Garden Keeper’s Reminder: Mobile readers can click on the link next to the URL to open the reader for a better reading experience. The full article is approximately 1500 words and should take about 3 minutes to read. OPEN Article Table of Contents Foreword How to Determine if My Cat Lacks Taurine? How Much Taurine Should They Consume Daily? What Happens If They Consume Too Much Taurine? Are There Any Side Effects? Which Foods (Animals) Are Sources of Taurine? How to Choose Taurine? What Should Be Considered When Purchasing? How to Add Taurine to Home-Cooked Food for Better Absorption? Summary Foreword Around the 1980s, taurine was first recognized as a necessary component of cat diets. To date, the American Cat Food Organization has stipulated that cat food must contain taurine. In this article, the Garden Keeper will tell you about the methods of supplementing and purchasing taurine. If you are a cat parent looking to purchase taurine, believe that spending five minutes reading this article will be very rewarding! This article will tell you the following points: What is taurine? What are its effects on cats? How to determine if my cat lacks taurine? How much taurine should they consume daily? What happens if they consume too much? Are there any side effects? Which foods (animals) are sources of taurine? How to choose taurine? How to add taurine to home-cooked food for better absorption? —- Ready, the article is about to begin —- What is Taurine and What Are Its Effects on Cats? Taurine (Taurine) is an amino acid that is a necessary nutritional requirement for most mammals. Taurine is found in animal muscle. Most mammals, such as humans, dogs, etc., can manufacture taurine from other amino acids to meet body needs. However, cats have limited ability to manufacture taurine on their own and need additional supplementation, which will be explained in detail later in the article. A deficiency of taurine in the body can cause retinal cells to gradually degenerate, ultimately damaging vision and leading to blindness, i.e., Feline Central Retinal Degeneration (FCRD). The damage to vision is irreversible. Long-term taurine deficiency is a significant risk to cats’ health, as they cannot manufacture enough taurine on their own. According to a 2012 study by the European Food Safety Authority, taurine deficiency is directly related to feline dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a condition characterized by ventricular dilation and weakened heart contraction. After contracting the disease, supplementing with taurine, dilated cardiomyopathy is usually partially or completely reversible. In short, taurine can help cats: prevent retinal degeneration prevent heart muscle diseases Extended Reading: Comprehensive Analysis of Heartworm Prevention for Dogs and Cats! Essential Disease Knowledge for Pet Parents! ‘Cat and Dog Care’ How to Determine if My Cat Lacks Taurine? In the early stages of taurine deficiency, the development of clinical symptoms in cats is very slow, making it difficult to determine if taurine is lacking. Because of this, the American Feed Management Association (AAFCO) has stipulated that taurine is a necessary component of cat food, which can be obtained through daily diet to ensure stable taurine absorption in cats. The Garden Keeper suggests that cat parents must understand how much taurine cats must consume daily and how to consume it to ensure the taurine nutritional levels in their cats.
