Taurine is essential for cats
Taurine is an amino acid (AA) talked about when referring to feline diets. For cats, unlike most other mammals, taurine is an essential amino acid, meaning that cats can not synthesize their own taurine from other building block amino acids as can dogs and even humans. Thus it is essential that cats take in adequate taurine in their diet on a regular basis.
With prolonged deficiencies of taurine, cats can develop central retinal degeneration,resulting in blindness. Dilated cardiomyopathy is another real risk. In this condition, the heart dilates, its walls become thinner and weaker, making the heart less effective and resulting in a form of heart failure.
It is considered fact at this point that cats do require taurine. It is even fairly widely agreed upon that cats should consume 1000mg (1 gm) or taurine per 2.2 lbs of food. The discussion begins with the question – Is my cat getting enough with the diet that I am feeding??
It turns out that this question is more difficult to answer than might at first be thought. We know that taurine is supplied almost exclusively by meat and seafood. Vegetables contain little to no measurable taurine as a group. Taurine is broken down by heat, thus, cooking meat will destroy over half to maybe 2/3 of the taurine that was available raw. It is difficult to calculate the amount of taurine actually supplied by a particular diet given the variables- baking vs boiling meat results in losing different amounts of taurine, meat from the chicken leg has much more taurine than that from the breast, and the list of variables goes on and on.
To give you an idea of the amount of taurine in foods, I will provide this list but please understand, these numbers are not concrete.
beef muscle 10 mg/oz raw 1.7mg/oz cooked
beef liver 5.5 mg/oz raw
lamb13.5 mg/oz raw 3.6mg/oz cooked
chicken 9.5mg/oz raw 2.3mg/oz cooked
fish 36mg/oz raw
shrimp 48mg/oz raw
nutritional yeast 30mg/tablet or 1/2 teaspoon
Given the inexact science behind figuring these numbers and the known dangers of under-feeding this essential amino acid to cats, I do recommend supplementing taurine in cats who are on a homemade diet. For most cats, I find that 75-100 mg of taurine per day is about right, although for some cats, I have seen this number climb close to 300 mg per day. Taurine is not stored by cats and would be very difficult to overdose. Many times you will find that you are dosing a “pinch” given the capsule size you are able to find. This approximating approach should work just fine. With taurine and cats, a little excess is definitely preferable to not quite enough.
Happy feeding.
Thank you so much for all of this information on taurine supplements given to cats. It has been so helpful for my research on taurine. Could you please clarify the amount of mg of taurine a cat should receive per day depending on the age of the cat. I have two cats and have never gave them pure taurine supplements. Is this a good idea or is it dangerous to their health to do this? I have taurine amino-acid supplement pills of 500mg each of Taurine USP. Please let me know if this would be safe to give to them. Also I would like to know if the amount of taurine consumed shoud be considered with their age at all. Please give me more information ASAP. Thank you very much, and I look forward to receiving an email from you.
Kelsey
I have never made any differentiation in the amount of taurine needed depending on the age of the cat. I think 500 mg may be a bit excessive especially if you are feeding a commercial food. Excess taurine will be eliminated from the body and shouldn’t do any harm, but I would not be giving more than 100 mg per cat if you are on a commercial food especially, as these foods do have taurine supplemented already.
Dr Lord, thank you for your helpful response. What do you mean by commercial cat food? My guess is that it is a better name given to dry cat food, which is what both of my cats recieve. I have given my older tabby cat half of one of these taurine tablets which I have that is approximately 250mg. Your website said it would be difficult to overdose because the taurine is not stored in their body. It also said that some cats have taken up to 300mg. Is there a difference between taurine and taurine USP? Also, about how often should my cats consume the taurine if I continue giving supplements of aproximately 250mg. Should it be once a week or more often? I appologize of asking so much of you, and I really dont mean to take up much of your time. I am currently a high school student, and I am conducting this research because I am looking to continue my education after high school to obtain a future career in veterinary medicine.
