Dogs are from Mars ~ Cats are from Venus

Are they really different? 

Part II

 Last week, we determined that cats are omnivore and dogs are carnivore and that they can manufacture most of their own required substances within their own body system.  But when it comes to chemistry and nutrition, there are some still very real biochemical differences between cats and dogs.   As you will see, cats like to borrow.  What they can’t make themselves in their own body system, they will borrow from other animals that do.

VITAMIN A Also called retinol, is required at the cellular level by both cats and dogs.  Vitamin A is found in plants.

Cats – Process little or no enzymes that will break down the plant-produced carotenoids.  Cats must eat Vitamin A that already has been converted from carotenoids to its active form by some other creature such as a mouse or rabbit. Here’s a good example of why cats are called strict carnivores they need to eat some other animal in order to "borrow" its active Vitamin A!

Dogs – Have enzymes in the lining of the intestine that can break down plant carotenoids and convert these into active Vitamin A.

NIACIN  An essential B vitamin (essential means must be eaten, can’t be made inside the body’s chemical factory.)

Dogs – Obtain Niacin in two ways. One is by converting a dietary amino acid call Tryptophan into Niacin and the other way is by eating preformed Niacin.

Cats – Can obtain Niacin only by eating another animal and “borrow” the B vitamin as they cannot convert Tryptophan to niacin.
 

ARGININE is a building block for proteins, called an amino acid. Arginine is vital to many of the animal’s internal chemical functions.  

Cats – Are extremely sensitive to even a single meal deficient in Arginine and are unable to make their own Arginine.  Cats need lots of protein, and Arginine is involved in aiding the elimination of the protein waste products.

Dogs – Are not very sensitive to low levels of Arginine in their diets and produce enzymes internally that can aid production of Arginine.

Taurine An amino acid that is not built into proteins, but is distributed throughout most body tissues.  Taurine is important for healthy functioning of the heart, retina, bile fluid and certain aspects of reproduction.
Cats – Must eat preformed Taurine and since Taurine is not found in plant tissues, cats must consume meat to obtain Taurine.  If the meat is cooked, it must be supplemented.  Cats can’t make their own, therefore, Taurine is essential in the diets of cats.

Dogs – Make their own in taurine.  Although, I have been told that there are some breeds that have a harder time making it.

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