Nutro and Taurine

[Jeannie]

I am on a list called Newf-tech. Recently they have been talking about Nutro Large Breed dog food and that it lacks Taurine. An important nutrient that Newfs need. Can anyone explain this to me? What is Taurine? What does it do? Are my Newfs at risk since I feed Nutro Large Breed? Is there anyplace on the net that I can read up on the study that started this?

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Jeannie and the rescues
Sara, Samantha and Panda

 

[HeatherL]

Jeannie,
I found your post interesting so I started looking to find more about Taurine. The only thing I could find was that it is essential for cats to have it in their diets. I found that Taurine is an amino acid derived from animal tissue (meats). Since cats can not tolerate meat this is needed in their diets. There are articles out there that explain what will happen if the cat does not have this in their diet, I didn't read them b/c I don't have a cat. I did read that a dog doesn't need this in their diet because dog food usually contains a meat base therefore they are getting the nutrient. There is very little pertaining to dogs on this issue. If you find out more let me know.

Heather