Thank you again,
Kelsey
Dr. Lord, When looking at the crude analysis on the bag of a good commercial dry kitten food, what percentage of taurine should it contain. The kitten food I am currently buying says 0.1 %. Thanks Terry
Dr. Lord,
Can you please provide a reference or source for the taurine concentrations you have sited above? I am trying to transition my 6 cats to a raw diet but I am a bit apprehensive about getting them enough (too much) taurine. The http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search website is a GREAT wealth of nutritional info for rawdiet feeders (especially when trying to figure the Ca:Phos ratio) but they do not include analysis for Taurine. I am mostly looking for Taurine concentrations of organs/hearts (which I am currently feeding at about 10% of dark muscle meat) in order to determine if I need to supplement on top of all of that. Thank you for your help and all your great information.
Tracey
I have not found reliable information regarding the amount of taurine in meats/organs etc. That is why I recommend supplementing with a taurine tablet/powder or other form so that you are guaranteed a certain amount of taurine in the diet. This is a supplement that is much better to give to much of than not enough, so I would recommend erring on the side of giving some additional in supplement form.
I feed my 5 cats the follwoing diet:
AM: 85g tin of prepared food (usually Dine or Fancy Feast) chicken variety (I have now had 3 cats allergic to fish so cut if from all diets)
LUNCH: 20-25 Hills Oral care biscuits
PM: 100g raw beef cut up chunky one night / a beef variety tin (as AM) the next.
Some have cats milk, others won’t touch it. Occasional treats include a dab of cream, lick up a bit of beaten egg, some cheddar cheese (depends which cat it is)
Are they getting enough taurine? I’ve had cats for over 50 years ad have never supplemented and have never had a problem. My cats usually live from 18 to (memorably) 26 years, the only one I have had die sooner was a Siamese with a genetic problem (at 12).
You are probably alright as most all of your diet is canned cat food and thus supplemented already. If you wanted to add just a bit to the raw meat feeding it wouldn’t hurt. Taurine is one of those supplements that cats tend to do well with a bit of even if they are getting “adequate” amounts in their food.
My 3-year-old Siamese has HCM and eats a prescription diet (Hill’s w/d) because another cat in the house, a “moggie”, has diet-managed diabetes. They all eat the same thing to prevent the diabetic from eating inappropriate foods. The Siamese also takes atenolol and a twice-weekly tiny bit of children’s aspirin as a mild blood thinner per his cardiologist. He also gets a bite of fish or beef occasionally, as he manages to steal them. All 3 are doing well.
The HCM was discovered at 6 months of age when he had problems recovering from anaesthesia following his neuter surgery and treatment was commenced immediately. I realize that taurine is essential to prevent DCM, but do you feel that additional taurine (just a bit) would benefit the Siamese with his HCM?
I can not say whether it would help or not but it certainly couldn’t hurt. I am suprised to hear that W/D is managing diabetes. Most cats with diabetes do better on a high protein diet but to each his own. It is super if it is working but I would seriously consider a whole food multivitamin supplement if your veterinarian approves for a little nutritional boost to the W/D.
Hi, this discussion has been very helpful for me. A year or so ago I switched all four of my cats to a raw-meat-based diet so I assume that the cats get adequate taurine from this (in addition, they do get commercial grain-free to mix it up with the raw meat, which is a blend of meat, organ and bone). But one of my older cats is showing signs of renal insufficiency and the vet has given me a recipe to make cat food for her since I don’t want my cats having wheat or corn, which even the K/D seems to include. In this recipe it says to add taurine but it doesn’t say how much. The recipe includes braised liver and hard boiled eggs, plus rice, CaCO3, KCl, a little oil. My question – a multivitamin with the MDR for cats is also supposed to be included. I found one that seems to be pretty robust, including 200 mg Taurine per tablet, which is recommended twice a day. Should this do? Should i add more taurine? If so, where on earth do I FIND it? Thanks!
Hello Dr. Lord,
I have read your questions and answers, and I have been touched by so much love for our cats. Myself I lost one female, she was over 20y et a tom cat 17 that had cancer. I buried them both in my backyard not long ago. I have one female cat 14y; she has hyperthyroidism and receives 1 tablet of Methimazole per day, and she is doing well on it. She eats Wellness/Innova and as a bribe food she likes fish and shrimps, lamb and beef all given raw and sterilized wiht Grapefruit seeds Extract.
