Why Is Taurine Important For Cats?

Taurine is important for cats. A lack of it can lead to serious diseases. These tips will keep your cat healthy and happy for a long time.

What is taurine?

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid. It is formed in the liver through the enzymatic conversion of the amino acids cysteine ​​and methionine.

Taurine is produced in sufficient quantities in the body of most mammals. However, cats naturally have very little self-produced taurine, which is why they are dependent on ingesting this substance through natural cat nutrition or cat food. This is the only way to avoid deficiency symptoms.

What is taurine important for?

Taurine is required by the body for many different metabolic processes. It is important, for example, for the absorption of dietary fats or for the production of bile acids. Taurine is particularly urgently needed for the normal function of the heart muscle. And the healthy vision of the eye also depends on the taurine content in the body.

Taurine is therefore extremely important for cats if they are to get through life healthy and lively.

Why do cats need extra taurine?

While dogs and most other mammals produce a sufficient amount of taurine in their own bodies, cats can only do so to a very small extent. The amount produced in the body is usually not sufficient for the cat’s own needs. It must therefore also be ingested in sufficient concentration through food, which is why taurine is a so-called essential amino acid for cats.

What is taurine in?

Most animal foods such as meat and fish contain taurine. The concentration is particularly high in muscle flesh and intestines, especially in the heart muscle and brain.

If the cat is outdoors and regularly catches mice and other prey, it usually covers its need for taurine sufficiently.

High-quality ready-to-eat cat food usually also contains sufficient amounts of this essential amino acid. In this way, the necessary supply of the animal with taurine is ensured through the diet and deficiency-related diseases can be avoided.

Plants and plant-based feed ingredients, on the other hand, do not contain any taurine. It is therefore important to only feed cats food with high meat content. (Read here which treats are rather unsuitable for your darling.)

What are the consequences of a taurine deficiency?

If the cat does not have enough taurine in its body, a deficiency occurs that can cause various diseases in the long term. The recognizable clinical symptoms usually only appear after several months to two years.

The following diseases in cats can be caused by a taurine deficiency:

• Reproductive disorders in the female cat

Cats with a taurine deficiency often give birth to undersized or non-viable kittens. In many cases, the kitten dies in the womb during pregnancy and subsequently miscarries.

Surviving young are usually stunted in growth or show conspicuous physical anomalies such as malformed hind legs or curvature of the spine.

• Retinal degeneration

With this disease, the owners will eventually notice that the cat runs against furniture or other objects, becomes unsure, or no longer safely reaches its destination when jumping.

Central retinal degeneration leads to permanent, irreversible damage and ultimately blindness in the cat. If the disease is detected early, administering taurine can prevent progression to blindness. However, the existing visual problems remain.

• Heart muscle disease

The so-called dilated cardiomyopathy, i.e. a pathological enlargement of the heart muscle, leads to various symptoms in cats such as apathy, poor feed intake, and breathing problems.

In the advanced stage, rapid heartbeat, pulmonary edema, pale mucous membranes, and a drop in body temperature occur. If the diagnosis is made by the veterinarian in good time, the cat will usually recover with the addition of taurine.

• Other diseases

In addition to the diseases described above, a lack of taurine can also result in disorders of the immune system, blood formation, and hearing in cats.

If the veterinarian suspects that there is a taurine deficiency based on the symptoms, the taurine content can be determined with a blood sample from the cat in the laboratory. The therapy is then the supply of sufficient amounts of taurine via the feed. Be sure to seek expert advice on this.

How Much Taurine Does a Cat Need?

The actual taurine requirement in the cat’s body depends on many factors. Pregnant and lactating cats need more taurine. And the need for older animals is also increasing.

A healthy animal needs about 50 mg taurine per kilogram of weight, which is then about 200 to 500 mg taurine, which must be supplied daily through the feed.

However, since the proportion of freely available taurine in the feed is also influenced by the manufacture and processing of the feed components, commercial cat food usually contains defined amounts of specially manufactured taurine additives, which are then listed on the packaging under “Additives”.

Dry food for cats contains around 1,000 mg of taurine per kilogram of food, wet food even 2,000 to 2,500 mg per kilogram.

Cat owners should keep this in mind

So that your cat can jump through life healthy, as a cat owner you should pay attention to a few things when it comes to cat nutrition. High-quality feed or BARF is recommended with regard to the supply of taurine. However, a vegetarian diet is not recommended. It cannot cover the taurine requirement.

High-quality lining

In order for your cat or tomcat to be adequately supplied with all the essential nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and taurine, you should always use a high-quality type of food for your cat that is mainly made from meat and animal products.

In the declaration of the ingredients on the packaging of the feed, you can see this by the fact that “meat” is listed first and, if possible, “animal by-products” are listed second.

Cereals or cereal products do not really belong in cat food, since the cat, as a pure carnivore, can hardly digest these ingredients.

Barf

Raw feeding (BARF = Biologically Appropriate Raw Feeding) for cats is also a good choice, but you should first have your veterinarian draw up a feeding plan to ensure a balanced and healthy composition of the food.

Vegetarian diet

Under no circumstances should you feed your cat a vegetarian diet. Feeding ready-made dog food is also not species-appropriate for cats, since no taurine is added here and the diseases mentioned can develop in the long term.

Taurine as a dietary supplement?

There are numerous supplementary feeds or feed additives for cats on the market. Many contain taurine. Basically, such feed additives should be used carefully if a high-quality complete feed is already being used.

However, since the cat would have to ingest these supplements by the kilo for a medically relevant overdose of taurine and, in a healthy animal, an excess of taurine is also excreted via the liver and bile, an overdose of this essential amino acid is hardly possible. Anything that the cat’s body needs for taurine is simply excreted. So the biggest danger here is spending money unnecessarily.

However, some cat owners report that the addition of such supplements has made their cats’ coats extra thick and beautiful. However, we do not have any scientific evidence for this.

If the cat has already developed a taurine deficiency with the symptoms described, the use of such concentrated taurine-containing supplements in the diet is even medically justified. The advice of the veterinarian is important here. Ask how much of the supplement your loved one needs to get fit and healthy again.

We wish you and your pet all the best!