Young Again Zero Carb Cat Food

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tropical.40

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My cat has been diabetic for nearly a year and through this website and forum, I have learned SO much about diet, insulin, testing and the like. I cannot believe what an amazing resource this is.

Long story short...I have switched him to a nearly all wet food diet consisting of Fancy Feast Classic (Chicken/Turkey varieties only) and Rad Cat raw food. The thing is he is still obsessed with wanting dry food. I have two other cats, who can jump up high, (my diabetic cat has never regained enough strength in his back legs to try to jump on things now), so I keep some dry food on top of the dog's crate for my one cat that tolerates dry food. The thing is, my diabetic cat can smell it and will just sit in the office begging for some. I bought what I thought was a good dry to give him a few kibbles as a treat. Thing is, it is high in carbs and when I test his BG levels, I can literally see the spike from this dry food.

Tonight, I came across Young Again Zero Carb dry cat food and it is very expensive. I have no problem buying this if it can satisfy my cat and keep his blood sugar down, but before I do, I was hopefully for any opinions on this food.

Thank you!
 
squeem3 said:
No dry food is good for a diabetic. They all have to contain some type of starch (read: carbs) to hold the food in the little shapes.

In the Young Again dry food, the carb source is potato meal: Chicken meal, Pork protein concentrate, Poultry fat (preserved with rosemary extract, mixed tocopherols and ascorbic acid), Potato starch, Tomato pomace, (source of dietary fiber), Herring meal, Vegetable oil, Fish oil, Natural chicken flavor.... http://www.youngagainpetfood.co Interestingly, the web site has a diabetic dry food comparision: http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/page.asp?c=978
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You have provided the ingredient list of the REGULAR cat food, not the zero carb. Here is the correct ingredient list from http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/10browse.asp?category=cats&ProductCode=92100:
Chicken Meal, Pork Protein Concentrate, Poultry Fat (Preserved
with Rosemary Extract, Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Soya Oil, Fish
Oil, Herring Meal, Cellulose, (Source of Dietary Fiber), Fructooligosaccharides,
Natural chicken flavor, L-Lysine, Guar Gum, DL Methionine, Coconut oil, Yeast, Yeast extract,
Calcium carbonate, Taurine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate,
L-Carnitine, Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product Dehydrated,
Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Dried Bacillus Subtilis
Fermentation Extract, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Product Dehydrated,
Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Zinc Proteinate, Yucca Schidigera Extract,
Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Magnesium Proteinate, Betaine Anhydrous,
Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacinamide, D-Biotin, Manganous
Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid,
Riboflavin, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,
Calcium Iodate, Calcium Propionate, N, N-Dimethylglycine (DMG) HCI, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3), Cobalt Sulfate.

squeem3 said:
Plus dry food does nothing to keep a cat hydrated.
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Neither do the freeze dried treats you recommend. In fact, their moisture content is even lower than most dry foods.
 
I have a similar issue with my civvie who just will do anything for kibbles. I came up with this solution that may work for you. It's Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw food. It's supposed to be rehydrated with water, but I serve it dry and it gives a bit of crunch that my girlie wants.

While this is way better than feeding kibbles (dry food), it is intended to have water added (which mine won't eat that way) and I feed this in conjunction with canned (water added) food. It satisfies the desire for crunchies without feeding dry food and giving her the unwanted calories and bad ingredients in dry food - make sense?

Here is the cheapest place online that I've found it. Yes, it is pricey, but at least it's low carb raw diet (while pretending to be a dry kibble).... ;-)

http://www.petfood.com/item/stella-and- ... od/498360/

If you buy 2 or more it's even less expensive.
 
Can you just feed all your cats canned food? Is one or both of them being stubborn? If so, have you seen these for your other two cats: http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_? Even low carb dry food can keep a diabetic cat's BG high. Also, I highly doubt that food is zero carb since it contains cellulose (wood pulp) as the binding agent--we calculate carbs as a percentage of calories, where they are probably rounding down the dry weight carb value. Wysong was claiming the same thing with their Epigen dry food but then refused to release the as-fed values. So don't trust that it's zero carbs just because the pet food company says s0--they aren't measuring the carbs the same way we do here.

It would be healthier (and far, far cheaper) to switch all your cats to a low carb canned food, where you have a ton of options.
 
