Choline

Fatty liver (hepatic lipidosis) is a serious risk in cats that have to lose weight or stop eating, and choline helps keep fat from building up in the liver.

Choline chloride is the salt form of choline that pet food makers use because it is stable and easy to blend. Choline is part of the nutrient profile that the National Research Council set out for cats in its 2006 report on dog and cat nutrient needs, and complete foods add it to reach that level. If your cat has liver disease or another medical condition, talk to your veterinarian about its diet.

Source: nap.nationalacademies.org

Choline chloride is in cat food to supply choline, a nutrient the body uses to build cell membranes and to move fat out of the liver. Meat and eggs contain some choline, but formulators add a measured amount so every batch meets the target. It is usually one of the larger items in a vitamin premix, so it often appears before the other vitamins on a label.

Choline is often grouped with the B vitamins on pet food labels, although nutrition scientists class it as a vitamin-like nutrient rather than a true vitamin. Cats need it in larger amounts than most B vitamins. On a label you will usually see it as choline chloride, which is the form added to dry and wet cat foods.

Choline is the nutrient, and choline chloride is a salt that carries it. Pure choline is hard to handle, so manufacturers pair it with chloride to make a stable powder or liquid for mixing into food. Once eaten, the body uses the choline part. Pettings tracks both label names on this one page.

Pettings gives choline 4 out of 5 and lists it as a vitamin. It appears on 148 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. We score it with the other added vitamins because it is there to meet a nutrient target. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.