{"id":2099,"date":"2009-10-31T09:14:41","date_gmt":"2009-10-31T13:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:45:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:45:38","slug":"a-black-cat-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099","title":{"rendered":"A Black Cat Halloween"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_SabinaMarie\"<\/a>I\u2019m going to say this as bluntly as possible:\u00a0 Halloween sucks if you\u2019re a diabetic.\u00a0 I know some of you will argue with me that there are many candy-free ways to enjoy the holiday (costumes, pumpkins, haunted houses, etc), but the truth is that the only thing I\u2019ve ever liked about Halloween is the candy.\u00a0 I spent some time thinking about how I can celebrate Halloween if I can\u2019t eat M&Ms, and realized the answer has been right beside me all along, something ghoulish, but good–\u00a0 I’ll hang out with my black cat.<\/p>\n

This is my beloved 12-year-old cat, Sabina Marie, also known as The Dodah.\u00a0 She has oily fur, one fang that hangs out a little too far out of her mouth, she suckles plastic bags, likes to sit on freshly worn shoes, and has more than the occasional hairball.\u00a0 What I\u2019m trying to say is- she\u2019s gross, really gross, but I love her and I let her share my pillow (which I guess in turn makes me gross).<\/p>\n

I have always had cats as pets, and I\u2019ve always deeply admired them.\u00a0 In fact, I can even say that on many occasions I\u2019ve wished I were a cat.\u00a0 \u00a0A few weeks ago I came across an article<\/a> in Scientific American<\/em> and learned a fascinating cat fact I hadn\u2019t known before:\u00a0 cats, unlike every other mammal examined to date, lack the ability to taste sweet.\u00a0 Here’s an excerpt from Scientific American<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tongues of most mammals hold taste receptors\u2014proteins on the cellular surface that bind to an incoming substance, activating the cell’s internal workings that lead to a signal being sent to the brain. Humans enjoy five kinds of taste buds (possibly six): sour, bitter, salty, umami (or meatiness) and sweet (as well as possibly fat). The sweet receptor is actually made up of two coupled proteins generated by two separate genes: known as Tas1r2<\/em> and Tas1r3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When working properly, the two genes form the coupled protein and when something sweet enters the mouth the news is rushed to the brain, primarily because sweetness is a sign of rich carbohydrates\u2014an important food source for plant-eaters and the nondiscriminating, like humans. But cats are from the noble lineage Carnivora and, unlike some of its lesser members, such as omnivorous bears or, even more appalling, herbivorous pandas, they exclusively eat meat.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not ready to turn into a carnivore, but I will hang out with one this Halloween.\u00a0 I’m even considering dressing up as The Dodah tonight.\u00a0 Perhaps if I do, I won\u2019t crave any candy.\u00a0 How great it would be to not even know what I\u2019m missing\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[267,226],"yoast_head":"\nCats Can't Taste Sweet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099\",\"name\":\"Cats Can't Taste Sweet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-31T13:14:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:45:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=2099#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Black Cat Halloween\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. 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