Does Canned Food Have Eough Taurine Or Should I Supplement?

[ginny]

A couple of months ago I was rather distressed that a number of cats on the grief support site I frequent were dying of saddle thrombus.  A quick search of this site led me to one thread about it.  I asked a question, never got an answer that I know of, and began searching on my own.  Of course, I found out some causative factors were heart related such as cardiomegaly, heart failure, murmur.  And then I read that a taurine deficiency could lead to heart failure.  I see taurine listed as an ingredient on my kitty food cans, but it doesn't say how many milligrams per can.  How do you know if canned food has enough taurine - or any other ingredient for that matter - when they don't list the exact amount in milligrams?  One site says 36 to 56 mg taurine per day is needed by most adult cats.  

 

[donutte]

I've actually wondered about how much cats needed and how much is in the foods, since they talk about how taurine is so important. I always see a tiny percentage but that doesn't tell me much.

 

[LTS3]

AAFCO has a minumum taurine requirement of 0.20% in canned foods that are nutritionally complete. There's a list of mimimum vitamin and mineral requrements here: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2244&aid=657 The 2014 AAFCO report with more detailed info is here: http://www.aafco.org/Portals/0/Site...osed_Revisions_to_AAFCO_Nutrient_Profiles.pdf

As long as the canned food you are feeding meets AAFCO minimum requirements, it's providing enough vitamins and minerals to your cat. There is a statement in teeny tiny print on the label that says the fodo meets AAFCO requirements. Sometimes if you go to the pet food company web site and look at the product info you will see a more detailed break down of vitamins and minerals.

According to this, cats should get somewhere between 70 to 100mg of taurine daily or 400 to 500 mg per kg of body weight. If you are worried about adequate taurine intake, you can supplement with powdered unflavored taurine. There are pet speciic brands of taurine you can buy or you can buy Human-grade ones from a health food or vitamin store. Raw feeders often include a source of taurine in the food, either a powder supplement or raw hearts. Excess taurine the body needs will get excreted out through the urine so there's no worry about overdosing a cat. Of course, always check with the vet before you supplement with anything.

 

[ginny]

I've actually wondered about how much cats needed and how much is in the foods, since they talk about how taurine is so important. I always see a tiny percentage but that doesn't tell me much.

Right, it sure doesn't help much.  Gracie had eye problems which were probably secondary to what was going on in her sinus cavity or her brain, but she also had a heart murmur which the Internal Med vet said he heard.  And I know that taurine helps both the eyes and the heart.   She always ate FF flaked tuna for years despite providing all kinds of different flavors and textures for her to try.  She stuck with her flaked tuna.  I'm wondering if that led to a taurine deficiency and if that had something to do with her URI and her inability to get better.  Cancer was only suspected but never diagnosed.  

Also, Nat has had a right eye problem for years.  And he's been to several different vets for it.  None can find any thing wrong.  <sigh>  So I'm just wondering if I need to supplement more taurine.  For years they ate half dry and half wet food.  It's only been the past two years that I've been changing their diet slowly to improve their health.  

 

[ginny]

 
AAFCO has a minumum taurine requirement of 0.20% in canned foods that are nutritionally complete. There's a list of mimimum vitamin and mineral requrements here: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2244&aid=657 The 2014 AAFCO report with more detailed info is here: http://www.aafco.org/Portals/0/Site...osed_Revisions_to_AAFCO_Nutrient_Profiles.pdf

As long as the canned food you are feeding meets AAFCO minimum requirements, it's providing enough vitamins and minerals to your cat. There is a statement in teeny tiny print on the label that says the fodo meets AAFCO requirements. Sometimes if you go to the pet food company web site and look at the product info you will see a more detailed break down of vitamins and minerals.

According to this, cats should get somewhere between 70 to 100mg of taurine daily or 400 to 500 mg per kg of body weight. If you are worried about adequate taurine intake, you can supplement with powdered unflavored taurine. There are pet speciic brands of taurine you can buy or you can buy Human-grade ones from a health food or vitamin store. Raw feeders often include a source of taurine in the food, either a powder supplement or raw hearts. Excess taurine the body needs will get excreted out through the urine so there's no worry about overdosing a cat. Of course, always check with the vet before you supplement with anything.

