Clearly there should be more about your furry companion than meets the eye. They may look funny and cute, but it turns out that they’re real lions by heart. A study shows that cats share 95% of their DNA with lions, snow leopards, and tigers. Some of their odd behavior was inherited from their jungle-dwelling feline ancestors. Layla Morgan Wilde, a cat behavior expert, claims that these behaviors include prey play, prey stalking, chinning, pouncing, scratching, and urine marking. Hence, your new couch shredded to pieces the other day. Blood’s to blame!
Can you imagine not being able to taste that melting bite of a chocolate chip cookie? Well, your cat doesn't need to imagine. Apparently, cats don’t have the genes responsible for sensing sweetness. Researchers discovered that one of the two genes responsible for the sweet sensation, “Tas1r2,” was missing 247 nucleotides (remember, those A, C, G, T letters you learned about way back in biology class!). As a result, cats can’t produce a protein that would allow them to taste the heavenly delights. The next time you’re putting caramel fudge in front of your Mr. Whiskers’s nose, don’t be surprised by his ‘couldn’t care less’ face.
