Cats are unique creatures - any owner will confirm that with a litany of stories about her cat’s peculiar habits. But they’re not just set apart by their exceptional talent for starring in Internet videos. Cats have unique health needs to keep them up for their busy schedules of mischief, snuggles and jumping on top of the refrigerator.

People sometimes ask why dogs and cats shouldn’t eat the same food. We at Sojos get the question a lot, because our complete raw foods for cats and dogs look and smell similar. The answer is simply that cats and dogs have some different nutritional needs. One great example of this is taurine.

Taurine is an amino acid, one of the elements necessary for cats’ bodies to function effectively. While dogs’ and humans’ bodies naturally produce the necessary amounts of taurine, cats do not. That’s why it’s incredibly important that their food provide them with the taurine they need.

Taurine is naturally found in meat, poultry, fish and eggs, and is key to a healthy heartbeat, healthy cells and more. Cats with long-term taurine deficiencies can suffer from blindness, heart conditions, issues with the immune system, as well as problems with the nervous system.

As a concerned cat owner, you’re likely to see lots of foods at the pet shop touting taurine in their recipes. However, what you won’t see are notes telling you that when meat or other sources of taurine are cooked, taurine starts to break down. So, if you feed a product that is cooked, even if it boasts taurine, you might not actually be giving your cat what she needs.

Conversely, feeding a diet of raw cat food like Sojos Complete is one way to give your cat taurine in its most nutritionally useful state. There’s no cooking, so there’s no breakdown of the taurine, plus, it’s easier for a cat’s digestive system to get all the other naturally occurring nutrients it needs from raw food.
Your cat might know what flavors she likes in her food, but when it comes to nutrition, making the right choices is up to you. With the right diet of raw food, she’ll be doing all those special kitty things you love (or love to hate), from walking on your head in the middle of the night to purring on your lap, for years to come.