[laughs]

Well, I, I, I might, um...

Pauline, could you, could you talk a little bit about, because there's quite a bit of, um, research where people...

Well, not quite a bit.

There's never quite a bit in cat.

Um, there's a bit of research in cat comparing different kinds of, uh, water vessels for drinking.

So do you wanna talk a little bit about, um, really Preferences for different water and what the history of the cat might have done to bring them to that preference as well.

Mm-hmm

If I could stand on the surface of a cat's tongue, what would it look like?

So i- it does kind of look like a brush, but they have these projections like a brush tooth.

Uh, but that projection is a thicker on the bottom, and then it comes to a point near the top.

So it's more like a cone.

And so when a cat ... cleans its, uh, coat, what happens with each one of those cones is that they get hair in between those cones and those cones wrap around that hair.

And they also help to deposit saliva, um, as they're going through that hair and grooming.

Um, so they p- uh, they pose a really good purpose for grooming, but they can also adhere certain liquids to them as well.

So how do you think these different tongue strategies between dogs and cats came about?

I mean, that that's just it from a physiological standpoint, how would we go about looking at some of those equations or should we start looking at some of those equations and calculations differently?

Yeah, I think you and I were talking earlier, Eric, about the need to do, whether that's scoping reviews or meta-analyses, if there's enough data.

I think that probably where academics can spend some time, because it is a bit laborious, and it is to do a meta-analysis as an example.

Even a scoping review is quite labor-intensive, a very, very focused work.

And I think that the data to argue that the modified water is inappropriate for the diets on the market today, and I think really in the case of the fact that part of our largest growing market is fresh, minimally processed diets, This one equation does not meet our needs.

Now, we don't have a lot of data on the energetics of raw and freshly cooked as an example.

But if we were to revisit whether it should be modified at water or something else, there is enough data available.

So I didn't know if you wanted to give a synopsis of what you've been doing and how that would apply.

If I could stand on the surface of a cat's tongue, what would it look like?

So it, it does kind of look like a brush, but they have these projections like a brush tooth.

Uh, but that projection is, uh, thicker on the bottom, and then it comes to a point near the top, so it's more like a cone.

And so when a cat cleans its, uh, coat, what happens with each one of those cones is that they get hair in between those cones, and those cones- ... wrap around that hair, and they also help to deposit saliva, um, as they're going through that hair and grooming.

Um, so they p- uh, they pose a really good purpose for grooming, but they can also adhere certain liquids to them as well.

And so there is a role for each one of those little cones to also adhere water and help them lift water into their mouths as well.

Whereas dogs, they have a smooth tongue, and they get water in their mouth by making an upside-down ladle and then, in a essence, tossing the water into their mouth.

So how do you think these different tongue strategies between dogs and cats came about?

I love it.

Yeah, I think it may require a lot of thought.

Maybe to start would be where most people come at it today, because the nuance that you had, Dennis, I think is really the dog or cat that that final diet gets applied to.

And I think what's also important to say, it's not just the diet, it's how much of the diet that you feed, when you choose to feed the diet during the day and how many times you choose to feed the diet during the day that makes differences as well as your other things that you do with your animals.

So, For example, while I can see a benefit for higher protein diets, I would never tell someone to use a high protein diet if their dog or cat had very low activity.

It cannot make muscle without exercise.

So you're not going to actually be able to use that protein.

What do you think, Dr. Scheffler?