Also called · carnitine · carnitine shuttle
What it is
For a fatty acid to enter the mitochondria and be burned, carnitine has to carry it in. That route is called the carnitine shuttle.
Block the transport and fat accumulates in the liver.
Hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) in cats is the textbook example.
What it does
Why you must not suddenly starve an overweight cat
When an obese cat abruptly stops eating, fat floods the liver all at once. Past the liver’s processing capacity, hepatic lipidosis sets in — an emergency within days.
Why it turns up in weight-management diets
It widens a bottleneck in the fat-burning pathway, so it is frequently formulated into products aimed at weight loss.
Cognitive function in senior dogs
There is a study feeding senior dogs acetyl-L-carnitine together with α-lipoic acid. (Milgram et al., FASEB J 21(13), 2007)
How to feed it
The same — except that for cats, weight loss is less about the ingredient and more about the rate of loss.
It only means anything as part of a weight-loss programme.
What to watch for
In cats, abrupt food restriction leads straight to fatty liver risk. Feeding carnitine does not license you to cut food faster.
Concerns this ingredient relates to
General nutrition information. It does not replace a diagnosis or a prescription. If your animal has a medical condition or is on medication, talk to your veterinarian first.