# Spicy food + cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404 "2007-02-23T17:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/1 "2007-02-23T17:28:54Z")
I just ate some Thai curry on my couch and then set the plate on the coffee table for a few minutes before taking it in to the kitchen. It isn’t _hot hot hot_, but it had a decent kick to it. When I went to put the plate away, I noticed that a patch of the plate had been licked clean. I have two cats. I don’t know which one did it. Neither are acting funny. Do cats’ mouths/tongues have the same -insert correct anatomical term here- to experience spicy food the way we do? I’m not really worried, as I don’t think the cat will get sick or anything… even if it could make them sick, since they didn’t actually ingest very much of it (though it was more than I’d expect if it had instantly registered as unpleasant… the cat obviously sat there for a minute, continuing to lick) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/2 "2007-02-23T17:46:53Z")
In my experience cats and dogs don’t register spicy. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/3 "2007-02-23T19:15:32Z")
I fed a piece of szechuan pepper to my roommate’s cat in college. He promptly spit it out, ran to the top of the stairs, and meowed angrily at me for several minutes. He refused all future offers of hot peppers, although he ate pretty much anything else. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/4 "2007-02-23T20:13:59Z")
My cat doesn’t like peppers either, but spicy meat or fish… ---
**Author:** ![Spiral\_Stairs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Spiral\_Stairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiral_Stairs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/5 "2007-02-23T21:12:47Z")
My dog certainly registers spicy. While he usually enjoys licking bowls after I’ve eaten out of them, he wants nothing to do with the bowl if there is any hot sauce residue on it. When he gets a taste of it, he starts licking his lips furiously and won’t touch the bowl again. It’s kind of funny, actually. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/6 "2007-02-23T21:22:30Z")
I’m pretty sure my little cat can taste spicy foods. Just last week, my cat licked up a small amount of fairly spicy queso (cheese dip) that had fallen. He kept licking and relicking the edges of his mouth in what I assume was an attempt to make the spicy feeling go away. He didn’t freak out or anything but he seemed uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/7 "2007-02-23T23:38:52Z")
When I had cats I used to share spicy Chinese food with them. They seemed to love the food and never refused it. However, later on you could hear them yodelling from the litterbox. They were never able to make teh connection. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/8 "2007-02-24T00:12:31Z")
[QUOTE=The Librarian] In my experience cats and dogs don’t register spicy. [/QUOTE] When I was a kid, we once gave an Atomic Fireball (spicy hot gobstopper, basically) to my golden retreiver. She happily picked it up with her mouth, then dropped the drooly thing. Then she’d pick it up, and droolily spit it out. Lather, rinse repeat until finally it must not have been spicy anymore and she crunched the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/9 "2007-02-24T00:31:01Z")
Years ago, my brother ( **Fish** on these boards) mismeasured the amount of black pepper that was to go into the meatballs he was making for family dinner. I don’t remember what the quantity was supposed to be or what the substitution was. Point is, whatever it was, it was a lot more, and I mean a _lot_ more, and the finished meatballs were way too hot to eat. One of them ended up in the cat’s dish. The cat gobbled it up, and spent the next hour licking, licking, licking… not its lips, exactly, so much as pushing its tongue out and scraping it across its front teeth, trying to rub off the spicy. No long term health effects, but a funny family story. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/10 "2007-02-24T00:37:53Z")
I once ate a burrito, smothered with some pretty hot salsa, while watching TV. After finishing the burrito I set the plate on the floor, intending to take it to the kitchen during the next commercial break. My cat trotted over and licked the plate clean of the considerable amount of salsa still on it. No complaints from the cat! Then again, this cat’s name was Mayhem, a name he earned, so he was pretty tough 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/11 "2007-02-24T00:43:04Z")
I once gave my cat a little piece of a sandwich, that had some mustard on it. After one taste, she started hissing and growling at it, and batted at it a few times, but in a way that made it clear she was afraid of it, not being tough. We never figured out if it was spicy, or she just didn’t like the taste, or what. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/12 "2007-02-24T03:27:11Z")
