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Palatability of cat food with sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract

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Rúbia Tabachi de Oliveira
Rúbia Tabachi de Oliveira
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Douglas Haese
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João Luís Kill
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Abstract and Figures

Cat food formulation should not only meet the animal’s nutritional needs, but also take into account food attractiveness. Our aim was to assess the palatability of food coated with sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract, alone or in combination, and 20 adult cats were used in a two-bowl preference test. The preference for the experimental foods was tested by external application of sodium pyrophosphate (0.3%), yeast extract (0.2%), and a blend (0.5%) containing pyrophosphate and yeast extract in a same basal diet. In the present study, the cats showed preference for the blend (0.5%) containing sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract. © 2016, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. All rights reserved.
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Palatability of cat food with sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract.
Ciência Rural, v.46, n.12, dez, 2016.
2202
Palatability of cat food with sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract
Palatabilidade de rações de gatos com pirofosfato de sódio e extrato de levedura
Rúbia Tabachi de OliveiraI Douglas HaeseI* João Luís KillI Anderson LimaII
Pablo Victor MaliniIII Guilherme Rodrigues ThompsonI
ISSN 1678-4596
Ciência Rural, Santa Maria, v.46, n.12, p.2202-2205, dez, 2016
Received 12.23.15 Approved 06.29.16 Returned by the author 09.23.16
CR-2015-1651.R1
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20151651
ABSTRACT
Cat food formulation should not only meet the animal’s
nutritional needs, but also take into account food attractiveness.
Our aim was to assess the palatability of food coated with sodium
pyrophosphate and yeast extract, alone or in combination, and 20
adult cats were used in a two-bowl preference test. The preference
for the experimental foods was tested by external application of
sodium pyrophosphate (0.3%), yeast extract (0.2%), and a blend
(0.5%) containing pyrophosphate and yeast extract in a same basal
diet. In the present study, the cats showed preference for the blend
(0.5%) containing sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract.
Key words: additives, nutrition, palatability, preference.
RESUMO
A formulação de rações para gatos deve não só
satisfazer as necessidades nutricionais desses animais, mas
também levar em conta a atratividade do alimento. Nosso objetivo
foi avaliar a palatabilidade de rações contendo pirofosfato de
sódio e extrato de levedura, isoladamente ou combinados, e foram
usados 20 gatos adultos em testes de preferência pelo confronto
direto entre duas rações (two-bowl test). As rações experimentais
foram obtidas pela aplicação externa de uma mesma dieta basal
de pirofosfato de sódio (0,3%), extrato de levedura (0,2%) e uma
mistura (0,5%) contendo pirofosfato de sódio e extrato de levedura.
No presente estudo, os gatos mostraram preferência pela mistura
(0,5%) contendo pirofosfato de sódio e extrato de levedura.
Palavras-chave: aditivos, nutrição, palatabilidade, preferência.
Food palatability is a combination of
sensory, physical, and chemical characteristics such
as aroma, taste, shape, moisture, and nutritional
value. In addition, physical characteristics such
as temperature and texture have also an important
role in food preference. Cats prefer food at room
temperature, dry and crunchy kibbles, and shapes that
facilitate apprehension and incision (BRADSHAW et
al., 1996; NRC, 2006).
Unlike dogs’ preference, aroma alone does
not appear to exert major inuence on food preference
by cats. Furthermore, olfactory acuity is diminished
with ageing, adverse weather conditions, and drug
use (ZAGHINI & BIAGI, 2005). Conversely, cat’s
taste, which is based on the carnivore pattern, has
a pronounced effect on food preference; however,
with further specialization. This can be explained
in terms of more specic nutritional requirements
(BRADSHAW, 2006).
