Flavor

 Fatigue  in  Cats:  a  Long  Term  Study  

Research on human eating behavior has shown that eating one food – even a favorite
food - over and over tends to reduce a person’s preference for that food. This
phenomenon, termed “sensory specific satiety”, has been demonstrated in a variety of
omnivorous species, including rodents and non-human primates, but was not
observed in an insectivore, the musk shrew. Similar research is limited for companion
animals, though there is belief that alternating flavors maintains palatability and
prevents flavor fatigue. As an obligate carnivore, the response to a repetitive diet may
differ in the feline, though one study of kittens suggested that short term flavor
fatigue triggered a shift in preference to an initially less-preferred flavor. As part of
our ongoing work to uncover the mysteries behind feline feeding preferences, AFB set
out to learn if long term flavor fatigue occurs in cats.
 
Methodology
Eighteen group-housed cats were fed two diets using automated feeding stations over
a period of 108 days. Data were collected regarding each animal’s health and feeding
behavior throughout the study period. The two diets differed only in topical flavor and
were selected such that Diet A was significantly preferred initially, in order to test the
hypothesis that fatigue with the initially-preferred flavor would result in a shift to
Diet B.

Results
If flavor fatigue were to occur, the expectation based on literature is that there would
be a shift back and forth between the most-consumed and least-consumed diets, and
that over time there would be a regression to parity or preferred choice (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Intake Ratio
Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in overall preference between the
initial and final weeks of the study. There were minor fluctuations in intake ratio (IR),
but IR never dropped at or below parity. Preference for Diet A actually tended to
increase over time, and variability tended to decrease (Figure 2).
 
Figure 2 – Intake Ratio shows some fluctuations but never approaches or drops below
parity (dotted line), and tends to increase across the 3.5 month study. Line shows
smoothed average.

Intake  Ra+o  
1  
0.9  
0.8  
0.7  
0.6  
0.5  
0.4  
0.3  
0.2  
0.1  
0  
1   6   11   16   21   26   31   36   41   46   51   56   61   66   71   76   81   86   91   96   101   106  
Day  

In contrast, analysis of individual cat data revealed that for a majority of the cats,
preference became even more pronounced in favor of Diet A across the study period.
Analysis of intake patterns across days revealed fluctuations that may reflect transient
episodes of flavor fatigue, although only one cat actually shifted preference to the
initially less-preferred flavor toward the end of the study.

While preference for Diet A remained, the average intake per cat per day declined
across the study such that intake was significantly lower during the final 20 days of
the study than during the initial 20 days (50.8 vs. 56.2 g/cat/day, respectively, p <
0.05). Consistent with this decline in intake, body weight decreased by approximately
0.48 lbs. Both intake and body weight returned to pre-study levels within six months
of returning the cats to their usual palatability testing feeding practices.
Conclusions
The patterns revealed in this study suggest that:
• flavor fatigue does occur, but the effect is modest,
• preference does not deteriorate over time, and
• total intake tends to decline over time.

Furthermore, the data also suggest that cats may be categorized according to their
consistency and response to a repetitive diet. Such categorization will improve the
reliability of palatability tests by considering the variations among animals, diets, and
testing protocols.

Authors: Nancy Rawson, PhD, Amy McCarthy, PhD, and Marlena Jones

For more information about how flavor fatigue in cats might affect your brands, contact your
account manager or an AFB International office listed below.
 
North America 1 800 218 5607 Europe 31 73 532 5777
northamerica@afbinternational.com europe@afbinternational.nl

Latin America 54 2304 480747 Asia Pacific 61 398 799093

latinoamerica@afbinternational.com.br khall@afbinternational.com

Australia / New Zealand 61 359 711 105

jseletto@inghams.com.au