Peppers evolved seeds that taste spicy to mammals, but not birds. This is because mammalian digestion doesn’t help the plant propagate, whereas the seeds go through the birds intact. The entire point of spice is a signal from the plant saying: no mammal, don’t eat me–i’m for birds only. Human taste for spice is a recent occurrence. So yes, cats and dogs definitely can taste spicy. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/13 "2007-02-24T04:06:27Z")
[QUOTE=Opus1] So yes, cats and dogs definitely can taste spicy. [/QUOTE] I used jalapeno pepper juice and hot sauce to train my puppy not to chew on things. The first time she tasted it, her eyes went wide, and she started lapping her tongue, then scraped at her snout with her paws. After that, I think she got to recognizing the smell of it because she wouldn’t even try to chew something which had the hot stuff on it. (Now, if I could only figure out how to soak my socks in it . . .) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/14 "2007-02-24T04:48:40Z")
[QUOTE=Opus1] Human taste for spice is a recent occurrence. So yes, cats and dogs definitely can taste spicy. [/QUOTE] I don’t remember where I heard it but … “He was a brave man who was first to eat a hot pepper. Even braver the second man!” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/15 "2007-02-24T05:04:48Z")
[QUOTE=Opus1] Peppers evolved seeds that taste spicy to mammals, but not birds. This is because mammalian digestion doesn’t help the plant propagate, whereas the seeds go through the birds intact. The entire point of spice is a signal from the plant saying: no mammal, don’t eat me–i’m for birds only. Human taste for spice is a recent occurrence. So yes, cats and dogs definitely can taste spicy. [/QUOTE] Wow, that’s really interesting. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/16 "2007-02-24T07:02:46Z")
My rule of thumb is “If it gives them gas don’t give it to them again.” ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/17 "2007-02-24T07:07:24Z")
We had a German Shepherd (Thor) who used to steal clothes off of the line. Mum got a puppy training book that suggested stuffing tights full of chopped hot chillies, cayenne pepper etc. and hanging it off of the line. They said the dog would tear one down, get a spicy snootfull and learn to leave the washing alone. Thor used to tear the tights down and chew on them until they were a mass of drool. Also, my cat likes curries. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/18 "2007-02-24T14:20:59Z")
[QUOTE=Opus1] Peppers evolved seeds that taste spicy to mammals, but not birds. This is because mammalian digestion doesn’t help the plant propagate, whereas the seeds go through the birds intact. The entire point of spice is a signal from the plant saying: no mammal, don’t eat me–i’m for birds only. Human taste for spice is a recent occurrence. So yes, cats and dogs definitely can taste spicy. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > From Wikipedia > Capsaicin > Systematic name (E)-N- (4-hydroxy- 3-methoxybenzyl) - 8-methylnon-6-enamide Molecular formula C18H27NO3 SMILES CC(C)/C=C/CCCCC(NCC1=CC (OC)=C(O)C=C1)=O CAS number [404-86-4] Molecular mass 305.41 g/mol Melting point 62 - 65 °C The chemical compound capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is the **active component of chili peppers** , which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. **It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue it comes in contact with.** (bolding mine) And yet my cat ignores it, as does my friends dog (and my friend eats VERY hot). Now I am becoming quite curious. The posters in this thread seem to be in total disagreement. cats and dogs don’t register hot: **OpalCat** me **fluiddruid** (in the end the dog eats the ball) **adam yax** (the mouth don’t care) **Phase42** **Sierra Indigo** (dog) **Sierra Indigo** (cat) They DO register hot: **mrklutz** **Spiral Stairs** **tremorviolet** **Lissa** inconclusive: **Cervaise** (gobbled the food, but mouth is irritated) 11 posters 6 x don’t 4 x do 1 x ?? We need a bigger sample to make this conclusive 🙂 I am not accepting wikipedia as a bigger authority on cat behaviour than [this guy](http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2755/picture038cv8.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/19 "2007-02-24T15:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=The Librarian] The posters in this thread seem to be in total disagreement. [/QUOTE] Maybe some animals tastes are like humans’ in that respect: some of them\* like\* hot sauce. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404/20 "2007-02-24T17:21:10Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] My rule of thumb is “If it gives them gas don’t give it to them again.” [/QUOTE] So for our dog, that would include the category called “food” Man is he a farty dog. I’m kinda glad he lives with my ex-husband now 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-food-cats/393404.md?page=2)