Anyone have experience with Young Again food?

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MsBliss

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I got a sample and it's okay as far as eagerness to eat it, but what about the effects? Ginger is eating FF Classic and either Orijen Regional Red or Wellness Core kibble as a "safety" feed backup in case she needs to have food "on board". I would like to switch to YA but curious about other's experience with it. I will always use wet food, but am looking for a kibble to help with when Ginger needs to eat on her own. I am not expecting to get her into remission with this food--I just want to feed her well, maybe lower her insulin dose a bit as she has been diabetic for 4 years and is not going to reverse at this point.
 
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I'm using YA as a "backup kibble" for my diabetic, Amber. I feed meals of Fancy Feast but keep a bowl of YA out free-feeding style. Before the diabetes diagnosis she ate Orijen Regional Red; I think that would be considered medium-carb for a kibble but I don't remember the percentage.

As for effects: I've been told that any dry food can dramatically spike blood glucose levels for a diabetic cat, my experience with the YA doesn't suggest that it happens for my cat but I think it's an ECID thing-- if your cat happens to be sensitive to the carbs/glycemic index of kibble it would be better to try to switch over entirely to wet, of course. For Amber, though, the YA works well to give me more peace of mind when I go to bed at night or have to go to work during the day-- I know she tends to get hungry when her numbers get low-ish and that she'll "steer" herself by eating a bit kibble to keep her out of danger (doesn't happen as reliably with wet food).

Hope this helps, I'm curious about what other people have experienced with YA...
 
YA is used by others as well...many people find it does not affect the bg and have good success with it. As long as you are not on TR (must be all wet food) it in my opinion is a decent food among the dry food. I do think wet is best but some cats just will not convert.
We did try it and it had no negative effect on bg.
 
Nan & Amber said:
I'm using YA as a "backup kibble" for my diabetic, Amber. I feed meals of Fancy Feast but keep a bowl of YA out free-feeding style. Before the diabetes diagnosis she ate Orijen Regional Red; I think that would be considered medium-carb for a kibble but I don't remember the percentage.

As for effects: I've been told that any dry food can dramatically spike blood glucose levels for a diabetic cat, my experience with the YA doesn't suggest that it happens for my cat but I think it's an ECID thing-- if your cat happens to be sensitive to the carbs/glycemic index of kibble it would be better to try to switch over entirely to wet, of course. For Amber, though, the YA works well to give me more peace of mind when I go to bed at night or have to go to work during the day-- I know she tends to get hungry when her numbers get low-ish and that she'll "steer" herself by eating a bit kibble to keep her out of danger (doesn't happen as reliably with wet food).

Hope this helps, I'm curious about what other people have experienced with YA...
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback. Well, I just came home, and there was diarrhea in the box. I haven't seen this since I had a cat with IBD/Lymphoma, so this is not encouraging. I had just started then on Mercola probiotics in the wet food, but they are refusing to eat the food with that in it, so I'm blaming the YA. It was such a small sample, but I'm guessing that was it. Darn. I wanted to use the YA as background food against the FF Classic. Not sure that will work now.

Also, yes, I want to leave out a good kibble for the EXACT same reasons as you do: for overnight, and when they need access for low sugar events. I have two diabetic kitties, and don't feel that I can nail down when exactly they need to eat.
 
jayla-n-Drevon said:
YA is used by others as well...many people find it does not affect the bg and have good success with it. As long as you are not on TR (must be all wet food) it in my opinion is a decent food among the dry food. I do think wet is best but some cats just will not convert.
We did try it and it had no negative effect on bg.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback. What is "TR"? I think the YA might have given her diarrhea. I just got home to it in the box. I noticed you are giving Adequan and fluids. I am too! I have to add that to my siggy. I'm still learning my way around the forum here. Are you on the loading dose of Adequan, or just staying at once a week for long term? Are you doing it IM or subq? One vet told me to go IM once a month, the other vet said subq once a week. I can't get a consensus on it. I give Adequan for her rear legs--she has arthritis in the hips and spine, and calcification of the medial collateral ligaments of her knees. It's a mess back there. I've just started some physical therapies too(cool laser). Also doing fluids for early kidney complications from the diabetes: 100ml two days on, then one day off. She also has a slight pancreatitis, so giving Cerenia and pepcid, D3, B vitamins, zobaline, and it goes on and on.....
 
