Thankfully, the Association of American Feed Control stepped in and now requires all manufactured cat food to contain synthetic taurine. Essentially, most commercial pet foods were high in grain, low in quality protein, as remains the case today. That’s because taurine is found in muscle meats, and it was much cheaper to produce foods that relied heavily on meat production by-products, leftover animal bits, and tissue from slaughter. The process of producing these dry commercial foods depleted pets’ diets of the essential taurine that cats, in particular, needed. (Sidenote: this is not dissimilar to the war’s impact on human food, too-human food became fast, packaged, and preserved.) This was obviously optimal for pet health! However, the military needed those metals and tins that were used for canned goods, and by the end of the war, the majority of all pet food was dry food. Before the war, almost all commercial foods came in cans that contained meat. You may have wondered why it took until the 1970s for this problem to occur when so many cats and dogs have been eating the same commercial foods since the 60s.īelieve it or not, World War II had a huge impact on commercial pet foods. Taurine, for dogs, is still good for reproduction, fat digestion, and healthy hearts and eyes. However, it’s still a good idea to make sure your pups are getting extra taurine in their diet. It’s just that dogs are able to manufacture taurine from two other amino acids found in meat-methionine and cysteine-while cats cannot. Taurine deficiency may also lead to infertility, impaired fetal development, fur loss, tooth decay, and even abnormal skeletal growth.ĭon’t get us wrong taurine is beneficial for dogs, too. However, they are essential for cats, and a taurine deficiency can cause serious heart and eye diseases in cats. Many of these building blogs can actually be manufactured by your pet’s liver, but a lot of amino acids are derived from their diets, and these are what’s known as essential amino acids.įor humans and pups, taurine is not considered an essential amino acid.

Amino Acids and TaurineĪmino acids are the building blocks of protein, and there are 22 of them. Thankfully, by the 1980s, veterinarians and researchers were able to find the source of this frightening occurrence: a lack of taurine, a basic amino acid. (Remember: things were a lot different 40-50 years ago… nowadays we always encourage you to consult and follow a trusted veterinarian’s recommendations!) Cats were also going blind due to eating dog food, and later, they were found to be going blind due to certain cat foods sold by none other than their own veterinarians. Thousands of cats and dogs were suddenly experiencing dilated cardiomyopathy, a kind of heart failure. Recently, we read about an important historical phenomenon in veterinary science: a mysterious illness that plagued pets in the 1970s. At Homescape Pets, we are continually astounded by what we learn in our regular research to improve the lives of our pets and yours.

Taurine dogs