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.

55 points
*

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.

permalink
report
reply
77 points

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

permalink
report
parent
reply
25 points

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

permalink
report
parent
reply
-18 points
*

You got a dumbass dog then, our adopted stray dog won’t even shit anywhere near our apartment, let alone try eating it…

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points

I’ve licked some good balls before tbh

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Thanks 👍

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

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

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

If you could reach yours, you would too

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

He’s just asking for a favor bro

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

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
permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

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

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

That’s why hospital food seemed so next level bland, everything smelled like “clean.”

permalink
report
parent
reply
-4 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

sugar is a “raw chemical” 🤓

permalink
report
parent
reply
-7 points

Go eat a dog biscuit. Some of them taste worse than cardboard soaked in ammonia.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
-2 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

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?

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
*

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
31 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
4 points

How do you know that the only reason you don’t like cat shit is because you have a cultural revulsion to it?

My wife fucking loves coagulated blood. Like just big old chunks of blood which was packed into casings and boiled until it became a massive chunk of scab. Meanwhile I legit cannot be in the same room with it. As far as I’m concerned it might as well be cat shit

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

I recall seeing in a special card at a Chinese restaurant “Pigs Blood with Mixed Vegetable”. Sounds awful to me but some people must like it.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

black pudding? white pudding?

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

I’d say I love spinach just as much as sugar and processed food chomps on corncob pipe

permalink
report
parent
reply
-3 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
-5 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

lmao nobody feeds their dog cat shit. but they try to eat it anyway because they are dogs and they’ll eat a dirty diaper if you don’t throw it away out of reach. smh

permalink
report
parent
reply
-7 points

Man y’all got some dumb dogs out there apparently.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
16 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
14 points

His real science project: How many classmates can he get to eat cat food.

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points

The result: more than you’d expect.

permalink
report
parent
reply
-1 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
0 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
14 points
*

Yep. I’ve tasted kibbles and baked treats / cookies. They’re generally not great, but the ones that taste ok are also my dogs favorites. Usually just like a sugar free human snack.

I do a lot of dried sardines as snacks and a couple Chinese coworkers tried them, they said they taste just like their version but without the salt and spices.

I feed my pets raw, so haven’t tried those. They seem to love it though.

permalink
report
reply
-1 points

Cool cool 👍

Someone donated some dog biscuit treats for our recently adopted dog Brownie, but he wouldn’t eat them. I tried a bite, but it didn’t taste anything like nutrition, it just seriously tasted like a chemistry lab… ☹️

He likes soft Chicken Gravy Train though.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

it just seriously tasted like a chemistry lab…

Have you ever tried your pet’s food?

Have you ever tried your son’s chemistry lab?

permalink
report
parent
reply
0 points

I was the son, and yes I tasted half the chemicals. Lucky I’m still alive.

permalink
report
parent
reply
12 points

Milkbones taste like an unsalted pretzel. I was a bit stoned and teasing my dog.

permalink
report
reply

Ask Lemmy

!asklemmy@lemmy.world

Create post

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don’t post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for ‘how do I?’, type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


Community stats

  • 9.9K

    Monthly active users

  • 4.5K

    Posts

  • 237K

    Comments