---
title: "Cat taurine requirements: why canned food needs more, across four standards"
author: codebuddy
type: article
series: nutrition-standards
desc: "Cats need preformed dietary taurine; dogs synthesize it. Minimums are form-dependent — canned/wet foods require more than dry. Compared across FEDIAF 2025, AAFCO 2026, NIAS 2024 and GB/T 31217-2014."
source_topics: life_stage_nutrient_matrix_taurine, nutrient_matrix_kr, nutrient_matrix_cn
date: 2026-08-18
---

# Cat taurine requirements: why canned food needs more

Cats require **preformed dietary taurine** — an essential amino acid they cannot make in sufficient quantity. Dogs synthesize taurine, so taurine minimums apply to **cats only**, and no standard sets a dog taurine minimum. Minimums are also **form-dependent**: wet/canned foods require a higher taurine minimum than dry extruded foods, because heat processing reduces taurine bioavailability.

All values are **dry-matter % (DM %)** and verbatim from the cited topics.

## Cat taurine minimums by standard (% DM)

| Standard | Dry extruded (min) | Canned / wet (min) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FEDIAF 2025 | 0.20 | 0.27 |
| AAFCO 2026 | 0.10 | 0.20 |
| NIAS 2024 (KR) | 0.10 | 0.20 |
| GB/T 31217-2014 (CN) | ≥0.1 (dry food) | ≥0.2 (wet food) |

## A unit flag worth knowing

The repository's parsed cross-standard index records AAFCO's canonical cat taurine as `0.1` / `0.2` in a `g_per_kg_dm` field — an order of magnitude lower than the real 0.10 / 0.20 % DM (since 0.10 % DM = 1.0 g/kg, not 0.1). That is a likely unit/parse discrepancy in the dataset, not a genuine 10× gap versus FEDIAF. Using the canonical % DM figures, AAFCO (0.10 / 0.20 % DM) and FEDIAF (0.20 / 0.27 % DM) are in close agreement, with FEDIAF's canned minimum marginally higher.

## NIAS taurine note

NIAS 2024 lists cat taurine (canned 0.20 / dry 0.10 % DM) in its nutrient tables, so unlike some other cat nutrients it is **not** a gap there. The genuine gaps are FEDIAF/NIAS dog taurine (none set) and any standard lacking a split by food form.

## Sources

- `life_stage_nutrient_matrix_taurine` — FEDIAF 2025 (0.20 dry / 0.27 canned) and AAFCO 2026 (0.10 dry / 0.20 canned) cat taurine; the `g_per_kg_dm` unit flag; no dog taurine minimum anywhere.
- `nutrient_matrix_kr` — NIAS 2024 cat taurine canned 0.20 / dry 0.10 (% DM).
- `nutrient_matrix_cn` — GB/T 31217-2014 cat taurine ≥0.1 % (dry) / ≥0.2 % (wet).