I found this little gem that touches on a little of everything.  It has a little blurb about taurine & gives a few more links.  I bookmarked this as I thought it would be great to have for reference:

http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#supplements

Well, I'll have to try some. I think if cats don't get enough, they will get heart problems, and i think they need it for their eyes.

Kaffe, et al

I'm going to stick this in to consider especially for cats. Suffice it to say that I've ordered Taurine for me and the Pita Cats


http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/11/2831

"Commercial dry and canned diets fed to cats cause two- and fourfold increase in the taurine requirement, respectively, as compared with that observed for purified diets."

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/122/3/553

"These results demonstrate that a heat-processed diet causes substantially greater losses of taurine from the intestine than does a frozen diet. This phenomenon may explain the inability of some heat-processed diets to maintain normal plasma taurine concentrations in cats. "


More here:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=Fecal+bile+acid+excretion+and+taurine+status+in+cats+fed+canned+and+dry+diets&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=all&hl=en&lr=

Offly.....This is very similar to something that I have read.
I have put myself on taurine in addition to adding some to kitties food, especially the canned.
Amazingly, Rufus has responded so well that his stool has changed dramatically.  He is NOT IBD, but does have bouts of enteritis, probably as a result of the H.pylori in his stomach.  That will not be treated as of yet, because the vet wants to see if the lymphatic hyperplasia calms down without the use of antibiotics.  We have another month before we look again at his insides with ultrasound.

The taurine has been a godsend for me.  Major stress in my life.......not the cats.....the pita humans.
Could not sleep at night, stomach in knots and all sorts of creepy things were happening.  After about a week on 1000mg of taurine, all is well.  I am not on any medications at all right now.  The stress was also causing slight B/P elevations.  Last read was 140/80...... high for me.  After taurine.....110/65.  Doc is quite stunned with my results, but he refuses to acknowledge.
Angel vet on the otherhand, is quite delighted and will try supplemental taurine on her IBD kitties.

This descrip of taurine on the NOW website explains the mouse brains & mood boosting effects:

http://www.nowfoods.com/?action=itemdetail&item_id=2927

"Taurine is a conditionally essential amino acid which is not utilized in protein synthesis, but is mainly found free in most tissues, especially throughout the nervous system.  Taurine has been found to be important in the formation of bile salts, cell membrane stabilization, and eye health.  Taurine is well known for its role in the modulation of neurotransmitter activity and its relaxing effect on the mood."

Sounds like a good plan, JanC!      I'll join ya!

LMAO LMAO LMAO... can I have something with a umbrella???