Abstract
ABSTRACT The taste of food is an essential characteristic for cats and has been shown to affect food selection. However, understanding of food selection by cats using taste characteristics is far from complete. Therefore, the aim of the present review was to summarize the current knowledge on food preference and the role of taste on this selection in domestic cats. Appetite regulation is one of the determinants of palatability in cats and involves a highly complex interplay between hypothalamus, adipose tissue, and digestive tract. However, knowledge on this interplay is scarce in cats. When evaluating different foods for cats, behavioural responses such as facial expressions involving the movements and positions of ears, tongue, and head can provide increased insight into the effectiveness of formulating a more palatable diet. This paper also reviews food additives currently used in industry for enhancing the palatability of cat foods. In summary, a better understanding of the factors that affect the food preference in cats is essential to produce high-quality foods because cats will not eat a food with a flavour they dislike even though it is complete and nutritionally balanced.
Highlights
There are two hypotheses about the origin of the domestic cats
This review summarized the current knowledge and developments on the understanding of taste preferences, palatability, and factors affecting cats’ reactions when selecting and consuming diets
Studies on leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and cholecystokinin and how they regulate appetite are necessary for understanding the feline food intake and this might be important in everyday regulation of food palatability in cats
Summary
There are two hypotheses about the origin of the domestic cats. The first one presumes that domestic cats originates from Felis silvestris lybica (the African wildcat) and the second hypothesis claims that they should be considered to be the subspecies of Felis silvestris catus which is assumed to have originated from wild cats living in the Middle East (Clutton-Brock 1999; Randi and Ragni 1991). Cats lack the enzyme called ‘β-carotene 15,15 – dioxygenase’ and they cannot convert beta carotene to vitamin A and need to get vitamin A directly from the food of animal sources (Schweigert et al 2002). An amino acid, is essential for cats and they need to get it through dietary animal sources (Knopf et al 1978). Arachidonic acid, a fatty acid, is an essential nutrient for cats since they lack the enzyme necessary to convert linoleic acid to arachidonic acid and their diet should contain sufficient amounts of arachidonic acid (Sinclair et al 1979). Diet palatability, which can be increased by using dietary additives such as flavours or natural ingredients, should be high enough to prevent any potential food consumption problems in cats
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