Iron

Iron is an essential mineral with important roles in oxygen transport, energy metabolism and numerous enzyme systems. Much of the iron in an animal’s body is associated with haemoglobin in the blood, with additional stores in tissues including the liver and spleen. Whole prey therefore provides sources of iron that are largely lost when a homemade cat food is prepared from boneless meat and liver alone drained of its blood.

Iron was added to the TCfeline formulas after comparative nutritional analysis showed that the prepared diets relying solely on red meats and addition of liver fell below the iron levels recommended by AAFCO and NRC, or those found in whole mice. No clinical signs of iron deficiency or nutritional anaemia had been observed in early feeding trials the Feline Future study cats. Nevertheless, the comparison identified a nutritional gap that warranted correction rather than waiting for a deficiency to become clinically apparent.

TCfeline uses ferrous bisglycinate, an amino-acid chelate in which ferrous iron is bound to two molecules of the amino acid glycine. I evaluated several possible iron sources before choosing this form. Ferrous bisglycinate is a stable, readily bioavailable form of iron and has shown good gastrointestinal tolerance. Its concentration also allows the required amount of iron to be supplied without adding a substantial quantity of material to the premix or adversely affecting its appearance and palatability.

Supplemental iron brings the prepared food closer to the nutritional composition of whole prey while ensuring a consistent and reliable iron supply from one batch of food to the next.