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PROVET

EVIDENCE-BASED NUTRITION FOR PETS

PRO-TAUR - Taurine Supplement 

Provet Data Sheet/Technical Briefing

V : 14.06.04

(Scientific References are numbered in brackets)

Topics on this Page:

Description

Taurine is a naturally occurring b-amino acid, chemical name 2-aminoethansulphonic acid. It is an essential dietary constituent for cats (2, 6), and a non-essential nutrient for dogs because they can readily synthesise it from the sulphur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine. 

Taurine is present in high concentrations in (14) :

  • Brain

  • Retina

  • Myocardium  

  • Skeletal muscle

  • Smooth muscle

  • Platelets

  • Neutrophils

Taurine is important for many normal functions in the body (2,3, 4, 5, 10, 14) including:

  • Bile salt function 

  • Cardiac function 

  • Foetal development (2, 10)

  • Immune function

  • Membrane excitability 

  • Neurological function

  • Platelet function

  • Retinal function

  • Reproductive function

  • Skeletal growth

PRO-TAUR Product Presentation

Crushable, dispersible multiroute (MR) tablets in two sizes:  250mg and 500mg

Cat – One to two 250mg tablet twice daily

Dog– One to two 500mg tablet three times daily

Uses for Taurine Supplements

Taurine supplementation is recommended as a nutritional aid in the maintenance of normal :

in cats and dogs.

Recommended Feeding Rates

Cats:

Minimum Requirement:

400mg taurine/kg diet for growth (2) ;  500 mg taurine/kg diet for reproduction (2)

Increased now to:

1000mg taurine/kg diet (dry foods) (5) ;  2000mg taurine/kg diet (wet foods) (5) ;  

2500mg taurine/kg diet (wet foods) (4)

In normal cats intake should be 50mg taurine /day (3)

Feeding recommendation for PRO-TAUR for Cats

One to two 250mg tablet twice daily  

 

Dogs:

Minimum requirement:

Taurine is not regarded as being an essential dietary constituent in the dog (1) because sufficient can be synthesisedin the body, although Taurine-deficient diets are known to cause cholelithiasis (11)  

Feeding recommendation for PRo-TAUR for Dogs

One to two 500mg tablet three times daily

Contraindications, Warnings etc

Nutritional supplement for animal use only

Keep out of the reach of children

Use as directed by your veterinarian

No long-term side-effects have been reported with Taurine supplementation (13)

No drug interactions have been reported with Taurine (13)

Precautions

Store in a cool, dry place

Legal Category

Nutritional supplement

Package Sizes

Multi-Route tablets in 250mg and 500mg sizes. Bottles containing 100 tablets

Scientific References

1.      Nutrient Requirements of Dogs NRC (1985) National Research Council Washington DC, Academic Press

2.      Nutrient Requirements of Cats (1986) National Research Council Washington DC, Academic Press p13-15

3.      Hand M et al (2000) Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4, Morris Associates, Topeka, Kansas

4.      Bellhorn et al. (1974) Feline central retinal degeneration. Investigative Ophthalmology 13: 608.

5.      Huxtable RJ (1992) Physiological actions of taurine. Physiological Reviews 72:101-163

6.      Morris JG et al. (1990) Taurine: An essential nutrient for cats. Journal of Small Animal Practice 31: 502-509

8.      Pion PD et al (1987) Myocardial failure in cats associated with low plasma taurine: A reversible cardiomyopathy Science 237: 764-768

9.      Rubin LF (1963) Atrophy of rods and cones in the cat retina. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 142: 1415

10.  Sturman JA et al (1991) Dietary taurine and feline reproduction and development. Journal of Nutrition 121: S166-S170

11.  Strombeck DR & Guilford WG (1991) Small Animal Gastroenterology 2e Wolfe p 687-689

12.  Strombeck DR & Guilford WG (1991) Small Animal Gastroenterology 2e Wolfe Publishing Ltd, London. p 639

13.  Allen DG et al (1993) in Handbook of Veterinary Drugs . J.B.Lippincott, Pennsylvania. p264.

14. PDR for Nutritional Supplements (2001) Published by Thomson Healthcare p 442-445

15. Barbeau A, Donaldson J. (1973) Taurine in Epilepsy . Lancet 2 (7825):387

 

 

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