Oh, so it's 70 to 100mg?  (I only looked up the one article.)  I did see that there's no upper limit or toxic amount so that's good, but I do not want to overdose anyway.  My kitties are 12 years old this year.  Gracie would have been 15

Thank you for the link and the information!

 

[StefanZ]

 
AAFCO has a minumum taurine requirement of 0.20% in canned foods that are nutritionally complete. There's a list of mimimum vitamin and mineral requrements here: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2244&aid=657 The 2014 AAFCO report with more detailed info is here: http://www.aafco.org/Portals/0/Site...osed_Revisions_to_AAFCO_Nutrient_Profiles.pdf

As long as the canned food you are feeding meets AAFCO minimum requirements, it's providing enough vitamins and minerals to your cat. There is a statement in teeny tiny print on the label that says the fodo meets AAFCO requirements. Sometimes if you go to the pet food company web site and look at the product info you will see a more detailed break down of vitamins and minerals.

According to this, cats should get somewhere between 70 to 100mg of taurine daily or 400 to 500 mg per kg of body weight. If you are worried about adequate taurine intake, you can supplement with powdered unflavored taurine. There are pet speciic brands of taurine you can buy or you can buy Human-grade ones from a health food or vitamin store. Raw feeders often include a source of taurine in the food, either a powder supplement or raw hearts. Excess taurine the body needs will get excreted out through the urine so there's no worry about overdosing a cat. Of course, always check with the vet before you supplement with anything.

that looks funny.  Arent the numbers reversed at least?  The totale cant be less than per kilo, but reversed would be OK, at least, numerically.

 

[ginny]

 
that looks funny.  Arent the numbers reversed at least?  The totale cant be less than per kilo, but reversed would be OK, at least, numerically.

Thank you for pointing that out!  I saw something similar yesterday.  Only it was a different amount.  It was a small daily amount in mg's and then a whopping mg/kg amount.  Didn't make sense to me but then math is not my strong point.  

 

[ginny]

 
Thank you for pointing that out!  I saw something similar yesterday.  Only it was a different amount.  It was a small daily amount in mg's and then a whopping mg/kg amount.  Didn't make sense to me but then math is not my strong point.  

@StefanZ, I wanted to ask you another question about taurine.  Could taurine deficiency be responsible, in part, for heart murmurs/cardiomyopathy/chf?  Other factors involved?  Nothing is as easy as it sounds especially where the physical body is concerned.  Gracie never had a heart murmur before the Internal Med doctor noticed a faint one on his 2nd exam of her last June.  So something had to have caused it.  What are your thoughts?

If taurine deficiency is responsible, then we all need to know which brands to avoid! 

 

[not normal]

Finally! I've been searching so long for this thread. I have two cats, one from a shelter, she's 13, I have her since 1year. When I got her she was not in perfect condition. Maybe she still isn't. Anyway, it's ridiculous little I can feed her to satisfy the energy need. Since I started my CS. experience this is my main concern: Emelie only gets like 60gr canned food daily plus 10gr dry food as toy. This is perfectly enough energy but I'm sure it lack's in nutrition, especially taurin. Now, in Germany, it seems we calculate different. I borrowed the book about illnesses of cats from my vet. In it the estimated amount of taurin per kg bodyweight is specified as 25-50mg per day. Taking the high number, because there's no known problem, that means 50x4,3=215mg. The canned food I use adds 8mg per 10gr taurin. For my cat that adds up to 64mg???? Then again, I'm no born mathematician. But I did a little research and got told, jahhhhhhhhh, but that's only the added taurin, the meat itself has also taurin. So that's pretty much calculating with the unknown.

By the way: taurin is the only essential amino acid there is at least an estimation about. With the others it seems like guesswork. The german cat sites with taurin favor everything between 200 and 500mg daily, best solved before added.