Taste information can be transmitted via
four cranial nerves, but only the facial nerve has
been investigated in detail in cats (BRADSHAW,
et al., 1996). In the facial nerve, there are receptor
units (amino acids, acid, and “x” units) that
can positively or negatively respond to stimuli
(discharges) generated by amino acids, nucleotides,
sugars, sodium ion, phosphoric acid, sodium chloride
(NaCl), and potassium chloride (KCl). According to
ZAGHINI & BIAGI (2005), the most abundant units
are responsive to some amino acids, and cats respond
positively to proline, cysteine, ornithine, lysine,
— NOTE —
IPrograma de Pós-graduação em Ciência Animal, Universidade Vila Velha (UVV), 29102-920, Vila Velha, ES, Brasil. E-mail:
douglas.haese@uvv.br. *Corresponding author.
IIAlltech do Brasil, São Pedro do Ivaí, PR, Brasil.
IIINutriave Alimentos, Viana, ES, Brasil.
CLINIC AND SURGERY
2203 Oliveira et al.
Ciência Rural, v.46, n.12, dez, 2016.
histidine, and alanine, which are described as “sweet”
by humans. Conversely, cats reject the “bitter” amino
acids such as arginine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and
tryptophan, which inhibit these units.
Cats prefer foods containing lipids of
vegetable or animal origin, hydrolyzed proteins, and
animal-derived proteins found in red meat and liver
(ZAGHINI & BIAGI, 2005). The Maillard reaction
that occurs during kibble extrusion also contributes
to improve palatability, especially in containing
vegetable origin food products such as soybean and
corn meal. Cats have aversion to avor of products
containing medium-chain triglycerides, and are not
stimulated by sugars (MACDONALD et al., 1984).
The search for increasingly palatable food
has encouraged new researches to develop ingredients
or additives, such as phosphorus compounds and
yeast extract, which can positively stimulate the taste
receptor units. Phosphorus based compounds, such
as phosphoric acid, are used in cat food preparation
to both prevent formation of struvite stones and
promote oral health. However, other benets, such
as improvement in food palatability, can be obtained
by including these compounds in cat food. According
to BRAND & BRYANT (2012), palatability
improvement obtained with the use of phosphorus
based compounds is probably due to their interaction
with acid receptor units in the cat.
Yeast extract, which is obtained by
enzyme extraction of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae
cellular content is another food palatant. Yeast
extract has nutrients, such as proteins, peptides,
nucleotides, and free amino acids (especially rich in
alanine, lysine, and glutamic acid), which are able to
stimulate palatability as they stimulate amino acid
receptor units. TESHIMA et al. (2007) observed
improved palatability of dog food by supplementing
the mass with yeast extract (2%) before the
extrusion process. However, OGOSHI et al. (2014)
demonstrated that cats had reduced palatability after
supplementation with yeast extract (1.5%) over dry
diet mixed with moist diet.
Thus, the aim of this study was to assess
the palatability of cat food with application of sodium
pyrophosphate and/or yeast extract, alone or in
combination over the kibbles.
The experiment was conducted in the
cattery of the Centro de Tecnologia Animal Ltda (CTA;
Domingos Martins, ES, Brazil). Twenty healthy adult
mongrel cats (10 male and 10 female) were used,
with known body condition (score: 3.3±0.3), weight
(3.7±0.45kg), and age (3.4±0.86 years). The cats were
kept in a room (temperature: 21.2±2.3°C; humidity:
55±3.5%) and housed individually in galvanized steel
cages (90 x 90 x 100cm) containing a sandbox and a
suspended shelf where the cat could sleep.
In the preparation of the experimental
diets, a basal food (control) without palatant (Table 1),
and three others with external application of sodium
pyrophosphate (0.3%); yeast extract (0.2%), and
blend (0.5%; yeast extract: sodium pyrophosphate:
40:60) were used.
Poultry fat (3%) was added inside the
rotatory mixer (5min) before the palatant additives
were applied to coat the kibbles to promote a
greater adhesion of the powder palatant particles to
kibbles. In order to improve distribution of palatant
additives, which are in the form of a ne powder, a
ne sieve (hole diameter: 0.8mm) was used during
their application to manually spread them directly
onto the food. The same amount of poultry fat was
also included in the basal food to maintain the food
preparations isoenergetic.
