Lesson: Taurine & Cooked Meat

Taurine & Cooked Meat

Taurine, an organic acid which is found in all animal tissues, is not degraded by the freeze-thaw process when it comes to raw meats, however it is degraded when it is cooked or exposed to heat of some kind. 

Cooked Meat

Feeding cooked meat, especially if you have made it homemade is a huge risk to your obligate carnivore since Taurine is essential for your ferrets overall health and is lost during the cooking process. Cooking in general causes a loss in many nutrients. Enzymes are destroyed by cooking.

Digestive enzymes are produced primarily in the pancreas and released into the duodenum to help digest food coming from the stomach. However since Digestive enzymes are destroyed during cooking, the chore is left to the intestines or the pancreas themselves to secrete amylase and other digestive enzymes.  Enzymes are important. They don’t just help to digest the food – they are living proteins that help repair DNA, make hormones, prevent clotting and so on. Eating a diet of cooked and processed foods would put incredible stress on our ferret's bodies. The pancreas in particular, since it has to produce massive quantities of digestive enzymes after consuming a food that is devoid of enzymes.

Long term consumption of a diet consisting of completely cooked meat can lead to alot of over worked organs, which can then lead to very horrible diseases. This does not mean that you cannot feed cooked meat though. It is recommended to be only a treat, not something that is the entire diet. Never feed cooked bones to your ferrets as they can pose a serious risk. Once the bone in meat has gone through the cooking process, it can remove the nutritional value of the meat and the bones become more brittle, increasing the risk of splintering.

Can Ferrets synthesise Taurine?

Obligate carnivores are not able to synthesise all the taurine they need from other amino acids (such as methionine and cysteine) unlike some other carnivores and unlike herbivores or omnivores.  This means that it is essential to their diet and must be fed to the ferret.

What is the role of Taurine?

Taurine is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine. Taurine has many fundamental biological roles, such as conjugation of bile acids, anti-oxidation, osmoregulation, membrane stabilisation, and modulation of calcium singling. It is essential for cardiovascular function, and development and function of skeletal muscle, the retina, and the central nervous system. 

Is Taurine an Amino Acid?

Taurine is unusual among biological molecules in being a sulfonic acid, while the vast majority of biologically occurring acids contain the more weakly acidic carboxyl group. While taurine is sometimes called an amino acid, and indeed is an acid containing an amino group, it is not an amino acid in the usual biochemical meaning of the term, which refers to compounds containing both an amino and a carboxyl group. 

What may happen if Taurine is not in the diet?

A diet that does not have enough taurine can cause the heart to stretch and enlarge (dilated cardiomyopathy). This can lead to congestive heart failure and in worse cases, death. In the eye, a low taurine diet can cause blindness from central retinal degeneration. 
In order for any issue to arise, a Deficiency must drag on for a certain length time. It may take months, it may take years, it all depends on the ferret. 

Can I feed too much Taurine?

Taurine is a water soluble nutrient, so that makes it incredibly rare that a ferret would overdose on Taurine. If a ferret eats something and there is too much taurine in it, the excess is simply excreted VIA urine. 

I will give you another lesson on Water Soluble and Fat Soluble Vitamins another day. 

So where can Taurine be found? 

The main source of Taurine for our ferrets in the Frankenprey menu is Hearts. Taurine can also be found in other types of meat, but hearts are essential to insure they get an appropriate amount of Taurine in their diet. If you cannot find hearts or need another option, brain, and tongue also have a high amount of Taurine. Raw (beef) tongue is also the next best option to hearts as it is very high in Taurine. In fact, Tongue has a higher amount of Taurine than that of Heart and is also quite fatty. Beef tongue is a good option if you can find it or if it is in your budget. 


If you cannot locate a Heart, or Tongue, Supplementing with a Taurine powder can be used short term until you can find alternative sources for Taurine. A health food store should have Taurine powder. It may be handy to have stored away for emergencies.  Supplementing Taurine is 500mg/Day  per ferret.

This thread has some good information on Supplementing with Taurine Powder/Capsules.

holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13404/little-education-on-taurine