Now that we've given you the BEST route of NO dry food, I'll risk getting something thrown at me...KT's the same way about dry food. He literally goes on 'hard food chants' and will completely refuse to eat ANYTHING until he gets dry food. I tried waiting him out, refusing, I CAN 'make him' eat only soft by just not serving it but when he's on one of his rants, he'll take a couple of bites and walk away hollering. He's gone as long as a whole day refusing to eat anything if it wasn't dry - can't have that. So...there IS an 8% carb dry called 'EVO Cat & Kitten'. I can give him 10-12 pieces on top of soft food which feeds his 'hard food' addiction and doesn't spike him BG. I wouldn't even consider making it a full time thing - one small about 4lb. bag will last us a couple of months at least. It doesn't spike KT.....here's a link to more info:

EVOPet Website

Now I'll duck............ :shock:
 
The Evo Cat & Kitten is what my civvie gets, Sparky will not touch wet food, and this is grain free, and 7% carbs, or so it says, it sounds good, ingredients sound good....and he likes it, his fur has gotten much softer since switching to this.

The website I found a little confusing, but it is all there to read!

I like the trick of the dry on top of the wet, maybe I can switch him over that way...with a few dry in the middle....sneaky!!!!!
 
Wellness CORE is also a low-carb, grain-free dry food. Erik is another one who won't eat unless he has a little dry sprinkled on top of his wet food. Here are the ingredients:

Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whitefish Meal, Herring Meal, Peas, Turkey Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Cranberries, Chicory Root Extract, Choline Chloride, Salmon Oil, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)],Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate], Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract.
 
Boo loves both the 5% and zero-carb varieties of Young Again. While the prednisone is making it impossible to get his BG down, this food has made a big difference to his overall condition (he refuses to reliably eat enough wet food to meet his body's needs, one of the factors involved in his recent bout of liver disease & the feeding-tube necessity). He's looking strong and shiny again on this diet. We're hoping we'll be able to keep him on it, in spite of the price and high shipping cost to Canada, as we continue to taper off the steroids (though we made need to switch him to a novel-protein food, like Ziwipeak, if his IBD doesn't stay controlled without prednisone). If your cat is a committed dry-food eater, I'd definitely recommend Young Again.
 
I know this is an old post but I am just reading about this young again no carb cat food. Has anyone tried this since the original post in 2012?? I don't agree with the feeding instructions but I like the zero carb
 
I can let you know in a few days. I have a bag getting delivered tomorrow. we tried some free samples and it was the only time my cat's numbers were under 200. I figured it's worth a try. she will still get her fancy feast classic as well.
 
Hi Heather,

We've used Young Again zero carb. If we have to leave for an extended period of time, we don't have anyone who can come in multiple times a day to feed canned food. In those cases, we leave out Young Again. The cats like it a lot, and, knock on wood, it hasn't seemed to affect Jersey's numbers. Of course, we only have to do it a couple of times a year.

Hope that helps.
Shelly
 
I am going to call tomorrow and see if they will send a sample. I have 3 cats. 2 overweight and 2 skinny diabetic. Maybe it could help all 3 and keep my diabetic from sneaking the dry food. The dry food for the other 2 is urinary tract formula but from what I read it may help with that too.
 
It is very high calorie so be careful with chubby cats ... it is 0 digestible carbs....it is a decent product I tried it with both of mine and at first they nibbled but then I did tight reg so I have to do all wet but now the civvie won't eat it?
If I had dry addicts I would use it tho-
 
My experience with Zero Carb has been good. I recommend it as an option for those kitties who demand something crunchy. It is not spiking the blood sugar of either of my diabetic cats, BUT I DO NOT FEED IT EXCLUSIVELY. It is only a safety net food for overnight and for the "crunchy crankies". My cats eat primarily a good wet food.
 
so far so good with this food at my house. This is day four on this food here, and she loves it. I'm still giving some wet food at preshot times, but honestly she's more interested in this food.
 
Has anyone researched the lowest cost low carb dry food. With two cats the prescription stuff gets expensive fast.
 
A lot of people use the fancy feast pâté my cat won't touch it. That is way cheaper than the prescription food
 
As a supplement, you might use freeze-dried chicken or other protein - I use some Pure Bites and crush them into bits to sprinkle over the canned food. It isn't a complete diet in itself, but may be used judiciously to encourage eating.
 
tropical.40 said:
My cat has been diabetic for nearly a year and through this website and forum, I have learned SO much about diet, insulin, testing and the like. I cannot believe what an amazing resource this is.