Table 1 - Ingredients and chemical composition of food.
Ingredients
Weight (g kg-1 of dry matter)
Corn
250
Poultry by product meal
245
Soy bean meal
165
Rice
150
Corn gluten meal 21
Corn gluten meal 60
150
20.0
Micronized whole soybean
7.50
Vitamin Mineral Premix
14.00
Choline chloride (60%)
3.50
Common salt
2.50
Calcium propionate
1.00
L-Taurin e
0.85
Butylated hydroxytoluene
(BHT) 0.10
-------------------------Chemical composition-
-------------------------
Dry matter
940 ± 1.2
Crude protein
315 ± 2.3
Crude fiber
20.2 ± 0.3
Crude fat (acid ether extract)
105 ± 0.8
Ash
85 ± 0.4
Calcium
19.8 ± 0.2
Phosphorous
12.4 ± 0.1
Metabolizable energy (kcal)
3450
Additives (kg
-1): Copper: 4300mg; Iron:
23000mg; Manganese:
1880mg; Zinc: 40000mg; Iodine: 300mg; Selenium: 50.0mg;
Folic acid:
300mg; Pantothenic acid: 3000mg; Biotin:
25.0mg;
Choline: 300mg; Niacin: 15.0mg; Pyridoxine: 1500mg;
Riboflavin: 1500mg; Thiamine: 5000mg; Vitamin A: 2700KUI;
Vitamin B
12: 40.0mg; Vitamin D3: 240KUI; Vitamin E: 40.0KUI;
Vitamin K: 1200mg.
Palatability of cat food with sodium pyrophosphate and yeast extract.
Ciência Rural, v.46, n.12, dez, 2016.
2204
Cats’ preferences were determined using the
two-bowl method, and food relative consumption (%)
was calculated as a fraction of the total food consumed
by using the formula: Relative consumption (%) = Food
A consumption (g) x 100 / Food A+B consumption (g).
In each preference test, the food pairs were given
alternating between right and left, being placed at
the same time in amounts 20% higher than those
recommended by the NRC (2006) for adult cats (100 x
body weight0.67). Six food pairs were assessed for cats’
preferences: (1) control x pyrophosphate; (2) control
x yeast extract; (3) pyrophosphate x yeast extract; (4)
blend x control; (5) blend x pyrophosphate, and (6)
blend x yeast extract. Consumption of the tested diets
was evaluated in duplicate in two consecutive days
and bowls were left with the animals for 24h. At the
end of each test, 40 observations (20 cats; 2 days) were
obtained. Water was provided ad libitum throughout
the entire study period.
The data thus obtained were analyzed using
parametric statistics. Consumption percentages were
transformed to arcsine square root and then compared
as independent variables using the Student’s t-test
(5% probability). The Statistical and Genetic Analysis
System (SAEG, v. 9.1; Viçosa, MG, Brazil) was used.
Application of 0.5% of the blend (sodium
pyrophosphate plus yeast extract) to the food
promoted an increase in cats’ preference (P<0.05), as
compared to control. In addition, the blend was able
to stimulate cats’ preference more than yeast extract
alone (Figure 1).
The ability to detect taste is given by
gustatory receptors, which are present in the
tongue. They can respond positively or negatively
to stimuli caused by the food. In cats, the T1R1/
T1R3 amino acid receptors can be stimulated by
certain amino acids (BRADSHAW, 2006) and
also by pyrophosphate (BRAND & BRYANT,
2012). Stimulation of gustatory receptors with
amino acids or pyrophosphate was observed in a
study with intracellular markers, and increased
intracellular calcium was released as a response
to the presence of pyrophosphate or amino acids
(lysine, proline, and alanine). However, this effect
on the feline receptor T1R1/T1R3 was higher
when pyrophosphate was combined with these
NS: non-signicant; * P<0.01
Figure 1 - Effect of food coating on cat food palatability.
