![]() Baker, " Urinary Taurine Excretion as a Function of Taurine Intake in Adult Cats," The Journal of Nutrition 122, 1992, 1135-1142.Are you looking for the ideal cat food recipe that will keep your feline friend healthy, happy, and purring with delight? One animal protein you'll find in cat food time and time again is chicken, and there is a good reason for it! " Your Cat's Nutritional Needs, A Science-Based Guide for Pet Owners," National Research Council of The National Academies, July 24, 2006.ģ. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28, September 2015.Ģ. ![]() Katz shares her home with four kitties and one dog.ġ. She practices holistic and integrative medicine focusing on proper diet and nutrition. Elisa Katz, DVM, is a graduate of Ohio State University and is the owner of Natural Pet Animal Hospital in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Feline Nutrition disclaims all warranties and liability related to the veterinary advice and information provided on this site.ĭr. Diagnosis and treatment of specific conditions should always be in consultation with your own veterinarian. Note: Feline Nutrition provides feline health and nutrition information as a public service. This way, you can be confident that you are not providing your kitty with too much of any one nutrient in your efforts to provide better cat nutrition. My recommendation would be to limit chicken hearts to no more than two to three per day. The bottom line is that large amounts of chicken heart, seven or more per day, could provide more than the recommended nutrients for your cat. In my research, I have not been able to find any evidence that cats can get too much taurine, as any excess is metabolized and excreted in the urine. The heart, being the hardest-working muscle in the body, contains the highest amounts of taurine. Generally, the amount of taurine in chicken meat depends on how much work the muscle does, with darker meat indicating harder-working muscles and a higher level of taurine. Muscle meat in general contains fairly high amounts of taurine, an amino acid which is necessary for healthy heart and eyes in cats. However, over time excessive sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure and stress on the kidneys.Īside from energy, vitamins and minerals, the heart also contains amino acids, specifically large amounts of taurine. ![]() Even if you did feed that many, it might not pose a problem, as your cat may simply drink more water and excrete the sodium. You would need to feed your cat seven chicken hearts per day to reach this amount. ![]() If you compare the two charts, sodium appears to be the nutrient with the greatest chance of being fed in excess. While chicken hearts are quite beneficial from a nutrient perspective for your cat, too much of any one nutrient is not good. The recommended daily allowances for the above nutrients are listed in the second table. Abbreviations used are as follows: kcal = kilocalories, g = gram, mg = milligram, mcg = microgram. ¹ I have not listed the amounts of water soluble vitamins such as B-vitamins and Vitamin C that chicken hearts contain because any excesses are simply excreted in the urine. The primary nutrients, excluding water-soluble vitamins, in a typical 6 gram chicken heart can be seen in the first table. Liver can cause diarrhea in some cats if fed in large quantities. Meat parts which truly count as organ meat in raw cat food, such as liver and kidneys, are highly nutritious, but should never be fed in excess. In this case, heart counts as muscle meat. Even though the heart is referred to as an organ, because it is really a muscle, not a secreting organ, it doesn't count as organ meat when it comes to putting together raw food for cats. While the heart is a vital organ, it is in actuality made up primarily of muscle with a small amount of fat and connective tissue.
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