After I consulted your wonderful website I decided I could give her taurine and I thought that 50 mg a day would be good and then increase if she eats more raw meet.
This little lady will take off traveling in the cabin to go in the mountains 1500m in altitude and retire there with me.
How does that sound?
Thank you for your time. And I wish all the cats’s owners good luck
Gwendolin
Dr. Lord,
When looking at the crude analysis on the bag of commercial dry food, what percentage of taurine should it contain to be considered quality cat food?
The highest percentage I have seen is 0.16 % in dry. And, 0.1% in wet food. And, this includes the new foods that are all meat & no grains.
I assume that the percentage may not come close to the Taurine levels a cat would need per day?
Any opinion on brands?
Thank you,
Chris
Hello Dr. Lord,
My (female) cat has been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, my Vet said part of the problem could be due to Taurine deficiency in her diet (usually the more expensive brands have a higher dose than the typical supermarket bought brands). Said one of the richest sources of Taurine are mice and pigeons. It is no wonder cats have such a predilection toward hunting those animals, nature is wise.
Thank you for this wonderful article.
Cheers,
Antonella
Hello Dr. Tracy Lord and all other kind souls.
In response to this lovely article on Taurine. I use a Raw Frozen Cat Food, along with the same company’s kibble. I also supplement with NUTRITIONAL YEAST, which has large amounts of Taurine, and is very easy to sprinkle on their food.
Four years ago, after a year and a half on expensive “natural” dry kibble which caused Irritable Bowel Syndrome for one of my cat friends, I switched them both to Raw Pre-mixed Frozen Cat Food. THey have eaten the Nature’s Variety brand for almost two years, which has a good mix of meats/organ meat/raw ground bone and vegetables and fruits for them, along with some of Nature’s Variety Dry Instinct Kibble. I also Feed them the NUTRITIONAL YEAST sprinkled over their food, along with some periodic “Sprinkles” treats (1/4 teaspoon of Nutritional Yeast) throughout the day. I just sprinkle the yeast into their dishes. THEY LOVE the Nutritional Yeast~ and it’s so good tasting and an inexpensive way to supplement their diet.
ALSO< Nutritional Yeast HELPS TO KEEP PESTS From attacking, such as fleas, ticks, etc.
Is it okay to say where I purchase the Raw Food on this comment/website? I apologize if I am not supposed to.
IT IS sometimes a challenge for most of us to find the RAW frozen locally, so I purchase from K9Cuisine.com who has free shipping (on purchases over $50) both ways (in case you need to return food) — A 100% guarantee, you can return the food if your dog or cat does not like it.
Since I personally also consume a good amount of Nutritional Yeast every day, I purchase the Red Star Brand of Nutrtional Yeast online five to ten pounds at a time, since the small shaker of Nutritional Yeast is ridiculously expensive at a health food store. The Nutritional Yeast is good for several years from purchase, so it also makes a wonderful food for long term food storage for you and your animal friends.
NUTRITIONAL YEAST IS NOT THE SAME AS BREWER”S YEAST.
I also use a wonderful GREEN Foods/fermented/probiotic for me, which I sprinkle/mix on their food.
THANK YOU, DR. LORD for having this website to help so many souls.
Many blessings to all.
Dear Dr. Lord:
My 17 year-old cat friend has been diagnosed with early kidney disease. She hates the prepared dry and wet kidney diet foods. I want to cook for her and have found lovely recipes online. Taurine is the hitch. Her diet will not have much meat, so I’d like to know how much Taurine is the mdr for her. You stated an amount per pound of food, but with moisture variation, that is difficult. I bought a commercial cat vitamin that says it has 5% Taurine. What does that mean? 5% of what? All the other ingredients are listed in mg, mcg and IU. Where does one buy Taurine?
Thank you for providing such good information.
Cheryl
When my friend got stationed to Hawaii, I adopted her two adult cats. Neither was in great shape eating a diet of “high quality” commercial food. Hilda was about five, overweight, lethargic, with scabby skin and a lusterless coat. Max was about 8. His coat was only slightly better. He suffered back problems that were so severe he had trouble walking like a normal cat some days. His teeth were desperately in need of descaling and some fancy dental surgery. His breath could knock over a skunk.