2205 Oliveira et al.
Ciência Rural, v.46, n.12, dez, 2016.
amino acids, and a synergistic effect was observed
(BRAND & BRYANT, 2012).
The positive result observed with use of
blend was probably due to the presence of both free
amino acids and nucleotides contained in the yeast
extract, which, in combination with pyrophosphate,
promoted a greater response of the gustatory
receptors T1R1/T1R3. Taste after consumption of a
specic amino acid can be intensied by interaction
with phosphate compounds, in which this association
stimulates receptors responsive to presence of isolated
pyrophosphate or a particular amino acid (BRAND &
BRYANT, 2012).
BIOETHICS AND BIOSSECURITY
COMMITTEE APPROVAL
The experimental protocol was approved by the
Ethics Committee (CEUA-CTA: 127/2014).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The rst author is grateful for the scholarship granted
by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito
Santo (FAPES). We also acknowledge Nutriave Alimentos® for
their help in the production of experimental diets and Centro de
Tecnologia Animal for the nancial support for the study.
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Full-text available
  • Nov 2022
The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of enzymatically treated yeast (ETY) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, immune response, and gut health of weanling pigs. A total of 192 weanling pigs (6.0 ± 1.04 kg) were allocated to 4 corn and soybean-based diets with increasing concentrations of ETY (0, 1, 2, or 4 g/kg) for a 43-d trial. There were 8 replicate pens (4 replicate pens per sex) and 6 pigs per replicate. The experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design with body weight used as a blocking factor. Pigs had ad libitum access to water and diets for the duration of the study. There was no effect of ETY supplementation on the growth performance indices of weanling pigs. At d 14, there was a quadratic decrease (P < 0.05) in the ATTD of ADF. At d 28, there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in the ATTD of NDF and a quadratic decrease (P < 0.05) in the ATTD of ADF. On d 14, there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in serum catalase activity with ETY supplementation. There was a linear increase (P < 0.01) in the gene expression of GPX4 in the ileal mucosa of pigs. Increasing dietary ETY supplementation linearly decreased (P < 0.05) the gene expression of ileal PEPT1. There was a tendency for a quadratic effect (P = 0.07) in the ileal villus height to crypt depth ratio with ETY supplementation. Additionally, there was a tendency for a linear increase (P = 0.06) in ileal digesta butyrate with ETY supplementation. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that dietary enzymatically treated yeast supplementation could partly ameliorate the deleterious effects of post-weaning stress by enhancing the antioxidative status of weanling pigs. However, prolonged supplementation of ETY may be needed to see its effect on growth performance.
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... Pyrophosphates (phosphate salts) are added to cat food to prevent struvite stones and promote oral health (de Oliveira et al. 2016). However, they also increase palatability, probably via interaction with amino acid receptors, thereby intensifying the taste of a specific amino acid (Brand & Bryant 2012). ...
Additives in pet food: are they safe?
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2021
A good, nutritious diet is essential for the health and well‐being of our domestic pets. Today, most pet dogs and cats are fed highly processed food bearing little resemblance to canine and feline ancestral diets. Additives are included in processed pet food to provide nutritional benefits, ensure food safety, and maintain the desirable features of colour, flavour, texture, stability and resistance to spoilage. This paper reviews the safety of various additives in processed pet food. Labelling, safety assessment, and ethical concerns regarding existing toxicity testing procedures are also considered. The adequacy of testing for many additives and the scientific basis for determining safety are questioned. Additives can be synthetic or ‘natural’ although the distinction can be blurred when naturally derived substances are synthesised in the laboratory, or extracted using a high level of physical and chemical processing. Although additives play important roles in processed food production, updated strategies and technologies may be required to establish their safety in the pet food industry.
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... Palatability research in dogs (7,8,14,20,Note 1) showed that in five out of 7 tests replacement of diet ingredients by a yeast preparation produced an intake ratio ≥ 2, which was the case in one out of four cat tests (9,15,21,22,Note 2). Adding yeast to petfood does not always appreciably enhance palatability. ...
