Bartoshuk L M, Harned M A, Parks L H
Science. 1971 Feb 19;171(3972):699-701. doi: 10.1126/science.171.3972.699.
Electrophysiological recordings show that water is not tasteless to cats. Also, unlike most mammals, cats appear indifferent to sucrose, but this may be because the taste of the sucrose is masked by the taste of the water in which it is dissolved. When the water taste is suppressed by the addition of small amounts of sodium chloride, cats take sucrose avidly.
