>I can see from my own experience evidence that my pets can and do enjoy the
>taste of foods, and that they crave some variety.
 
I couldn't agree more.  Our ferrets beg for raisins and Ferretbites even
though they have four food bowls in their cage.  They pace back and forth,
looking at us eagerly.  Pro-Plan Turkey Barley has to be kept in a bigger
bowl and refilled more often because it disappears much faster than the
Totally Ferret, Science Diet, or 8-in-1.  Ben and Jerry discovered Pro-Plan
Turkey Barley when they were four years old and it quickly became their
favorite food.
 
I don't want to take up 5 pages of the FML to argue that dogs eat for
enjoyment, not just mere necessity, but I easily could.  I'll just offer two
examples.  Whenever the ferret cage is left open by accident, Lupi squeezes
as much of his 43 pounds as he possibly can through the door and gobbles up
all the ferret and cat food in sight, even though he is fed high quality dog
food twice a day.  When we visit relatives for Christmas, he ignores a full
bowl of dog food and patrols the house in search of cat food, various
handouts, and even tasty morsels in the trash can.
 
Living with animals for most of my life has convinced me that animals, like
humans, eat for pleasure and have preferences that may or may not correspond
to nutritional requirements.
 
---Clare Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 1551]