Beynen AC, 2019. Yeast in petfood
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2019
Yeast in petfood Many dog and cat foods declare a yeast ingredient, most commonly brewer's dried yeast, but also yeast extract, yeast cell walls, selenium yeast or yeast culture. Brewer's yeast is a by-product from the brewing of beer or ale. Extracts and cell walls are yeast parts. Selenium yeast is grown in nutrient mixtures enriched with the trace element. Yeast culture is yeast and its growth medium. Until the 1950s, whole dried yeast served as source of B-vitamins in experimental dog foods with highly purified ingredients. By using that kind of foods, black-tongue disease in dogs was found to respond to consumption of brewer's yeast (1), which led to the identification of vitamin B3. Yeast is lauded as B-vitamin powerhouse, but is as such needless for current petfoods that are effectively and profitably supplemented with pure B vitamins. Similar reasoning holds for selenium yeast (2). Brewer's yeast in petfood is rarely linked to health claims. Nutritional yeast supplements may promise flea control, healthy skin and coat, but do so without evidence. About 1% of brewer's yeast is often added to dry food for palatability, which requires securing for each application. MOS (mannan-oligosaccharides) from yeast cell walls is touted for gut and immune health, but dog studies are unsupportive (3). Purified yeast beta-glucans can stimulate immune responses, albeit without known impact on pets' health maintenance (4). Yeasts constitute a wide variety of single-celled organisms. Many are safe and useful such as the species employed in baking and production of beverage and fuel alcohol. Moderate yeast amounts in petfood seem harmless to dogs and cats. Curiously, one petfood brand carries "no added yeast" as label claim (5). As specific yeast species can cause skin infections in dogs, anti-yeast foods are being proposed, but their efficacy is unsubstantiated. Composition Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is derived from drying the slurry that remains after beer and ale fermentation. Due to different practices of breweries, the composition varies, but can be put at 41% protein, 3% fat, 0.5% crude fiber, 6% ash, 5% moisture and 44.5% nitrogen-free extract (6). Dried, whole yeast contains about 10% of both mannan-oligosaccharides (3) and beta-(1,3)/(1,6)-glucans (4). Digestibility Dogs received an extruded reference diet as such or with brewer's yeast in 85:15 mixing ratio (7). Apparent total tract digestibilities of crude protein for the reference and yeast-containing diet were 84.7 and 86.2% of intake (n=7/diet). With the difference method, the digestibility of protein in brewer's yeast was calculated to be 88.8%. Two forms of sugarcane yeast had protein digestibilities of 63.0 and 74.7% (7). Protein digestibility for other types of yeast extracts was 72.4% in dogs (8) and 78.6% in cats (9).
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Evaluation of Torula yeast as a protein source in extruded feline diets
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2022
The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of a Torula yeast on diet processing, palatability, and total tract nutrient digestibility in extruded feline diets. Four dietary treatments were compared, differing by protein source: Torula yeast (TY), pea protein concentrate (PP), soybean meal (SM), and chicken meal (CM). Diets were produced using a single-screw extruder under similar processing conditions. Palatability assessment was conducted as a split plate design where both first choice and intake ratio (IR) were determined. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients was estimated using Titanium dioxide as an indigestible marker. During diet production, specific mechanical energy (SME) of TY and SM (average of 187 kJ/kg) was greater (P<0.05) than for PP (138 kJ/kg); however, CM was similar to all treatments (167 kJ/kg). Kibble diameter, piece volume, and sectional expansion ratio were greatest for TY (P<0.05). Additionally, both bulk and piece density were lowest (P<0.05) for TY. Kibble hardness was lower for TY and SM (P<0.05; average of 2.10 Newtons) compared to CM and PP (average of 2.90 Newtons). During the palatability trial, TY was chosen first a greater number of times than CM (P<0.05; 36 vs 4, respectively), but differences were not found between TY and PP (25 vs 15, respectively) or TY and SM (24 vs 16, respectively). Cats had a greater IR (P<0.05) of TY compared to CM and PP (0.88 and 0.73, respectively). However, there was no difference in preference between TY and SM. ATTD of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) was greater (P<0.05) for CM (87.43 and 91.34%, respectively) than other treatments. Both DM and OM ATTD of TY were similar (P<0.05) to PP and SM (average of 86.20 and average of 89.76%, respectively). Ash ATTD was greater (P<0.05) for cats fed TY and SM (average of 37.42%), intermediate for PP (32.79%), and lowest for CM (23.97%). Crude protein (CP) ATTD of TY was similar to all other treatments (average of 89.97%), but fat ATTD was lower (P<0.05; 92.52%) than other treatments (93.76 to 94.82%). Gross energy (GE) ATTD was greater (P<0.05) for CM than TY (90.97 vs 90.18%, respectively); however, TY was similar to PP and SM (average of 90.22%). Total dietary fiber (TDF) ATTD was similar between TY and CM (average of 66.20%) and greater (P<0.05) than PP and SM (average of 58.70%). The Torula yeast used in this study facilitated diet formation, increased diet preference, and was highly digestible when fed to cats.