Long story short...I have switched him to a nearly all wet food diet consisting of Fancy Feast Classic (Chicken/Turkey varieties only) and Rad Cat raw food. The thing is he is still obsessed with wanting dry food. I have two other cats, who can jump up high, (my diabetic cat has never regained enough strength in his back legs to try to jump on things now), so I keep some dry food on top of the dog's crate for my one cat that tolerates dry food. The thing is, my diabetic cat can smell it and will just sit in the office begging for some. I bought what I thought was a good dry to give him a few kibbles as a treat. Thing is, it is high in carbs and when I test his BG levels, I can literally see the spike from this dry food.

Tonight, I came across Young Again Zero Carb dry cat food and it is very expensive. I have no problem buying this if it can satisfy my cat and keep his blood sugar down, but before I do, I was hopefully for any opinions on this food.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I put mush on it & he loves it., it can stay in the dish fresh for 10 days. Your other cats may like it & you can switch all of them. Mush absolutely loves it! He gets both wet & dry.
 
my free sample came yesterday!! I tried to give it as a treat last night and my fatty ate everybody's. Going to try again today for bedtime snack and hopefully my diabetic will eat it. in fact maybe i will mix some in with the wet food tonight for Paris. Her food canned food choice isn't the greatest ff gravy lover's but at least it's not higher card dry food and I tried to supplement some meals with boiled chicken to keep the carbs down
 
Hi Heather,

My 13 year old kitty Fendi was diagnosed in May and this website has helped tremendously. This is the first time I have posted because I want to tell you my experience with Young Again Zero Carb Mature. It has been a lifesaver. Fendi and her brother Calvin have eaten dry food only their entire lives. She has always loved to eat. When she was diagnosed I thought how happy she was going to be to get to eat wet food from now on. However, she wouldn't touch it. I tried all the tricks people listed here and nothing worked. I was pulling my hair out. Her brother loved it, unfortunately. Long story short I ordered the free sample and she liked it. Her brother kept begging for wet food. I ordered a full bag and slowly incorporated it into her diet (had been using low carb Ultimate Protein dry food). Then I went forward with the free feeding style of feeding them both that the company recommends because I travel alot but only need someone to give her insulin every other day. Her need for insulin went down from 2 units every 12 hours to 1/2 unit every 18 to 24 hours. Her bg never gets above 200 even at the 24 hour mark and I can't help but attribute it to the zero carb food. So, for me, it seems to be helping tremendously. And her brother seems to have adjusted to it. They aren't overeating at all and are acting happy and appear to feel great. I don't put their food bowls in different rooms liked the company suggests, though. I use cake pans as their bowls.

I will add that the only negative is that their poop smells terrible now. And both had looser stool/diarrhea at first. It is getting better, but still not like it used to be. Luckily my litter box is out on my balcony or I don't think I could handle the smell. Although admittedly I am sensitive to smells.

I wish you the best and hope the Young Again food works for you.
 
Ckbythebay said:
Hi Heather,

My 13 year old kitty Fendi was diagnosed in May and this website has helped tremendously. This is the first time I have posted because I want to tell you my experience with Young Again Zero Carb Mature. It has been a lifesaver. Fendi and her brother Calvin have eaten dry food only their entire lives. She has always loved to eat. When she was diagnosed I thought how happy she was going to be to get to eat wet food from now on. However, she wouldn't touch it. I tried all the tricks people listed here and nothing worked. I was pulling my hair out. Her brother loved it, unfortunately. Long story short I ordered the free sample and she liked it. Her brother kept begging for wet food. I ordered a full bag and slowly incorporated it into her diet (had been using low carb Ultimate Protein dry food). Then I went forward with the free feeding style of feeding them both that the company recommends because I travel alot but only need someone to give her insulin every other day. Her need for insulin went down from 2 units every 12 hours to 1/2 unit every 18 to 24 hours. Her bg never gets above 200 even at the 24 hour mark and I can't help but attribute it to the zero carb food. So, for me, it seems to be helping tremendously. And her brother seems to have adjusted to it. They aren't overeating at all and are acting happy and appear to feel great. I don't put their food bowls in different rooms liked the company suggests, though. I use cake pans as their bowls.

I will add that the only negative is that their poop smells terrible now. And both had looser stool/diarrhea at first. It is getting better, but still not like it used to be. Luckily my litter box is out on my balcony or I don't think I could handle the smell. Although admittedly I am sensitive to smells.

I wish you the best and hope the Young Again food works for you.
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WOW!! That is great news. I have mine ordered hope it helps. Paris will eat wet food but only with the gravy making it high carbs!
 
My girl is still loving this food. As you can see from her ss (the black line indicating when I started the food) there have been NO pink or red spikes mid day at all since starting it. The ss looks very different from the days above the line.
 
