Dietary taurine and feline reproduction and development

The reproductive performance of female cats is severely affected by dietary taurine deficiency resulting in excessive reproductive wastage, including frequently resorbed or aborted fetuses and stillborn or low birth-weight live kittens. These studies were performed using female cats fed a completely defined purified diet (taurine-free) alone or supplemented with taurine for greater than or equal to 6 mo before mating, and their breeding performance was monitored for several years. Diets containing 0, 0.005 or 0.01% taurine produced severe taurine depletion and poor reproductive performance. Those containing 0.05, 0.2 or 1% taurine resulted in no apparent abnormalities and a normal breeding performance. A diet containing 0.02% taurine resulted in no apparent abnormalities and a normal breeding performance. A diet containing 0.02% taurine resulted in modest taurine depletion and a partially compromised reproductive performance. Kittens from taurine-deficient mothers have a poor survival rate and grow at a slower rate than kittens from females fed an adequate taurine diet. The brain weights of kittens from taurine-deficient mothers are significantly smaller than normal, both at birth and at weaning at 8 wk. Surviving kittens exhibit a number of abnormalities. The differences in maternal dietary taurine are reflected in the taurine concentrations found in the milk of lactating females. Our results strongly suggest that a certain amount of taurine is mandatory for survival and normal development in the cat.