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Acidifying and yeast extract in diets for adults cats
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2014
This study evaluated the effects of adding an acidifying agent based on phosphoric acid (A), a yeast extract from a specific strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (Y) and the combination of these two additives in food for adult cats. A test was conducted with 24 animals (mean 3.5 years old), mixed breed, weighing 3.72 ± 0.74 kg, kept in individual metabolic cages and distributed in a completely randomized design with a 2 × 2 factorial design (with or without A 0.6% of dry matter, with or without Y 1.5% of dry matter) totalling four treatments and six replicates of each condition. The experimental period was 15 days. The A or the Y reduced (P < 0.01) the dry matter intake, but the effect was not observed when they were associated. The association improved (P < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter and ashes. The A reduced urine pH (P = 0.05) regardless of the presence of the Y. There was no effect (P > 0.09) on other parameters evaluated. Results of this study show that the isolated use of 0.6% A or 1.5% Y in diets for cats is not recommended. However, the association of these two additives was beneficial in increasing nutrient digestibility.
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Nutritional Peculiarities and Diet Palatability in the Cat
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2005
  • VET RES COMMUN
Cats have become the most popular companion animal in Western Europe. Unlike other domestic animals, cats are strict carnivores and this influences both their nutritional requirements and food preferences. Cats have very high protein requirements and their diet must contain some nutrients, such as arginine, taurine, niacin, vitamin A and arachidonic acid. Besides its nutritional value, a diet for cats must also be highly palatable. This paper offers a quick overview of feline nutritional peculiarities and the factors that influence food palatability in cats.
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Nutrition of the Domestic Cat, a Mammalian Carnivore
Article
  • Feb 1984
From the foregoing discussion of the nutritional requirements and some of the metabolic anomalies of the cat, it is clear that the cat is adapted to eating a carnivorous diet. It may, however, have less capability than omnivores and herbivores to adapt to wide ranges in dietary composition. For example, the lack of ability to synthesize sufficient vitamin A from carotene, ornithine from glutamic acid, arachidonate from linoleate, and taurine from cysteine results from a complete deletion or severe limitation of the enzyme or pathway that makes each nutrient. Other nutrient requirements, such as the absolute requirement for niacin and the high protein requirement, appear to result from the high activity of one or more enzymes and the fact that these enzymes are not adaptive in the cat. For example, the cat cannot decrease picolinic carboxylase in order to force tryptophan toward the niacin-synthetic pathway (244) nor can it decrease the urea cycle enzymes when dietary protein is decreased in the diet in order to conserve nitrogen (209). Indeed, the cat appears to have less capability to adapt to most changes in dietary composition because it cannot change the quantities of enzymes involved in the metabolic pathways (209). This evolutionary development has resulted in more stringent nutritional requirements for cats than for omnivores such as the rat, dog, and man. What little evidence exists for other carnivore species leads us to suggest that this pattern may well be common among other strict carnivores. The metabolic differences between the cat and omnivores provide the researcher with a useful animal model for studying the biochemical basis of some nutrient requirements. For example, because there is no significant conversion of linoleate to arachidonate in cat liver (101, 150, 231), the physiological functions of linoleate can be determined independent of it having a role as a precursor of arachidonate (150). This has not been possible with other species. It is anticipated that further studies of the nutrition of the cat will increase our understanding of metabolic adaptation and nutrient functions.
