additionally:

A large part of our taste response is tied to smell. This is why food tastes different when sick. It's also hard to try yourself because you can "smell" through the back of your throat too
the air around us will affect taste perception, which is why some foods taste better or worse on a plane
genetic factors exist, such as how some people taste cilantro/parsley as soapy

[-] Default_Defect@midwest.social 2 points 2 months ago

That's why hospital food seemed so next level bland, everything smelled like "clean."

[-] Threeme2189@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I have the cilantro soap gene. Never heard of the taste of parsley being affected the same way.

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world -4 points 2 months ago

True. Still, have you ever tasted a chemistry set?

I did when I was 10 years old. It's a wonder I'm still alive. Raw chemicals are not nutrition.

[-] whenyellowstonehasitsday@fedia.io 11 points 2 months ago

sugar is a "raw chemical" 🤓

[-] li10@feddit.uk 8 points 2 months ago

Maybe these “chemicals” are the flavour the dog wants tho, I imagine it’s kinda like a really concentrated gravy?

I don’t imagine flavour has that much to do with nutrition, in fact it’s probably lacking in nutrition if it has no flavour.

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world -2 points 2 months ago

Have you ever mixed hard kibble with soft food, only to watch your dog literally pick out all the hard kibble and only eat the soft food? And yes, before anyone asks, his teeth are fine.

The hard food (at least that particular brand) tastes fucking awful.

[-] hex@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

What constitues chemicals for you? I agree with your point- if your dog doesn't like the treat and you find it tastes unnatural, I agree it's maybe a bad treat/crappy quality treat.

But "chemical" is not really a descriptor for taste- everything is chemicals. Sugar is a chemical. There are chemicals in natural foods such as meats, veggies, fruits, it's all chemicals. I think you're trying to say that the treats taste unnatural or overly processed?

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Maybe you're right, maybe 'chemical' wasn't the best way to describe it. I can definitely agree that those treats tasted completely unnatural.

I mean like they taste like they were soaked in diesel fuel and dried out unnatural. That's why I described it as a chemical taste.

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024

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