When formulating a diet for Cats it is important to make sure that there are no excesses for some nutrients. Safe upper limits will be integrated into the stable (1.0) release. The following tables list the safe upper limit of key nutrients based on the NRC recommended allowance.
The 1.0 release of the software will have these limits built in automatically. We will use arbitrary amounts (including amounts from the FEDIAF / AAFCO industry standards) for nutrients that do not have safe upper limits. We will also allow the user to alter these arbitrary amounts.
Note that kittens have more stringent requirements.
| Kittens | |
| Arginine | 364 % |
| Histidine | 662 % |
| Isoleucine | 1550 % |
| Methionine | 295 % |
| Leucine | 678 % |
| Lysine | 690 % |
| Phenylalanine | 557 % |
| Phenylalanine & Tyrosine | 354 % |
| Threonine | 793 % |
| Tryptophan | 1062 % |
| Valine | 1356 % |
| Taurine | 2220 % |
| Total Fat | 366 % |
| Linoleic Acid | 985 % |
| Vitamin A | 8000 % |
| Vitamin D | 13428 % |
| Adult Cats | |
| Total Fat | 366 % |
| Linoleic Acid | 985 % |
| Arachidonic Acid | 3333 % |
| Vitamin A | 10000 % |
| Vitamin D | 10742 % |
| Late Gestation & Peak Lactation | |
| Total Fat | 366 % |
| Linoleic Acid | 985 % |
| Vitamin A | 5000 % |
| Vitamin D | 10742 % |
Analyzing our Recipes
Below we see the Recipe Balancer module showing the Nutrient Summary for the adult cat recipe, "Beef and Liver with Heart." We compare the values in the Nutrient Summary to the values in the Adult Cats Table above. We want the values to be below the safe upper limit. The screenshot below highlights two different nutrients. The first nutrient component (Total Fat) is 283.74 %. This is below the safe upper limit of 366 % cited in the Adult Cats Table above. So this nutrient component is at a safe level for this recipe. Linoleic Acid, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D are all below the safe upper limits for adult cats stated above. However, the safe upper limit for Arachidonic Acid for adult cats is 3,333 % and our recipe is 6,332.25 %; well above the safety level. This recipe needs to be altered to bring this nutrient component below the safe upper limit.
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Our software complies with the guidelines set by the 2006 NRC publication, "Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats". This publication is the gold standard for dog and cat nutrition worldwide.