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Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore
Article
  • Aug 1996
  • Comp Biochem Physiol Physiol
The domestic cat Felis silvestris catus is the most accessible member of the family Felidae for the study of the relationship between food selection and nutrition. In contrast to pack-living animals such as the dog, and opportunistic omnivores such as the rat, the cat is generally able to maintain its normal body weight even when allowed ad libitum access to palatable food by taking small meals and adjusting intake according to the energy density of the food(s) available. The most extreme adaptations to carnivory discovered to date lie in the taste buds of the facial nerve, which are highly responsive to amino acids and unresponsive to many mono- and disaccharides. Preferences for particular foods can be modified by their relative abundance, their novelty, and by aversive consequences such as emesis: the mechanisms whereby these are brought about appear to be similar to those used by omnivorous mammals.
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The Evolutionary Basis for the Feeding Behavior of Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Cats (Felis catus)3
Article
  • Aug 2006
The dentition, sense of taste and meal patterning of domestic dogs and cats can be interpreted in terms of their descent from members of the order Carnivora. The dog is typical of its genus, Canis, in its relatively unspecialized dentition, and a taste system that is rather insensitive to salt. The preference of many dogs for large infrequent meals reflects the competitive feeding behavior of its pack-hunting ancestor, the wolf Canis lupus. However, its long history of domestication, possibly 100,000 years, has resulted in great intraspecific diversity of conformation and behavior, including feeding. Morphologically and physiologically domestic cats are highly specialized carnivores, as indicated by their dentition, nutritional requirements, and sense of taste, which is insensitive to both salt and sugars. Their preference for several small meals each day reflects a daily pattern of multiple kills of small prey items in their ancestor, the solitary territorial predator Felis silvestris. Although in the wild much of their food selection behavior must focus on what to hunt, rather than what to eat, cats do modify their food preferences based on experience. For example, the "monotony effect" reduces the perceived palatability of foods that have recently formed a large proportion of the diet, in favor of foods with contrasting sensory characteristics, thereby tending to compensate for any incipient nutritional deficiencies. Food preferences in kittens during weaning are strongly influenced by those of their mother, but can change considerably during at least the first year of life.
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Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Available from
  • Mar 1996
  • 205-209
  • J W S Bradshaw
BRADSHAW, J.W.S. et al. Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, v.114, n.3, p.205-209, 1996. Available from: <http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pubmed>. Accessed: Mar. 11, 2015.
Cats' preference for pyrophosphates and search for a feline taste receptor using molecular biology
  • Jan 2012
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BRAND, J.; BRYANT, B. Cats' preference for pyrophosphates and search for a feline taste receptor using molecular biology. Philadelphia, USA: Monell Chemical Senses Center, 2012. 6p. (Scientific Release).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL(NRC). Nutrient requirements of dogs and cats
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  • M L Macdonald
MACDONALD, M.L. Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore. Annual Review of Nutrition, v.4, p.521-562, 1984. Available from: <http://www.annualreviews.org>. Accessed: Mar. 20, 2015. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nu.04.070184.002513. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL(NRC). Nutrient requirements of dogs and cats. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2006. 398p.
Yeast extract fed to dogs: digestibility and palatability
  • Jan 2007
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TESHIMA, E. et al. Yeast extract fed to dogs: digestibility and palatability. In: ANNUAL MEETING OF BRAZILIAN ANIMAL SCIENCE SOCIETY, 44., 2007, Jaboticabal, SP. Proceedings… Jaboticabal: SBZ, 2007.p.3-5.
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