MsBliss said:
What is "TR"?
Click to expand...
"TR" is Tight Regulation (aiming to keep kitty in euglycemic or near-euglycemic numbers for as much of the time as possible). This gives the best chance at remission; though not everyone who attempts TR can achieve this kind of control, and there are some kitties for whom it isn't suitable.
There's some general info on regulation (which puts Tight Regulation in a sort of context) in the FDMB FAQ's:


"Q6.1. What is regulation?

A6.1. There are different definitions of regulation. As hometesting becomes more common, we've been getting a better understanding of what cats and their humans might be capable of. Janet & Fitzgerald propose the following "regulation continuum":
  • Not treated [blood glucose typically above 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/L), poor clinical signs]
  • Treated but not regulated [often above 300 (16.7) and rarely near 100 (5.6), poor clinical signs]
  • Regulated [generally below 300 (16.7) with glucose nadir near 100 (5.6), good clinical signs, no hypoglycemia]
  • Well regulated [generally below 200-250 (11.1-13.9) and often near 100 (5.6), no hypoglycemia]
  • Tightly regulated [generally below 150 (8.3) and usually in the 60-120 (3.3-6.7) range, no hypoglycemia, still receiving insulin]
  • Normalized [60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin]
There may also be an extra category of "mostly above 300 (16.7) but with good clinical signs" which occurs with some cats who are getting insulin. We don't know why it happens, but such a cat probably should not be considered to be regulated. On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible for a cat who is not getting insulin to have blood glucose as low as 40 mg/dl (2.2 mmol/L) on a home glucometer. If you have a non-diabetic cat, try testing her with the same meter to get a safe comparison figure."
http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm#regulation

Eliz
 
How much of the Young Again was eaten? Sudden food changes, particularly in large quantities, often provoke GI upsets of diarrhea, vomiting, or food refusal.
 
MsBliss said:
Well, I just came home, and there was diarrhea in the box. I haven't seen this since I had a cat with IBD/Lymphoma, so this is not encouraging. I had just started then on Mercola probiotics in the wet food, but they are refusing to eat the food with that in it, so I'm blaming the YA. It was such a small sample, but I'm guessing that was it. Darn. I wanted to use the YA as background food against the FF Classic. Not sure that will work now.
Click to expand...
Young Again actually say this can happen to begin with. Their food is designed to be eaten in very small amounts at a time - 10 or 12 pieces of kibble and the cat will eat multiple times in the day. So the sample pack, although small, contains a number of 'mini-meals' for a cat. I had the same thing happen with the sample packs for our cats - they each ate an entire sample in a matter of minutes and had diarrhea the following day. However, I now give a small amount of YA to each cat in the evening as a snack (Rosa had been begging for the dry food the other 2 cats were getting a small amount of as a snack and as she's getting picky with her food from CKD and needs more calories than she had been eating, YA was the only option to make her happy) and they now seem to eat it as intended and we've had no further issues. I haven't noticed any effect on Rosa's BG from the YA food, though I don't feed it as their only diet.
 
MsBliss said:
I got a sample and it's okay as far as eagerness to eat it, but what about the effects? Ginger is eating FF Classic and either Orijen Regional Red or Wellness Core kibble as a "safety" feed backup in case she needs to have food "on board". I would like to switch to YA but curious about other's experience with it. I will always use wet food, but am looking for a kibble to help with when Ginger needs to eat on her own. I am not expecting to get her into remission with this food--I just want to feed her well, maybe lower her insulin dose a bit as she has been diabetic for 4 years and is not going to reverse at this point.
Click to expand...
I use YA for mush, I feed fancy feast, & 9 lives, but i always have a dish of young again for him to eat on his own also. There has been no problem with his eating both wet & young again!
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
"TR" is Tight Regulation (aiming to keep kitty in euglycemic or near-euglycemic numbers for as much of the time as possible). This gives the best chance at remission; though not everyone who attempts TR can achieve this kind of control, and there are some kitties for whom it isn't suitable.
There's some general info on regulation (which puts Tight Regulation in a sort of context) in the FDMB FAQ's:


"Q6.1. What is regulation?

A6.1. There are different definitions of regulation. As hometesting becomes more common, we've been getting a better understanding of what cats and their humans might be capable of. Janet & Fitzgerald propose the following "regulation continuum":
  • Not treated [blood glucose typically above 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/L), poor clinical signs]
  • Treated but not regulated [often above 300 (16.7) and rarely near 100 (5.6), poor clinical signs]
  • Regulated [generally below 300 (16.7) with glucose nadir near 100 (5.6), good clinical signs, no hypoglycemia]
  • Well regulated [generally below 200-250 (11.1-13.9) and often near 100 (5.6), no hypoglycemia]
  • Tightly regulated [generally below 150 (8.3) and usually in the 60-120 (3.3-6.7) range, no hypoglycemia, still receiving insulin]
  • Normalized [60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin]
There may also be an extra category of "mostly above 300 (16.7) but with good clinical signs" which occurs with some cats who are getting insulin. We don't know why it happens, but such a cat probably should not be considered to be regulated. On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible for a cat who is not getting insulin to have blood glucose as low as 40 mg/dl (2.2 mmol/L) on a home glucometer. If you have a non-diabetic cat, try testing her with the same meter to get a safe comparison figure."
http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm#regulation

Eliz
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Eliz, many thanks for this info. My poor kitty has very high preshot numbers. I don't know how to get this balanced--still learning.
 
BJM said:
How much of the Young Again was eaten? Sudden food changes, particularly in large quantities, often provoke GI upsets of diarrhea, vomiting, or food refusal.
Click to expand...

She ate a half of the sample package which is probably an ounce or so. There is no weight on the package. I think you are right--it was too much, too soon.
 
manxcat419 said:
Young Again actually say this can happen to begin with. Their food is designed to be eaten in very small amounts at a time - 10 or 12 pieces of kibble and the cat will eat multiple times in the day. So the sample pack, although small, contains a number of 'mini-meals' for a cat. I had the same thing happen with the sample packs for our cats - they each ate an entire sample in a matter of minutes and had diarrhea the following day. However, I now give a small amount of YA to each cat in the evening as a snack (Rosa had been begging for the dry food the other 2 cats were getting a small amount of as a snack and as she's getting picky with her food from CKD and needs more calories than she had been eating, YA was the only option to make her happy) and they now seem to eat it as intended and we've had no further issues. I haven't noticed any effect on Rosa's BG from the YA food, though I don't feed it as their only diet.
Click to expand...

Very good to know. Thank you! I will probably order it and keep it down for overnight to make sure there is no hypo events.
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
@MsBliss , the subject of 'Young Again' food does come up from time to time. Here's a handful of other threads if you fancy some reading.... :rolleyes:

Is anybody feeding Young Again Zero Carb dry kibble?
The Big Young Again Experiment
Young Again Zero Carb Food
Young Again Zero Carbs for out of town trips?
Young again no carb food
Young Again the Problem ?
Young Again formula change
.
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Dear Eliz, thank you so much for these threads on YA. I just read through them and it was so helpful. I ordered an 8lb bag today because I need to have some dry food as a fall back around here.
 
MsBliss said:
I ordered an 8lb bag today because I need to have some dry food as a fall back around here.
Click to expand...
I'm kind of in the same place with Rosa right now. She's still eating wet food, but I have to put out about 4 flavors for her to choose from (her current favorite seems to be Max Cat Savory Venison, but who knows tomorrow). But she'll eat bits of the YA on and off through the day and her IM specialist said he'd rather have her eat that than nothing - we've just adjusted her fluids upwards a bit to counteract the dehydrating effect. It's far from ideal as she'd been on wet food really quite happily for over a year, but you do what you have to to keep them eating.
 
If your cat will eat canned food, why not try a higher carb canned food to have on board as the "safety" feed? That's what I did with Bandit--we used the Fancy Feast elegant medleys as a medium carb food if he dropped a little low, and the Fancy Feast gravy lovers as a high carb food for hypos. Dry foods tend to keep BG higher for longer periods than desired when trying to counter low BG with food.

Even the lower carb dry foods can cause problems with regulation in some cats, and dry food is dehydrating and is hard on the kidneys and urinary tract in cats. Diabetes can be hard on the kidneys, and can contribute to UTIs as well so it's important to take preventative measures with those issues. The lower carb dry foods are a necessity for cats that refuse to eat canned or are transitioning to canned, but I wouldn't recommend it if your cat eats canned food ok. When I wasn't home during the day to test Bandit at his nadir (the lowest point in the cycle), I always made sure that his auto feeder was set to release food at that time.
 
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