Yes, heart is the highest source of taurine! Before I could get turkey hearts I fed beef hearts. I was surprised to find turkey was even higher than beef. The darker the meat, the higher the taurine level.
There was a study done that fed cats raw, ground rabbit. The cats looked great. Poop didn't smell. But then a cat died and they found that there was a taurine deficiency. That scared me enough to check into a taurine test. It runs around $200. But you would have to keep testing regularly to make sure the levels are good. So I found the website with the taurine information to compare what I'm feeding him to the recommended daily amount.
If you grind your food, then you really should add taurine. From what I read, the air hitting the surface of the meat will degrade the taurine content.
Here are the sources I found....
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmb/aal/pdfs/spitze.pdf
Cat Food Ingredients: The 4 Essential Groups - The Daily Cat Brought to You by Iams
meat-protein chart | Nutrient chart | Vitamins and minerals in common meats and proteins
Meat and meat products in human nutrition ... - Role of meat and meat products in human nutrition
Calculator
raw chicken breast: saturated fat, trans fat, calories, cholesterol, ... - Wolfram|Alpha
Minimum Required Daily Allowance of Taurine Daily
Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986
(Taurine Section starts on page 13)
Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986
400 mg/kg (it's not clearly if this is daily, weekly??)
Recommended Daily Allowances - Feline: Protein
Wiley InterScience :: Session Cookies
10mg/kg body weight
Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook
http://books.google.com/books?id=9lGTIbY...p;q&f=false
There was a study done that fed cats raw, ground rabbit. The cats looked great. Poop didn't smell. But then a cat died and they found that there was a taurine deficiency. That scared me enough to check into a taurine test. It runs around $200. But you would have to keep testing regularly to make sure the levels are good. So I found the website with the taurine information to compare what I'm feeding him to the recommended daily amount.
If you grind your food, then you really should add taurine. From what I read, the air hitting the surface of the meat will degrade the taurine content.
Here are the sources I found....
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmb/aal/pdfs/spitze.pdf
Cat Food Ingredients: The 4 Essential Groups - The Daily Cat Brought to You by Iams
Protein in meat chart and information“Cats have a higher protein requirement” than dogs or people, says Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine. Cats require 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day, compared with 0.8 grams per kilogram in humans and 1.3 grams per kilogram in dogs, he says. High-quality protein sources can include chicken, salmon, egg and other meats, poultry or fish sources.
meat-protein chart | Nutrient chart | Vitamins and minerals in common meats and proteins
Meat and meat products in human nutrition ... - Role of meat and meat products in human nutrition
Calculator
raw chicken breast: saturated fat, trans fat, calories, cholesterol, ... - Wolfram|Alpha
Minimum Required Daily Allowance of Taurine Daily
Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986
(Taurine Section starts on page 13)
Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986
400 mg/kg (it's not clearly if this is daily, weekly??)
Recommended Daily Allowances - Feline: Protein
Wiley InterScience :: Session Cookies
10mg/kg body weight
Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook
http://books.google.com/books?id=9lGTIbY...p;q&f=false