If you have a cat, you may be curious about whether they like the same foods that you do. Cats indeed eat meat, but many people also eat meat products. Adding different spices to meat before eating it is something we do all the time.
But have you ever thought about whether your cat can taste hot foods like jalapeños or wasabi? Can your cat taste the spices that are in every bite? What’s more, can cats eat spicy food?
The short answer is that cats can taste spicy food, but they probably wouldn’t like it or gain much (if at all) from being fed spicy food. Read on to find out more.
Can Cats Taste Spicy Food?
Cats can taste hot food, yes. Though cats are thought to have around 470 taste buds, they don’t have a very large number of taste bud receptors. As a reference, a dog’s taste buds have about 1,700 receptors on average. A cow’s taste buds have an amazing 20,000 taste receptors.
Cats do have a sense of taste, even though they don’t have many taste buds. Taste works when certain foods bind to certain receptors on the taste buds. The brain then interprets this as a certain taste or feeling.
Taste buds are designed to detect five basic tastes:
- Salty
- Sweet
- Sour
- Bitter
- Umami
Because cats don’t have sweet taste buds, they don’t seem to have a desire for sweet compounds. A new study shows that the gene that lets cats taste sweetness was removed from their taste buds during evolution. This may be because cats are carnivores and don’t need to taste sweetness.
Being spicy isn’t a basic taste; it takes more than one sensor working together to make it happen. The TRPV1 receptor is the exact part of taste buds that picks up on spiciness and the heat that comes from hot foods. This receptor is found in cats. That’s why cats can taste spicy things.
Why Are Certain Foods Spicy?
Capsaicin is the chemical that gives hot foods their heat. Capsaicin was created by chili peppers to help them reproduce. It hurts the pain sensors of all animals that eat it except birds. Most animals stay away from it because of this, but flying animals can spread the chili pepper’s seeds all over the world.
For this reason, your cat can both taste and feel the heat when it eats something hot. Capsaicin turns on the same receptors in their taste buds that it does in yours.
You can tell right away if your cat doesn’t like the taste of something they’ve eaten, even if it is spicy. You can see these signs after your cat has eaten something.
Signs Your Cat Didn’t Enjoy Their Food
- Nose licking
- Moving their tail side to side (to the right and left)
- Compulsively grooming themselves
Are Spicy Foods Bad for Your Cat?
Even though cats can eat hot food, that doesn’t mean they should. In general, you shouldn’t give your cat hot food. While some spicy foods aren’t harmful to cats, most of them aren’t either because cats haven’t developed to eat them and aren’t used to them. If your cat eats spices out of the blue, it could have several bad effects.
Risks Associated With Spicy Foods
- Your cat may stop eating earlier than expected and not meet their nutritional needs.
- Your cat may associate their food bowl with a negative experience and might not be appreciative of future feedings.
- Spicy foods can irritate your cat’s digestive system and lead to episodes of diarrhea, vomiting, or litter box accidents and mishaps.s
- The stress associated with the episode may lead to other health issues in some cats.s
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Additionally, even if your cat did eat a spice that isn’t harmful, it wouldn’t be good for them nutritionally. Since cats have to eat meat, spices don’t provide them with much or any useful protein. Also, cats shouldn’t eat some herbs that are used as spices.
Herbs Used As Or With Spices That Are Toxic For Cats
- Onions
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Shallots
- Any other plant in the Allium genus of plants
- Nutmeg
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We recommend that you take your cat to the vet right away if it has eaten any of these spices or if it seems to be acting strange after eating hot foods.
It’s safe to think that spices are bad for your cat since they are thought to irritate their digestive system, not be good for them nutritionally, and even sometimes be harmful.
If you’re not sure what to feed your cat, you should ask your doctor.
Why Does My Cat Seem to Love Spicy Food?
Even though it’s not good for them, some cats seem to enjoy hot food. Cats have a different idea of what food means than people do. At the moment, the most popular idea is that cats are drawn to hot foods because they smell strong.
This idea makes a lot of sense because cats use their sense of smell to make up for the fact that they don’t have taste buds. If they can smell something appealing, they’re more likely to be interested in what it tastes like.
What’s the Verdict?
Even though your cat can taste spicy food, you shouldn’t give them your dinner. Cats can taste the spice, but I don’t think they would like it. Some spices are poisonous to cats, and spicy foods can also make your cat’s stomach hurt.
Instead of giving your cat spicy foods, it’s better to feed them a diet right for their species or a full and baleful and balanced pet food sure what to feed your cat, you should always ask your vet so you can be sure.