Over our first month together I slowly weened them off the commercial food they had eaten and adjusted them to a vet recommended raw diet based on a human quality cat food mix (Soujourner Farm) which I soak first in water then add in my own raw ground meat- rabbit, sushi, or chicken usually, but occasionally, beef or turkey to keep them guessing. Just to make certain that they get all the taurine they need, every morning I mix about 125mg extra into each of their daily meals. I then break each meal into 2, refrigerating the second portions for their dinner.)
I’ve had them a little over two years now. Max and Hilda are now in tip top health, full of play, affection, and curiosity. Both have shiny, silky coats, smooth skin, white healthy teeth, no more funny walk for Max, no problems with fleas, earmites, worms, or parasites of any sort even though they get daily supervised outside play in my fenced in yard and are taken for regular outings at various locations on their harnesses. I absolutely recommend taurine supplements and a vet approved raw diet to any cat lover. The extra trouble is negligible. The benefits to all involved are priceless.
Cheryl,
You can get the kind I use 250mg tablets at Amazon or probably a ton of pet pharmacy or pet supply websites. Amazon was best price I found though. I break one between my two cats every day. 125mg is about the amount most cats require per day (supposedly.) Personally I believe that requirement would vary depending on the age, health, stress, and activity level of the cat in question. From what I understand, unneeded taurine can get broken down and converted into other useful amino acids. So if your cat gets a little extra it can only help.
I find this information to be very useful about the Taurine for cats/kittens. I make my own formula and I have raise many kittens on this. But I always like to improve my formula. Please take a look at it and tell me what improvement I can make. My last babies I raised them on this formula since they were 4 days old.They are very healthy adults. Do you think I need to add Taurine to my formula and how much? It is on this page http://www.abeitagatos.com/linkpage2.html
Thank you kindly, Theresa
Hi Doctor,
I have two cats, a 17 yo and a 5 yo. The 17 yo has renal issues. She has been getting 100cc lactated ringers about 6 days per week for about 5 years.
Cali (17) will not eat the rx foods (we’ve tried them all). We have resorted to trying to find low protien commercial alternatives. She sometimes will skip a meal still. It is nor indigestion as she will eat any rich, high protien food we will put down for her…in short, she is a picky eater.
We are planning to start making her food from some recipes we have gotten. However, I am sure there will be times when we get lazy. In the circumstances, is it safe for her to have dog food?? I know that this may sound totally crazy, but I have noticed that there are many low protien dog foods on the market…even premium ones. Is it totally nutters to feed her low protien dog food with taurine supplemted?
Thanks
James
You not going to believe this but I have spent all day digging for some articles about this. Thanks for this, it was a essential read and really helped me out. Kind regards,Homepage
James- Sorry for the slow reply. It is definately better to feed a cat food if you can find one that your cat will eat, but at a point anything that you can get into your cat will be better than nothing.
Best of luck
Dr Lord
[...] much Taurine does my cat [...]
Great information in your blogpost, I saw this report on the tv the other day about this same thing and since I am going to be married in two weeks and the timing could not have been better! thanks for the info!
Hi Dr. Lord,
My kitty has been diagnosed with renal insufficiency and would like to start him on Taurine. The pet pharmacies do not carry such an item. Would you be able to direct me where I can purchase them.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Loooovve the article! Thank you for taking the time to write it for all of us!!
I am wondering about exotic cats?? Do they need more Taurine than domestic?
Thanks,
Melissa
Great article!
We have a cat with kidney disease. I found that Feline Outreach has great education info and links about feline nutrition, kidney disease / CKD / CRF, and more. Links include discussion groups, articles and research, as well as to sites that sell low-cost supplies. Their Nutrition information should be required reading for all cat owners and vets. I think it’s shocking that many people don’t realize how important it is.
Feline Outreach is a charitable organization formed to promote the routine and medical care of companion animals, particularly cats. http://www.felineoutreach.org/Education.html
Comfortabl y, the article is really the sweetest on this precious topic. I concur with your conclusions and will certainly eagerly look forward to your upcoming updates. Simply saying thanks can not simply be sufficient, for the phenomenal clarity in your writing. I can directly grab your rss feed to stay informed of any kind of updates. Pleasant work and much success in your business endeavors!
