Do Cats Need Vitamins?
Absolutely no way I could write about dogs without talking about cats as well, and there’s good reason: my daughter-in-law is an ardent cat advocate. She and our son act as foster parents for kittens from their local animal society until they’re ready for adoption so that when they join a family, they’re accustomed to being around people. When you have grandcats, even only for a few weeks, you want to see how they’re doing and what Matthew and Kerri have named the latest pair. I also want to see that they do well, so the topic was relevant: can cats take vitamins and minerals?
When the National Academy of Sciences put together the report on dogs, they also did the same type of brochure for cats, and again the quantities seem proportional to body weight.
One difference I noticed about cats is that they require the amino acid taurine to be healthy. As a result, while dogs could do well on a vegetarian diet with enough protein, cats require animal protein. You can check out the entire PDF to get additional information.
What are you prepared to do today?
Dr. Chet
Reference: www.nap.edu/resource/10668/cat_nutrition_final.pdf