Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Paris 13, 93430 VILLETANEUSE, France.
Chem Senses. 2010 Jan;35(1):41-5. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjp080. Epub 2009 Dec 4.
The ontogenesis of olfactogustatory preferences has been investigated in various mammals but surprisingly not in domestic cats Felis catus. In a first experiment, we examined how prenatal exposure (25 days prepartum) to a cheese flavor via the mother's diet can influence olfactory preferences of neonatal kittens. During 2-choice tests, 2-day-old kittens oriented first toward the cheese odor experienced in utero more frequently than toward a usual pet food odor. The choice of kittens born to mothers fed with a control diet did not differ from random. In the second experiment, we assessed the role of pre- and postnatal exposure (from 25th day before to 23rd day after birth) to cheese flavor on food preferences in weaned kittens. Forty-five-day-old cats exposed to cheese flavor during uterine and postnatal life via their mothers' diet ate higher amounts of chicken supplemented with cheese flavor than food supplemented with usual pet food flavor. On the other hand, the control group did not exhibit a preference for a specific food. Our results clearly demonstrated that pre- and postnatal olfactogustatory exposure via maternal ingestion influences later olfactory and food preferences of cats.
嗅觉味觉偏好的个体发生在各种哺乳动物中都有研究，但令人惊讶的是，家猫（Felis catus）却没有。在第一个实验中，我们研究了产前（产前 25 天）通过母亲饮食接触奶酪味道如何影响新生小猫的嗅觉偏好。在 2 选择测试中，2 天大的小猫首先更频繁地朝向子宫内经历的奶酪气味，而不是通常的宠物食品气味。出生于喂食对照饮食的母亲的小猫的选择与随机选择没有差异。在第二个实验中，我们评估了产前和产后（从出生前第 25 天到出生后第 23 天）暴露于奶酪味道对断奶小猫食物偏好的影响。通过母亲的饮食，在子宫内和产后生活中接触奶酪味道的 45 天大的猫比补充常用宠物食品味道的食物更喜欢补充有奶酪味道的鸡肉。另一方面，对照组没有表现出对特定食物的偏好。我们的结果清楚地表明，通过母体摄入进行的产前和产后嗅觉味觉暴露会影响猫以后的嗅觉和食物偏好。
