NOW Foods Supplements, Taurine Pure Powder, Nervous System Health*, Amino Acid, 8-Ounce

Raw Cat Food Diet Recipe Made WITH Real Bones2 kg [4.4 pounds] raw muscle meat with bones (chicken thighs and drumsticks or, better, a whole carcass of rabbit or chicken amounting to 2 kg; if you don't use a whole carcass, opt for dark meat like thighs and drumsticks from chicken or turkey and remove/don't use 20 to 25 percent of the bone; if using whole rabbit, which has a higher bone-to-meat ratio than chicken, dilute the extra bone by adding another 20 to 25 percent of plain muscle meat and skin and fat from rabbit, chicken, or turkey)400 grams [14 oz] raw heart (best not to use use beef heart; if no heart is available, substitute with 4000 mg Taurine)200 grams [7 oz] raw liver (don't use beef liver; if you can't find appropriate liver, you can substitute 40,000 IU of Vitamin A and 1600 IU of Vitamin D--but try to use real liver rather than substitutes)NOTE: If you cannot find the heart or liver and decide to substitute with the Taurine/Vitamin A and D, then remember to REPLACE the missing amount of organ meat with the equivalent amount of muscle meat. In other words, if you cannot find heart, you add another 400 grams of the meat/bones. If you can't find the liver, add another 200 grams of meat/bone.16 oz [2 cups] water4 raw egg yolks (use eggs from free-range, antibiotic-free chickens if you can)***4 capsules raw glandular supplement, such as, for example, multigland supplement by Immoplex.4000 mg salmon oil (see note at bottom of recipe*)800 IU Vitamin E ("dry E" works well)200 mg Vitamin B-50 complex (i.e., four capsules of B-50)1.5 tsp. Lite salt (with iodine)(optional: 4 tsp. psyllium husk powder (8 tsp. if using whole psyllium husks; see note at bottom of recipe**)NOTE: If you will not be using the food immediately and freezing for more than a week or two, toss in 4000 mg of additional Taurine to make up for what may get lost during storage. It is also not a bad idea to sprinkle extra Taurine from a capsule on the food as you're serving it two or three times a week, just to be certain your cat is getting plenty of this critical amino acid.1. Remove about half of the skin from the muscle meat. Chunk up (i.e., cut) as much of the muscle meat (minus most of the skin if using chicken or turkey, but leave skin on if using rabbit) as you can stand into bite-sized (nickel-sized, approximately) pieces. Save the chunked meat for later. Do not grind it.2. Grind the raw liver, any skin, raw meaty bones, and raw heart. Once ground, stir this meat/bone mixture well and return to refrigerator.3. Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water and whisk everything (non-meat) except the psyllium. If you had to replace liver with Vitamin A/D or replace heart with Taurine, add the substitutes now. Add psyllium at the end -- if you're using it -- and mix well. Finally, put the three mixtures together--the "supplement slurry" that you have just mixed, the ground up meat/bone/organs, and the chunks of meat that you cut up by hand. Portion into containers and freeze.Don't overfill the containers. The food expands when frozen and you don't want lids popping off. Thaw as you go. The food shouldn't be left thawed in the refrigerator more than 48 hours before serving. To serve, portion into a 'zipper baggie' and warm under hot water in the sink. NEVER microwave the food. Cats like their food at something approximating "mouse body temperature."*Every two or three days, I suggest sprinkling a few drops of fresh salmon oil from a newly-opened capsule on to the cats' food. The Essential Fatty Acids in salmon oil are extremely fragile, and since we do not know exactly how much gets lost during freezing, I think it's wise to use a bit of fresh salmon oil directly on the food a few times a week. Most cats love the flavor.**Not all cats require additional fiber (psyllium) in their diet. If your cat has been eating low-quality commercial food for several years, especially dry food, she may have lost bowel elasticity and may benefit from the extra fiber. As a general rule, I recommend using psyllium when an adult cat first gets raw food. I rarely add much psyllium to my adult cats' diet. Bear in mind that some cats seem to get constipated without additional fiber, whereas other cats seem to get constipated if they get too much fiber. Each cat is unique, and you'll have to judge what works best for your cat.***If you don't want to waste the egg whites and don't feel like making an angel food cake, poach them, grind them, and throw them in with the food. A nice phosphorus-free source of protein.

We cook food for our dog - so everything is human quality. She gets a veggie/rice/beans mix that is full of lots of veggies, etc. Separately she gets varying proteins that we switch every day (beef roast, pork roast, fish, eggs, etc). We pre cook everything and put 3 days supply in baggies to keep in the freezer and take one out of each every 2-3 days (she eats morning & evening). She LOVES her foot. However, taurine is critical for dogs to avoid heart problems, so we've been adding taurine for years as it isn't in food normally. One bottle lasts a long, long time, so it's a great value, too. If you love your dog you do the very best you can to prolong their life, keep them healthy and all -- and MANY dog food manufacturers don't add taurine & haven't for a long time. READ the bag before buying - you'd be surprised how many don't have it in there, even the higher end dog foods.

I have Myotonia Congenita, a disorder caused by a mutation to the chloride channel gene CLCN1. Because of it, my skeletal muscles contract too long after a period of rest. Repeated movements temporarily reduce symptoms. It's the same mutation that the "fainting goats" have. They don't faint - their muscles contract and they lose their balance.Taurine is said to help open chloride channels and close sodium channels. Myotonia Congenita is caused by the inability of chloride ions to pass through cell membranes at a normal rate to allow the muscles to relax normally (I think?? The academic papers I tried to read were ridiculously hard to understand). There has been one study related to taurine and Myotonia Congenita, with encouraging results. Due to the small number of studies on the condition, this is the most **verified** evidence to be found. However, anecdotal reports among the community found that energy drinks with taurine seemed to help alleviate symptoms. Others then tried specifically taurine and found that it often did help.In the past couple days of taking this supplement, I can say for a fact that it helps me. I can feel the effects within an hour of using it. Usually when I clench my fist, it takes a good 10+ seconds to fully open. With the supplement, it takes maybe a second or two. When getting up from a chair, it usually takes me up to 30 seconds to stand up fully and be able to walk. With taurine, it takes only up to 15 seconds, sometimes even less. I don't know if it will work forever, or if my body will develop a tolerance to it over time. All I can say right now is that I'm grateful for its effects right now. My only other alternative is medication, and the medications for myotonia all come with some potential side effects that are very serious (for one of them one of the possible side effects is literally cardiac arrest. I'll pass).

hard to say how well a supplement is working. i purchased for my cat because taurine is supposed to be a good supplement for cat heart health. had an ultrasound done on him last year which diagnosed mild to moderate heart disease - he's almost 16 now. just took him back almost a year later and his heart was the same. you could argue that may not be a positive for this product, but in a 16 year old cat, i was extremely glad that it wasn't any worse. his blood pressure seems to be the cause of the heart problems so we are trying a mild blood pressure prescription. it wasn't clear with the original ultrasound if it was congenital or blood pressure related. if it was congenial it would be progressing. i think the supplement has been good to help stabilize his heart. it's water soluble so it won't do any harm & taurine is critical for the feline diet. and the price is good.