 

[bobkater]

Taurine plays an essential role in the diet of cats. But too much of a “good thing” can be bad for your cat, causing medical problems. Use supplements only if your veterinarian recommends them.

All premium cat foods are supplemented with taurine to avoid nutritional deficiency so that the condition is rare. So avoid generic or store brands. Buy from a reputable company. If you live in the States, look for approval by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Exceptionally, some cats may have taurine deficiency in relation to a certain disease, or to an unsuitable home-cooked diet, and may require taurine added to their diets.

 

[msserena]

I guess the order of ingredients listed doesn't mean much because Iams cat food & Sheeba both list their taurine % as .05 & taurine is listed high up on the Iams label & next to the end on the sheeba label. Go figure!

 

[ginny]

Finally! I've been searching so long for this thread. I have two cats, one from a shelter, she's 13, I have her since 1year. When I got her she was not in perfect condition. Maybe she still isn't. Anyway, it's ridiculous little I can feed her to satisfy the energy need. Since I started my CS. experience this is my main concern: Emelie only gets like 60gr canned food daily plus 10gr dry food as toy. This is perfectly enough energy but I'm sure it lack's in nutrition, especially taurin. Now, in Germany, it seems we calculate different. I borrowed the book about illnesses of cats from my vet. In it the estimated amount of taurin per kg bodyweight is specified as 25-50mg per day. Taking the high number, because there's no known problem, that means 50x4,3=215mg. The canned food I use adds 8mg per 10gr taurin. For my cat that adds up to 64mg???? Then again, I'm no born mathematician. But I did a little research and got told, jahhhhhhhhh, but that's only the added taurin, the meat itself has also taurin. So that's pretty much calculating with the unknown.

By the way: taurin is the only essential amino acid there is at least an estimation about. With the others it seems like guesswork. The german cat sites with taurin favor everything between 200 and 500mg daily, best solved before added.

That is confusing when the listed amount of Taurine doesn't even factor in how much the meat contains.  I believe it is the same way here too.  I don't believe you'd go wrong supplementing a little bit of Taurine because it is a B vitamin and water soluble.  I think this is why so many people on this site opt to make their own kitty food based on complete nutrition.  That way you KNOW what's in there.

 

[ginny]

 
I guess the order of ingredients listed doesn't mean much because Iams cat food & Sheeba both list their taurine % as .05 & taurine is listed high up on the Iams label & next to the end on the sheeba label. Go figure!

It should mean something!  The first ingredient listed is the largest amount in the whole can.  What is so frustrating is the fact that labeling regulations are not heavily enforced.  And if this is especially true of human food, then how much more so for pet food!  

 

[sandtiger]

Taurine is very important. It is plentyful in primary prey. Its water soluble and excess passes out in urine no trouble. Commercial cooked foods contain mg/kg at virtually nonexistent quantities for many many brands. Given that an intake of 500mg per day would prefered it is nowhere near enough. It would be beneficial to sprinkle some into meals especially if its tinned/cooked. Even a raw diet does not have optimal amount because of age of meat and type.

I give Bear about 300mg daily. He is a raw feeder too. Its easy and tasteless, well a tiny bit bitter but he is fine if its in his food. Good makes are Source Naturals and NOW and are not expensive. You can also find it in body builder stores by big packs, v cheap.

Go for it, cant hurt! not even your purse

 

 

[ginny]

 
Taurine is very important. It is plentyful in primary prey. Its water soluble and excess passes out in urine no trouble. Commercial cooked foods contain mg/kg at virtually nonexistent quantities for many many brands. Given that an intake of 500mg per day would prefered it is nowhere near enough. It would be beneficial to sprinkle some into meals especially if its tinned/cooked. Even a raw diet does not have optimal amount because of age of meat and type.

I give Bear about 300mg daily. He is a raw feeder too. Its easy and tasteless, well a tiny bit bitter but he is fine if its in his food. Good makes are Source Naturals and NOW and are not expensive. You can also find it in body builder stores by big packs, v cheap.

Go for it, cant hurt! not even your purse

 

Thanks for the info!