Cat Lethality Due to Taurine Deficiency: Critical Insig

It's a wellknown fact that cats are the natural predators of mice. However, why out of all the creatures in the world, cats have chosen mice as their prey? This might just be a deliberate act of creation. Cats require a specific amino acid called taurine, which is essential for their bodies but difficult to synthesize on their own. Mice happen to be one of the animals that contain the highest levels of taurine, thus explaining the ageold rivalry between cats and mice.

Without taurine, cats can suffer from a variety of degenerative and digestive issues, including:

Retinal degeneration (FCD), leading to vision loss and, in severe cases, complete blindness.

Cardiovascular diseases such as dilated cardiomyopathy, where the heart muscle weakens, causing heart failure, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Difficulty in bile secretion, leading to digestive problems and malabsorption of nutrients.

Infertility in female cats and spontaneous abortions.

Delayed development in kittens, potentially leading to dwarfism.

Diminished coat color and excessive hair loss.

Dental issues like tooth decay, periodontal disease, and gingivitis.

Immunodeficiency, making them more susceptible to skin diseases, feline AIDS, and herpes zoster.

Taurine, since its discovery by scientists in the 1980s, has been proven to be crucial for a cat's physiological functions. Today, almost all dry and wet cat food products include additional taurine, just like lysine, which is another essential amino acid. Since cats cannot produce taurine in large quantities, they need to obtain it from animalbased proteins or through supplementation.

Both dry and wet cat food can be at risk of taurine deficiency. While imported pet food often contains the recommended amount of taurine, the hightemperature, highpressure cooking process and long storage times during transportation can reduce the effectiveness of the nutrients.

For cats that are fed homemade meals, there's a higher risk of taurine deficiency since it's challenging to accurately measure and control the levels of vitamins, taurine, and proteins. According to official data from the Taiwan Animal Protection Department, taurine deficiency was the cause of death in 37.2% of cats that died due to homemade cat food, significantly higher than other causes of death. (Data from the Taipei City Animal Protection Department in 2017.)

Taurine is a vital nutrient for cats, especially those in the developmental stage or with underlying health conditions. If cats primarily consume cooked food, there's a risk of deficiency, and they may need additional supplements from health foods. Regular veterinary checkups are also essential to ensure that our feline companions remain healthy and energetic, by our sides.