My kitty has renal issues does giving him 500mg of taurine put stess on his kidneys. My vet seems to think so, I read where giving a kitty with raised values of BUN & Creatinine acutally lowered it. I would value your opinion.
Thank you, thank you! Just the information I was looking for. Now that I know what to feed, my beloved Sphynx cat and his heart will get their essential Taurine.
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren¡¯t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
Is there a over the counter capsule of taurine that can sprinkled on a cat’s food and where could I purchase it? This info on Taurine has been quite helpful.
Thank you, Melissa
[...] acid called taurine that cats can only get from meat. So, vegetarian cat food could kill your cat. Taurine is essential for cats | VetLord.org And the vegetarian pet food made me think of this: YouTube – M.e.a.t __________________ Get me [...]
[...] if they don’t eat a complete and varied diet. For example, cats require a dietary source of taurine. Without this amino acid, cats are at risk for blindness and heart [...]
Question – I am feeding my cat raw composed of whole chicken (including bones and organs but without skin) and some olive oil added. If taurine comes from muscle meat, why would you need to add taurine to it?
[...] taurine, but I was unsure of how much was needed. I use the loose type turine, not the capsules. Taurine is essential for cats | VetLord.org __________________ [...]
Hello Dr. Lord,
Thank you a lot for these interesting informations.
My 2 year old cat has been diagnosed with DCM last July. I’ve been supplementing her with Taurine ever since. I don’t know in this case the amount of taurine needed, and I hope i’m not exagerating by giving her nearly 1g of taurine per day!
I understand that her body will eventually eliminate the excess of taurine, but still I’m worried.. She only eats wet food (Fancy feast).
We don’t know in her case if DCM was due to a deficiency in taurine, so I’ve been giving it to her as a supplement just in case….
Thank you for your help.
Do you think it’s a good idea to add ACONITUM NAPELLUS 3LM to her treatment?
She’s already taking : diuretics, enalapril, theophilline, taurine and APIS 4CH.
Thanks again
Julie ~ I had a 2 year old cat about 15 years ago, Annie, who had DCM, and the vet who did her ultrasound put her on a 1gram tab a day of taurine and I forget the drug.. Enalapril if I recall.
In 3 months we re-ultrasounded her, her heart was pretty much normal, in another 3-4 months we did another u/s and her heart was reverting back to dilated.. she lasted another couple of months and collapsed at home one morning.. I took her in to be euthanised.
I’ve since had about 4 cats with HCM. My luck with cats… worked in vet clinics for many years and all were/are rescues.
The first cat I mentioned, Annie, came to the clinic I worked in at 8 weeks of age, from a hoarding type situation, where she was emaciated, heavily infested with roundworms and possibly inbred – so she didn’t come from a great background.
I hope your kitty does well.
Vicki
Hi everyone! This website has been so helpful!! I have 2 cats that both have HCM. They are almost 3 years old, brother and sister. They were both rescue cats from a local shelter, which I hand-raised from when they were 2 weeks old.
My little girl was diagnosed at about 6 months. I found her in an odd position, not really moving and breathing abnormally. I waited a few hours to see if it would pass and she got worse. I took her to the vet and the vet asked me if I knew that she had a heart murmur and I replied NO, she then told me that my little girl was in heart failure and sent me to a specialist right away. I rushed her there and they took her in right away and was almost immediately diagnosed with HCM.
She had to spend the night and most of the next day in an oxygen tank. She was also given 3 different meds while she was there: Enalapril, Atenolol and Furosemide.
$2,000 later, I was able to take her home the next day sort of expecting a miracle… well that didn’t happen, she was so timid and quiet. She was definitely not the cat I remembered from 2 days ago and her brother, also 6 months old still wanted to play. That part was really hard for us all.