According to professional veterinarians, cats will start to experience degeneration of photoreceptor cells in the retina after six weeks of taurine deficiency. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the daily intake of taurine! Next, I will tell you about the Q&A of taurine intake for cats. How much taurine should a cat consume daily? The daily requirement of taurine for cats depends on the source of protein, the method of food processing, and the intake of dietary fiber. Based on the data set by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as the minimum standard, taurine content in wet food should reach 0.2% on a dry matter basis. That is to say, if a 5 kg cat consumes 300g of main food cans in a day, with a water content of 80%, the dry matter weight is 60g. Therefore, 60 * 0.2% = 0.12g, which is 120mg. The AAFCO’s minimum standard is that a 5 kg cat needs to consume at least 120mg of taurine per day! Cat parents can calculate the intake of their furry children at home! If your furry child has heart-related issues, you can also consult with professional veterinarians to provide a higher intake of taurine. What happens if there is an excess of taurine? Are there side effects? Taurine is a safe essential amino acid for cats, and there are currently no reports indicating side effects. However, it must be said that any excessive intake of nutrients needs to be processed by the kidneys and excreted through urine. As far as it is known, excessive intake of taurine does not cause additional bodily harm and will only be excreted outside the body. However, as cat parents, it is necessary to understand the daily intake of taurine for cats in order to make more accurate nutritional supplements. Next, I will mention which foods taurine can be obtained from and suggestions for purchase and feeding. From which foods (animals) does taurine originate? Taurine is found in animal muscles, and the content of taurine in muscles depends on the function of the muscles. Deeper and harder muscles usually have a higher content of taurine. Large animals such as cattle have lower taurine content in their muscles, while smaller animals such as fish, shellfish, and birds have higher concentrations of taurine in their muscles. Fish and shellfish have a higher content of taurine, such as mussels, clams, etc. Generally speaking, the content of taurine in prototype foods is difficult to quantify accurately, and after cooking, it is not only taurine that is consumed, but there may be too much salt, oil, etc. Therefore, it is not recommended to supplement taurine daily only through prototype foods. It is also necessary to supplement through additional intake to ensure that cats receive an adequate amount of taurine every day! Next, I will provide how to give cats the correct purchase and feeding supplement of taurine. How to purchase taurine? What should be noted when purchasing? There are many cat and dog taurine health products on the market. When purchasing, I still suggest that cat parents carefully check the raw material factory indicated on the product label. Each raw material factory manufactures taurine in a different process, and the quality of the raw materials will also be different. You can search for articles about the raw material factory online before purchasing! When purchasing, it is also important to pay attention to the amount of taurine per unit. Many manufacturers will add various additives to the nutritional products and claim to contain the effects of taurine when selling, but in fact, the unit content is insufficient for the daily intake.
Many cat parents may ask: There are powdered, tablet, and capsule forms on the market. Which one is better to buy? In fact, a capsule is just powder wrapped up. Whether it’s good depends on whether there are additional additives in the capsule shell itself. But in fact, capsules are usually opened and sprinkled into the food for pets. In fact, you can also not eat the capsule shell. However, tablets need excipients to be molded. Therefore, it is recommended to purchase capsule and powdered taurine products. The park director summarizes as follows: Choose a high-quality taurine raw material manufacturer. Check if there are compound additives. If there are compound additives, pay attention to whether the taurine content per unit is sufficient. Choose powdered > capsule > tablet. Tablets have excipients. How to add it to home-cooked food for good absorption? Taurine is a water-soluble vitamin. It is easily soluble in water during cooking, and therefore it is not easy to be fully ingested. Professional nutritionists will recommend steaming and cooking, and eat it with soup when feeding. But at the same time, it should be noted that soup is also the place where salt is most likely to deposit. Pay attention that the process of drinking soup should not overload the kidneys of cats. During cooking, water-soluble taurine is almost all in the soup, and often taurine is not supplemented at all! In conclusion, as a necessary daily nutrition for cats, in fact, many manufacturers have already added taurine to food. In general, cats are unlikely to have a problem of lacking taurine nutrients. However, if you are worried about insufficient taurine supplementation or if your pet at home has heart disease, the park director suggests that cat parents next time when purchasing, first determine how much taurine their pet needs to ingest at least in a day, and then follow the above purchasing suggestions, pay attention to the principle that more is better than less, and supplement for your pet! Do a good job in taking care of the health of your cat master and be determined to be a diligent cat owner together! Reference: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2736. If you have questions about taurine or other nutritional supplements for your pet, or if you want to give feedback or discuss, you can contact by email or leave a message below to have a one-on-one discussion with the park director! For cat parents who are interested in understanding feline herpesvirus, here is an article on feline herpesvirus. Understand the symptoms, transmission routes, treatment, and prevention methods of feline herpesvirus in three minutes! Essential pet health knowledge for cat parents. Keep an eye on the park director’s latest articles! [Meaning of Cat Postures] Understand 18 kinds of feline body language in 3 seconds. February 3, 2023. [What to do if cats fight] Prevent cat fights + essential emergency mediation guide for multi-cat families. January 26, 2023. What new dog owners need to know: 7 essential items, care instructions, and essential related knowledge for raising dogs. January 23, 2023. Thank you all for watching. If you find the park director’s article very useful, welcome to click and share it with all those who need information!
