Why Do Cats Need Taurine?

Taurine is a colorless, crystalline compound which is found in the free form in invertebrates and in the bile of mammals. It promotes the intestinal absorption of lipids (fats) as cholesterol.

Taurine is an important part of the feline diet and is essential in preventing a disorder in cats called "dilated cardiomyopathy" (which is a failure of the heart muscle whereupon the heart tissue itself swells to try to meet the animal's circulatory needs), as well as being very significant in helping feline reproduction and prevention of a progressive retinal disease called feline central retinal degeneration(FCRD) which will cause blindness if left untreated.

In queens that have taurine-deficient diets, there are more still births, fewer live kittens born, and ultimately fewer kittens that survive to the weaning stage.

In the wild, rodents formed a large part of the feline diet, and the rodents had significant levels of taurine in their brains.

When we began to domesticate cats and feed them commercial cat foods instead of their wild diets, taurine deficiency started appearing.

This was of great concern, especially in the 1970's, when it was proven that many commercial cat foods on the market at that time contained an inadequate amount of taurine.

Cats are different from other animals in that they cannot make enough taurine internally to meet their needs, and they must have enough taurine supplied to them in their food.

Since these studies came out, most major pet food companies revised their pet food formulas to include taurine. Interestingly enough, not all taurine is equal, and some commercial foods need to have even more taurine added to their formulas to allow for proper feline absorption and utilization of the taurine in their foods.

Dear Alfred,

"Could you please tell me what a really good food to feed my kitty would be?"

Alfred Says:

Thanks for asking a most important question. What you feed your kitty will be the one single most important decision you will ever make about their health.

There are so many, many foods out there and indeed a person does get confused with so many choices.

We have a very good report that you can have, that will tell you some of the things that pet food manufacturers are allowed to put in foods, and also tell you what ingredients can be harmful for your pet, and what ingredients a really good cat food should have.

To read this report, Go here:

http://petcaretips.net/petfood_ingredients.html

To read more about an Excellent Quality food, and the same food that we eat and Absolutely Thrive on, Go here:

http://petcaretips.net/premium_cat_food.html

"Hi, just wanted you to know that I no longer have finicky eaters. I have the dogs (4 of them) on the Zone, and my cat on that Life's Abundance Food for Cats."

"You should see the cat's coat. She is absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much. More than that: Aylah, Sparky, Jonah and Sugar (the dogs) thank you. And, the cat, Java Jive, thanks you because she is sooooo gorgeous."

Thanks again.
Elaine


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