The day she was released from the hospital (vet), I had to start giving her the same 3 meds, twice per day. I knew right away that pills this many times a day would be impossible. I tried every trick in the book to fool her into eating food with meds in them. Luckily, I was able to find all 3 meds in liquid form through Pet Health Pharmacy. She also gets a full baby aspirin every 3 days. Unfortunately, there is no liquid formula of baby aspirin, but we do pretty well. She does still have coughing fits every so often.
My little boy, her brother was also diagnosed about 7 or 8 months ago. My vet started him out on the same dose of meds, but he became really lethargic, so I cut back to giving his meds only twice a day (minus the Atenolol). I also only give him a baby aspirin every 6 days, versus every 3 like his sister. My vet did advise to start using Taurine for both of them at the same time.
I have read a lot of things on-line about the baby aspirin dosage, but it seems to work for us.
I think for about the first 3-4 months after my baby girl’s diagnosis, I woke up several times a night checking to see if she was still breathing. I have gotten beyond this. For a long time I didn’t play with some of favorite toys because she got so excited. I decided that was a bad idea and to let her have as much fun as she can.
I would love to get Dr. Lord’s thoughts and any advice on my story. I also wanted to share it with other Moms and Dads of kids (OK, cats) with HCM.
Thanks for reading!
Donna
Hi, Dr. Lord:
I’ve been feeding my cat, who has LPS, a homemade diet of pureed boiled chicken and one organic raw egg yolk a day. He seems to be thriving but am worried he is not getting enough taurine. Based on research, taurine is broken down from cysteine. Each egg yolk contains 264 milligrams of cysteine, but I cannot find out how much taurine an egg yolk contains if any, or if the cat can get it from the cysteine. Do I need to supplement taurine, and if so, what is a good, trusted taurine supplement to give him? Thanks!
PS – I decided not to go with the conventional treatment of LPS, which is prohibitively expensive, and instead have been using homeopathy quite successfully, as my cat rarely exhibits any LPS symptoms anymore, and any he does exhibit on occassion are quite mild compared to what he was exhibiting when he was diagnosed.
Donna,
I had two kitties (brother and sister) with HCM. Both were rescued by me when they were about 3-4 months old. I was taking care of a feral colony (feeding, spaying, neutering) so I know there was inbreeding in their lineage. Their mom was resistant to being caught in a havahart trap so I was never able to spay her.
Heath and Jade were diganosed with grade 4 heart murmurs when they were ~2 yrs old. Visits to the cardiologist ensued and Heath (his condition was worse) was put on plavix, atenol, enalpril. Heath threw a clot 2 months ago (age ~3-1/2). He passed after heart failure.
I still have Jade and she is on aspirin, atenol, and enalpril. Two days ago I added taurine. The only taurine I could find has B6 with it. Is this safe for her? Does anyone know?
Thanks
Dan
Good writing, maybe im more intrested in other posts liek this, can someone post links if they know? Thanks!
My cat has seizures since 6 months old. He is on Valerian/Diazepam now.
Last month he had crystals in his bladder (surgically vet. treated) Now on Hills prescription diet: c/d feline bladder health can food. One 5.5 oz can contains min. 0.06% (0.6g/kg) of Taurin.
Taurine is recommended, along with vitamins B6, B complex, A, D, Calcium, as dietary supplement for cats with seizures. I wonder if I could and should give him more of Taurine; if yes then how much per 1 Lbs of weight ? (he is 7 years old, 11 Lbs)
Also, feed more of Taurine, would or would not conflict with the special bladder diet ?
Thank you
Ol’ga
Since Taurine is water soluble- ie excess is excreted and will not hurt your cat, you could supplement without causing the body to hold onto excess. That said, feline diets have “enough” taurine in them already so there should be no need to add a lot. You should run this past your vet before changing anything, however.
So would it be okay to add a pinch of taurine at each (of 3 meals) meal from a 500mg capsule to a homemade diet??
That would be fine. Should cause no problems as any excess will just flush through the body.
Dr Lord, can you recommend a gluten free taurine supplement for cats? I’m having a really hard time finding something without gluten! Thanks!
My beloved Cat has developed diabetes. We are on insulin. I have changed his diet to raw & cooked meat from fish to venison. He doesnt seemed to be getting better, we have been at this for a month. back and forth to the vet adjusting insulin. What else can I do? He seems so week. Cat