I free feed YA, but in a smaller dish than what they recommend, and I try to put out about 1/3 cup at a time. So I just keep an eye on it throughout the day. Usually it's fairly empty at pre-shot time and I refill after testing, then watch Plum eat (he's never had a problem with eating, lol!) Typically he will munch a bit, then I give him his shot & he'll return to the dish.
 
Mshaas75 said:
So I have a question. If I start free feeding this food how do I know if she ate enough to shoot
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I still give a half can of fancy feast before shooting, and always test her numbers before shooting. Then I have the ya out to graze on whenever she wants. The ya hasn't made her bg rise at all.
 
I have found that the Young Again doesn't seem to affect her bg at all. When I started her on the food, I did a few glucose curves to see how she did. Within a couple of days her bg got lower and lower and I reduced the dosage. The curves became very steady. Eating didn't cause any spikes, so now I just check her bg at the 12 hour marks and shoot or don't shoot. It has pretty much become 1/2 unit every day and a half/36 hours as her bg slowly creeps up. I don't have to worry about making sure she ate right before giving her a shot.
 
Mshaas75 said:
I know this is an old post but I am just reading about this young again no carb cat food. Has anyone tried this since the original post in 2012?? I don't agree with the feeding instructions but I like the zero carb
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Yes, I'm on my 3rd bag, but I give wet food 3 times a day, & keep the young again out all day for Mush to nibble on when he is hungary!
 
I gave YA and my boy loved it but had severe diarreah Emailed the company and they say it eventually stops. Not for my boy. Stinky and runny for weeks now. Anyone ever try fresh pet grain free chicken food? Got a sample and he loves it. Not sure if any good though for diabetic?
 
I have been doing young again with canned and boiled chicken. I leave out the YA all the time. Sometimes soft stools but I haven't seen diarrhea. I haven't heard of the other food
 
I went on the website. Fresh Pet Grain Free Cat Food. It is refrigerated in the pet store. I bought Fresh Pet Grain Free Vital Chicken Cat Food.
 
laura1031 said:
I gave YA and my boy loved it but had severe diarreah Emailed the company and they say it eventually stops. Not for my boy. Stinky and runny for weeks now. Anyone ever try fresh pet grain free chicken food? Got a sample and he loves it. Not sure if any good though for diabetic?
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I have had the same problem, actually. I have both of my cats free feeding Young Again (Fendi is diabetic, Calvin is not) and they both seem to be eating it well. But they did have diarrhea at first pretty badly. Over the course of eating only YA for about a full month now, they are getting better. It still isn't like pre-YA, but definitely getting better every day. Occasionally there is totally normal poop in the box. But the smell is bad. Luckily my box is on my porch or I don't think I could stand it.
 
My litter box is inside. Lol. Stinky. But I have been feeding FF Classics twice a day and leave YA out while I work. I'll give it a little more time.
 
Be careful with this food. Recently they have changed their recipe to Pork meal as the first ingredient. I was feeding this to them for about 5 months fine until this last bag. More than halfway through both our cats got very bad diarrhea and took me several days to pinpoint it to the food. Once I switched them back to Nature's Variety it stopped a day later. Nature's variety raw boost chicken has 12.5% carbs, all are simple carbs. Our 1 reverted cat eats this and fancy feast pate's that are about 3 % carbs. This feeding gets her just under 10% and that has worked well. I tried to go a step further with young again but won't buy it again after this. It would also be nice of them to inform customers of the ingredient changes instead of just sneaking them in hoping nobody will notice.
 
bibfortuna said:
Be careful with this food. Recently they have changed their recipe to Pork meal as the first ingredient. I was feeding this to them for about 5 months fine until this last bag. More than halfway through both our cats got very bad diarrhea and took me several days to pinpoint it to the food. Once I switched them back to Nature's Variety it stopped a day later. Nature's variety raw boost chicken has 12.5% carbs, all are simple carbs. Our 1 reverted cat eats this and fancy feast pate's that are about 3 % carbs. This feeding gets her just under 10% and that has worked well. I tried to go a step further with young again but won't buy it again after this. It would also be nice of them to inform customers of the ingredient changes instead of just sneaking them in hoping nobody will notice.
Click to expand...

I had a bad experience with YA zero carb too and it was recent. Two cats had very bad diarrhea. Now I know why. thanks!
 
