A recent study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia concluded that felines aren't genetically equipped to taste sweet foods.
A recent study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia concluded that felines aren't genetically equipped to taste sweet foods. They lack sweet receptors, or cells that cluster together to be taste buds, because they're missing one of two proteins required to create them. This may be why they're stereotyped as being finicky eaters; nature has left them, well, bitter.