Retinal degeneration associated with taurine deficiency in the cat

Hayes, Carey and Schmidt discovered that cats fed diets lacking sufficient taurine developed central retinal degeneration leading to blindness, identifying taurine as a dietary essential nutrient for cats. As obligate carnivores, cats cannot synthesise enough taurine and must obtain it from animal tissue, so processed or plant-heavy diets risk deficiency. The finding transformed feline nutrition, leading to taurine supplementation of commercial cat foods and underscoring that cats have strict, meat-dependent nutritional requirements. For captive felid welfare it illustrates why diet formulation, especially for processed and substitute diets, must respect obligate-carnivore physiology, and it is a cornerstone reference in feline nutrition and the rationale for whole-prey feeding.