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Does food Have to be supplemented with Taurine?

post #1 of 16
10/24/11 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 
While at Petsmart today, I was talking to an employee about LID diets and she mentioned that Fancy Feast had one flavor that was wheat free with only one protein source. I decided to take a look just for the heck of it.

Other than being gross as I expected, the food also did not list taurine in the ingredients. I pointed this out to the employee who said the guaranteed analysis taurine levels were at 0.05% and not to worry. But that doesn't make sense to me because if there was enough taurine in the meat in the first place, then we would have not come to the realization that cats needed it way back in the day when cat and dog food was the same..

What is going on here??
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post #2 of 16
10/24/11 at 9:56pm
Which flavor? I know that the Turkey and Giblets is considered OK for CRF cats and diabetic cats, but I guess it's not the one you're talking about because it does have taurine listed.

I understand that heart has a lot of taurine, but then again, grinding and heating destroys the taurine. So I can't see how any commercial diet could get away without supplementing.
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post #3 of 16
10/25/11 at 2:14am
PetSmart employee doesn't know as much as you do???
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post #4 of 16
10/25/11 at 5:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Which flavor? I know that the Turkey and Giblets is considered OK for CRF cats and diabetic cats, but I guess it's not the one you're talking about because it does have taurine listed.

I understand that heart has a lot of taurine, but then again, grinding and heating destroys the taurine. So I can't see how any commercial diet could get away without supplementing.
Flaked Fish and Shrimp *shrug*
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeuzettesMom View Post
PetSmart employee doesn't know as much as you do???
So I shouldn't be feeding my cat 50% vegetable dry food???
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post #5 of 16
10/25/11 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
Flaked Fish and Shrimp *shrug*
Ha! Shows what they know. . .that's 2 protein sources, lol. Anyway, I Googled "does shrimp contain taurine" and found a lot of info saying that both fish and shrimp are very high in taurine. But I can't figure out how they manage for the finished product to contain enough taurine after processing.
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post #6 of 16
10/25/11 at 6:55pm
Here's my take:

It can't possibly have enough taurine without having it added.
Not that long ago, dog food had no taurine as it was thought that dogs didn't need it.
Turns out that dogs do need taurine so it's added now to dog food.
Dogs need no where near as much as cats do.
Therefore, if dog food needs supplementation of taurine to raise the levels adequately, then it stands to reason that cat food most definitely needs it added.
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post #7 of 16
10/25/11 at 6:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Ha! Shows what they know. . .that's 2 protein sources, lol. Anyway, I Googled "does shrimp contain taurine" and found a lot of info saying that both fish and shrimp are very high in taurine. But I can't figure out how they manage for the finished product to contain enough taurine after processing.
Technically, yes, but when it comes to allergies, fish can actually be bundled together. Hence the Natural Balance LID diet 'Fish and Sweet Potato'.
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post #8 of 16
10/25/11 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
Technically, yes, but when it comes to allergies, fish can actually be bundled together. Hence the Natural Balance LID diet 'Fish and Sweet Potato'.
Is shrimp technically fish? I would have thought that crustaceans would be in an entirely different classification, dietarily speaking.
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post #9 of 16
10/25/11 at 7:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arlyn View Post
Here's my take:

It can't possibly have enough taurine without having it added.
Not that long ago, dog food had no taurine as it was thought that dogs didn't need it.
Turns out that dogs do need taurine so it's added now to dog food.
Dogs need no where near as much as cats do.
Therefore, if dog food needs supplementation of taurine to raise the levels adequately, then it stands to reason that cat food most definitely needs it added.
But it's Not added to very many dog foods.
Simply Nourish, Natural Balance, Blue Bufffalo, Wellness, Nutro Max and Taste of the Wild just to name a few...
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post #10 of 16
10/25/11 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Is shrimp technically fish? I would have thought that crustaceans would be in an entirely different classification, dietarily speaking.
Mmm... idk. I think when it comes to labeling, 'fish' includes crustaceans. But honestly I'm not too picky about that. I just want to focus on the taurine aspect.
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post #11 of 16
10/25/11 at 7:15pm
Maybe the shrimp is minimally processed? Or it has so much taurine that the processing doesn't destroy it all? That's the only flavor of FF that doesn't have added taurine (yes, I did look up the ingredients of every single flavor on their website, lol), so there must be a reason they don't add any to that flavor. I thought maybe that flavor was to be used for supplemental feeding only--like Sheba--but it doesn't say anything about that on the website.
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post #12 of 16
10/25/11 at 7:18pm
Sorry, senior moment, was reading the cat food bag, not even TOTW lol
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post #13 of 16
10/25/11 at 9:39pm
If the guaranteed analysis on the label says it has the minimum amount of taurine in there for that life-stage, then its moot if its added or not. Just to add though that if a recipe doesn't say "complete and balanced", then its allowed to be nutritionally lacking.

I didn't realize how crazy high fish and shrimp are in taurine though naturally:
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

So shrimp has over 500% more taurine than chicken! WOW!!!
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post #14 of 16
10/25/11 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
If the guaranteed analysis on the label says it has the minimum amount of taurine in there for that life-stage, then its moot if its added or not. Just to add though that if a recipe doesn't say "complete and balanced", then its allowed to be nutritionally lacking.
You should know I'm more skeptical than that.
I didn't realize how crazy high fish and shrimp are in taurine though naturally:
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

So shrimp has over 500% more taurine than chicken! WOW!!!
That is a lot of taurine though..
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post #15 of 16
10/26/11 at 1:58am
I think there has to be a balence, same with us. Some of each, but not too much of one.
Of course, if your cat won't eat it...you aren't gaining a thing.
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post #16 of 16
10/26/11 at 8:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeuzettesMom View Post
I think there has to be a balence, same with us. Some of each, but not too much of one.
Of course, if your cat won't eat it...you aren't gaining a thing.
????
My cat isn't picky, so I don't understand the relevancy of your comment.
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