Choosing the right cat food for your special pet's specific needs is one of the best ways to influence your cat’s future health and happiness. Work with your veterinarian to validate your choices to ensure your cat will receive the correct balance of nutrition. When it comes to feeding, you also might be interested in learning a little about how nature has equipped your cat for eating. Take this short quiz to discover some fun facts.
QUESTION 1: Cats love a tasty dish. Does that mean they have a lot of taste buds? Guess how many.
ANSWER 1: Cats have only 473 taste buds, mainly because useful barbs in the middle of their tongues contain no taste buds.
QUESTION 2: Taste is the most important sense when it comes to your cat's dining pleasure. What's a close second?
ANSWER 2: Smell. Cats rely heavily on their sense of smell to help determine what's edible. In fact, a unique set of organs called Jacobson's organs, or the vomeronasal organs, , lets your cat "taste" air drawn into the mouth.
Tasty Tips
QUESTION 3: True or false? Cats are known for their good sense of taste, but some taste sensations are stronger than others. Your cat's tongue is probably least sensitive to sweetness.
ANSWER 3: True. Very few taste receptors on a cat's tongue are sensitive to sweet tastes.
QUESTION 4: Cats won't eat just anything. In fact, many reject food of a particular temperature range. Cold, room temperature or warm — which is it?
ANSWER 4: Cats do not like cold food. Room temperature or warm food is generally more appealing, probably because it echoes instincts for eating fresh prey in the wild.
QUESTION 5: More teeth does not necessarily mean better chewing. Which one of the following has the least teeth: person, cat, crocodile or dog?
ANSWER 5: Cat. The average cat has 30 teeth, specially designed for ripping and cutting. What goes into your cat's mouth doesn't stand much of a chance.
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