I heard that after a few weeks the diarrhea goes away but I have the same problem. I ordered the fortiflora to sprinkle on her food supposed to help with diarrhea and makes the food taste better
 
My cat had diarrhea for like two days at first (more just soft stool) and then once about a week into it... I think she over ate that day. No problem since then though.
 
my beloved Peyton (photo) fought and won against mast cell tumor cancer, going thru chemo for about a year.. the steroids they gave him sadly made him blow up fat. Now, the poor boy has diabetes from this :'( Has been on Lantus 5 units for almost 2 months, but not getting anywhere.. Got the large size of the Young Again as I was told by them that Peyton's 3 brothers can eat it too. Well, I started out just for a few days giving them YA as a treat (20? pieces) and now they are ALL sick. And so am I, so stressed out from this I can't take it. You all know how much the love for our kits are, luckily we have a very caring vet, who does anything she can to help us. Will be speaking to her again today. Even my huge Maine Coon, Couper, who always has a very firm stool, sometimes to the point I would have to give him cat lax, had diarrhea yesterday. I am doing the gut supplements from Only Natural Pet.

Was reading on here about the EVO, am going to prob. get that to help very slowly transition them over from the Pure Vita they were on, which has a higher carb content to EVO, then perhaps put a couple kibbles of Young Again in each day so their tummies get used to it. The two boys who are not having any medical issues LOVE moist food, Peyton, the diabetic/cancer survivor takes a few bites, tries to bury it, then gets diarrhea from it. No matter what good brands I get for them. Peyton's older brother, Eli, is hypothyroid, and on meds for that.

Help me, help me help me... for I am going crazy. Oh, and all the while this is going on, I am trying to recover from my 54th (not a typo) surgery and am sick myself but my kits are what keeps me going and they come first.
Thanks all
 
Hi Terri, sorry you're having such trouble with foods. I think it's a good idea to transition to any new food slowly. You may also want to add some Florastor probiotic to their diets-it helps with diarrhea.
 
Hi Sharon, thanks for the reply, beauty kitty you have! I spoke with the Young Again person and she blamed me completely saying that all my cats are sick (I have 4) because I gave them some kibbles to try (from the sample bag) before I bought the huge bag that I just had opened yet. I felt like I was/am killing my cat. Just spoke with my vet and she said take them down to the EVO, as they have been on that before, and it has even been improved since I had an overweight issue with them all a few years back. The carb content of the Chicken/Turkey EVO dry is 8.4%, then I am to bring him in next week for a full blood workup/levels, etc.

Is the beginning of kitty diabetes this hard? Or am I totally losing my mind... I love my kits so much, I get them anything they need, but I feel like I am failing horribly here. :'( thank you again
 
Hi Terri,

Haven't anything to add in terms of advice or suggestions but I just want to say that I really feel for you and to send you these ...

:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:


Mogs
.
 
In the beginning I think we've all felt like you do now, but it does get easier. I think you're doing an amazing job with Peyton, taking care of him through all his illnesses while going through all that you have. You're a great cat mom!:bighug:
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one that is having problems with YA. Ben's been eating it for two years but this last bag made him and the other cats that snack on it sick. All three were retching up clear foamy stuff. After treating all for reflux, I took away the YA and everyone is better.

Unfortunately I need a dry food to leave out for Ben to snack on when I'm at work. I'm trying Evo but it seems to have messed with his sugars. His numbers are higher than they've been in a long time.

I'm hoping that it will settle down once he gets used to it.
 
Likameow said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that is having problems with YA. Ben's been eating it for two years but this last bag made him and the other cats that snack on it sick. All three were retching up clear foamy stuff. After treating all for reflux, I took away the YA and everyone is better.

Unfortunately I need a dry food to leave out for Ben to snack on when I'm at work. I'm trying Evo but it seems to have messed with his sugars. His numbers are higher than they've been in a long time.

I'm hoping that it will settle down once he gets used to it.
Click to expand...
This last bag may have been what made one of mine have diarrhea for a week. Didn't seem to effect the others though.
 
thank you all... my heart is breaking looking at my Peyton, trying to walk, then thinking this YA food would do the job, only got him and his 3 brothers SICK.. so far the EVO is doing them well,, Peyton going back to the vet for a blood test (testing my vets machine against mine again-she is so caring she does not even charge me!) This little boy fought and beat cancer now this. It truly made me so depressed to see this happen. I am sure you all have gotten the "its just a cat" comment, of which I smacked the person so hard they went down to the ground. Don't be talking about my kit!! Or yours!! :) So, as soon as the YA was stopped, so was the diarrhea, plus I have added the metronidazole.

Thanks for being there for us, for I surely am not handling this very well at all, and Patie does not know what the hell is happening to him :(
 
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