![]() ![]() When you or your pet eat a protein, from either plant or animal source, it’s broken down into amino acids. If your dog or cat eats fresh, unprocessed muscle meat, it’s getting taurine - sufficient levels of taurine for the average animal. While taurine is in all muscle meats, it’s especially concentrated in the heart muscles, eye/retinas, and brains. Taurine is only present in animal proteins, not plant proteins e.g., pea or soy protein (one reason to avoid a vegan diet for cats). Being carnivores, the best amino acid sources for cats and dogs are from eating animal proteins like meat, eggs, and poultry. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. With a little more information you can make better diet decisions for your pet. Taurine deficiency is serious for dogs and devastating for cats. ![]() Most manufacturers have since fixed the taurine deficiencies in their foods. Taurine became known in the last few decades when a large number of cats and dogs started developing health issues from commercial pet foods lacking sufficient taurine. It’s obvious there’s an underlying misunderstanding of what taurine is, how it’s used by the body, and a lack of knowledge about amino acids in general. Most don’t know what it is or where to find it, but we need some in the food. Taurine’s treated like a mysterious but reverent thing. Some of the things I’ve heard over the years are “taurine is needed to manage or treat heart murmurs” or “if you don’t add taurine to your dog’s or cat’s food you’ll kill them” to “I want extra taurine in my pet’s food”. Taurine is a topic I run across frequently, either people asking me questions or seeing it in various places on the internet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |