Young Again Zero Carb Cat Food?

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Ozzy Pawzbourne

Ozzy Pawzbourne

Member Since 2016
I keep reading you should never give your diabetic kitties dry food again because they are high in carbs and don't contain water. What about the YA zero carb brand? Anyone have luck with feeding wet and some zero carb crunchies like YA? Both my kitties love crunchy food and are having a hard time having it taken away.

I am just curious if it safe to give this type of dry to my diabetic kitty if I make sure he still gets plenty of wet food too.
 
I think it depends on the cat. I've been using Young Again as a "kibble option" for my diabetic cat for 8-9 months now with no problem-- my cat went into remission while eating it, and her current spot checks of blood glucose (six months later) are generally between 49-70 (haven't updated the spreadsheet with the spot checks in the last few months). I know other members have had similar success with this food.

That said, I have heard some anecdotal reports of cats whose blood glucose seemed to elevate after eating it, so there might be some ECID going on here. In addition, using any kind of dry food means you can't use the Tight Regulation protocol to try to get your cat into remission. It's certainly possible to get a cat into remission using Start Low, Go Slow, but TR is generally thought to provide the best chance.

If you want to try it, call the company for a sample to see if Ozzy even likes it (it's waaaaay too pricey not to test that out first!). In my house, I have a 2/3 rate of Young Again enjoyment-- Amber and one of my two civvies like it, the other one ate it a few times then completely lost interest.
 
My cat had it to eat all day in addition to pate wet twice a day. I credit it with getting my cat into remission. They will send you a sample of you ask.
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
Actually, cats... all cats, not just diabetic cats... have a better chance to be healthy overall when they are fed canned or a balanced homemade diet rather than dry food.

Read this to learn about feline nutrition: Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition
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Thank you Jill. The article you linked was very helpful as well as the PDF found in the link. I am definitely going to stick with feeding wet. After what my sweet Ozzy went through, I don't want to set him up for further diabetes complications or other health problems from feeding dry. I know some others will want to feed the zero carb food and that is perfectly fine and their decision, but my kitty is prone to ketones and just survived DKA so I think it's best if we keep him (and Figgie) on wet food for the remainder of their hopefully long lives.

The more I am reading and learning about FD, the more I am realizing how under-educated vets are on the appropriate feline diet. I initially talked to my vet about the possibility of Ozzy going into remission. I realize that he may never, but if there is any chance, I wanted to know what would be the most likely way to do this. vet My suggested the Hill's prescription foods which we have learned are VERY high in carbs. I have learned more valuable information from this site than from my vet that I paid $5K to treat my DKA kitty.

I am interested in learning about some other higher quality wet foods instead of the lower quality FF, Friskies, and Sheba. Does anyone have a list of better quality wet foods or even some advice on how to start on a raw diet? I would be interested in maybe doing a varied diet of the FF, Friskies, and Sheba along with some higher quality wet foods, and everyone once in awhile raw food. Would this be recommended? I don't know if I could get in the groove to do all raw because it seems time consuming if you make your own and expensive if you by raw outright, but I would be able to do it a few times a week and supplement with both higher/lower quality wet foods. This would help my time and budget. And I'm sure my barbarian Nordic Hubby would have no problem grinding up meat and bones once a week- that would be a task right up his alley! Hah!:woot:
 
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Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
I am interested in learning about some other higher quality wet foods instead of the lower quality FF, Friskies, and Sheba. Does anyone have a list of better quality wet foods or even some advice on how to start on a raw diet?
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I don't think such a list exists. However, there are several folks in the Lantus & Levemir ISG who are very knowledgeable about good foods. You could ask over there.

My suggestions would include (in random order):

Wellness Grain Free
Turkey
Chicken
Beef & Chicken

Wellness Core
Beef, Venison, & Lamb Formula

Evo 95% Chicken & Turkey

Cats Cuisine
On the Cat Wok
Paw Lickin' Chicken with Gravy
Steak Frites

Cats in the Kitchen
Chicken Frick a Zee
Fowl Ball

Tiki Cat
Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consomme

Tiki Gourmet Carnivore
Chicken with Turkey

ZiwiPeak
Venison

Mauri Super Premium Cat Food
Wild Kangaroo Entree

Raw Cat Food
Feline's Pride
Primal Raw Nuggets
Nature's Variety Frozen Raw
Rad Cat
Darwin's

EZ Complete premix from Food Fur Life (add your own ground meat)
Alnutrin Supplements (add your own ground meat)

For years I followed Dr. Lisa's recipe for making raw food: Making Cat Food. I ordered the necessary supplements from iHerb.com and pre-ground whole prey from Hare Today Gone Tomorrow. The first couple of times took me forever, but as soon as I developed a routine I could get 30 pounds made in about an hour... from start to finish and in the freezer. At the time I was feeding four cats. Making my own raw food this way was less expensive than feeding premium canned cat food.

If you decide to feed raw, you might want to feed canned every once in awhile so your kitties don't "forget" that canned food is food, too. I learned that the hard way. Your idea to put raw food into rotation with canned food should be fine unless kitty balks at one or the other. If your hubby is willing to grind meat, good for him! Mine wouldn't if I paid him! LOL!
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
I don't think such a list exists. However, there are several folks in the Lantus & Levemir ISG who are very knowledgeable about good foods. You could ask over there.

My suggestions would include (in random order):

Wellness Grain Free
Turkey
Chicken
Beef & Chicken

Wellness Core
Beef, Venison, & Lamb Formula

Evo 95% Chicken & Turkey

Cats Cuisine
On the Cat Wok
Paw Lickin' Chicken with Gravy
Steak Frites

Cats in the Kitchen
Chicken Frick a Zee
Fowl Ball

Tiki Cat
Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consomme

Tiki Gourmet Carnivore
Chicken with Turkey

ZiwiPeak
Venison

Mauri Super Premium Cat Food
Wild Kangaroo Entree

Raw Cat Food
Feline's Pride
Primal Raw Nuggets
Nature's Variety Frozen Raw
Rad Cat
Darwin's

EZ Complete premix from Food Fur Life (add your own ground meat)
Alnutrin Supplements (add your own ground meat)

For years I followed Dr. Lisa's recipe for making raw food: Making Cat Food. I ordered the necessary supplements from iHerb.com and pre-ground whole prey from Hare Today Gone Tomorrow. The first couple of times took me forever, but as soon as I developed a routine I could get 30 pounds made in about an hour... from start to finish and in the freezer. At the time I was feeding four cats. Making my own raw food this way was less expensive than feeding premium canned cat food.

If you decide to feed raw, you might want to feed canned every once in awhile so your kitties don't "forget" that canned food is food, too. I learned that the hard way. Your idea to put raw food into rotation with canned food should be fine unless kitty balks at one or the other. If your hubby is willing to grind meat, good for him! Mine wouldn't if I paid him! LOL!
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This is GREAT! THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to put together such a thoughtful and thorough response! I will check out all your links especially on how to make raw. This is exactly why I love this site! You guys/gals have all the answers!!! Thank you again!!! :) :) :) Future raw-fed Ozzy and Figgie thank you in advance, too!!:bighug::bighug:
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
The first couple of times took me forever, but as soon as I developed a routine I could get 30 pounds made in about an hour
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This is pretty impressive.:D

How did your kitty's take to raw food when first introduced? Did they pounce on it like it was their own live prey like "OMG where has this been my whole life!!?" or were they hesitant at first and require some weaning in? What tips do you have for transitioning to raw?
 
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I think I saw someone here a while back feeding BFF cat food. I've no idea of flavours & carb content but might be worth checking out if it's not on the food list.


Mogs
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Critter Mom said:
I think I saw someone here a while back feeding BFF cat food. I've no idea of flavours & carb content but might be worth checking out if it's not on the food list.
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BFF is on one of the food lists I saw. I have given this to Fig and Ozzy in the past along with Tiki Cat (only the fish flavors because the other ones were really expensive). They liked both.
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
How did your kitty's take to raw food when first introduced?
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My dry food addict took to raw like a duck to water! I had spent almost 4 very long and difficult months transitioning him from dry to canned food. I gave him the raw and he looked at me as if to ask why I had been holding out on him! Initially, the rest of them ate a little raw and then walked away. I ended up gradually adding more raw to their canned food until they were eating all raw. The transition didn't take long at all.

Some caregivers transition a little differently. I'm a firm believer in finding what works for your cat!

 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
My dry food addict took to raw like a duck to water! I had spent almost 4 very long and difficult months transitioning him from dry to canned food. I gave him the raw and he looked at me as if to ask why I had been holding out on him! Initially, the rest of them ate a little raw and then walked away. I ended up gradually adding more raw to their canned food until they were eating all raw. The transition didn't take long at all.

Some caregivers transition a little differently. I'm a firm believer in finding what works for your cat!
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Thanks, this is great feedback. Love that your carboholic loved the raw right away. I have 2 of those! Hope they have a similar reaction when we start this up!
 
My boys loved the YA zero mature but my sugar kitty is so reactive to any food that it made his numbers go up. I got samples in the mail and they emailed me a lot of links for info on best method of feeding and even the link to this forum. I haven't tried just feeding the YA because he would eat the whole bag in one sitting, oink oink. His numbers will go up from eating baked chicken breast too. He's one of those that increases from just about everything but water. I have seen many people crediting YA for their cats remission. I looked into raw food and read for hours! By the time I was done I was so overwhelmed I decided against it. Wishing you the best of luck switching them over to raw!
 
So I am a little annoyed with Darwin's website. They won't just let me order what I want and keep insisting I try their introductory order of 10 packages and with RECURRING ordering that I can 'cancel' later if I remember. Big fat F from me. I just want to order 1-3 packages to see if my kitties even like it. I don't want to be committed to 10 packages and an auto ship with the hopes that I cancel the next shipment if my cats don't like it if I 'remember'. Moving on to the next site...
 
If you have a "specialty" pet food store around you, a lot of them will have the frozen raw foods....I know RadCat comes in small tubs and Primal has a "sample pack" of 4 flavors.

I buy China's Natures Variety at a Gourmet Dog Biscuit bakery!
 
Chris & China said:
If you have a "specialty" pet food store around you, a lot of them will have the frozen raw foods....I know RadCat comes in small tubs and Primal has a "sample pack" of 4 flavors.
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Oh geezzz....:facepalm: I don't know why it didn't occur to me that you could just go into a store and buy raw! I have just been seeing links to online shipped frozen raw food. Sorry, I'm on serious info overload. My brain is frazzled.

Thank you. :)
 
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Chris & China said:
I buy China's Natures Variety at a Gourmet Dog Biscuit bakery!
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Chris, does the Nature's Variety version you buy China have veggies in it? I'm looking at the one at petsmart now online and the ingredients have veggies in them. Which one do you buy?

Nature's Variety® Instinct® Raw Bites Cat Food - Natural, Grain Free, Frozen Raw, Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken (Including Ground Chicken Bone), Turkey Heart, Turkey Liver, Turkey Bone, Yeast Culture, Pumpkin Seeds, Montmorillonite Clay, Apples, Broccoli, Butternut Squash, Salt, Cod Liver Oil, Dried Kelp, Carrots, Spinach, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root and Blueberries
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
Apples, Broccoli, Butternut Squash, Salt, Cod Liver Oil, Dried Kelp, Carrots, Spinach, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root and Blueberries
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I have yet to see a cat cruising the produce aisle. I wish manufacturers wouldn't frell around with food this way. :banghead:

I had a look at Darwin's food for CKD cats the other day. They have dandelion (diuretic) and cranberry (acidifying) in the recipe, neither of which is good for CKD kitties. :banghead:


Mogs
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Young Again Zero Carb was great for one of my cats and it put her into remission from diabetes a few months after being diagnosed. Unfortunately, we lost her to pancreatic cancer a little over a year later.

I put my other cat on the Young Again at the same time as my diabetic cat (they were littermates), and it was nothing but trouble for her as she turned out to be allergic to pork (the first ingredient in Young Again). All was well as long as she stayed out of her sister's bowl, but we had a flare up of the allergies again when I bought Fortiflora to try to get my other cat to eat when she was losing weight from the cancer. Apparently, Fortiflora has pork ingredients, too.

I will never feed another cat of mine dry food, ever.
 
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