Young Again Zero Carb Food

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Hey Donna!!!!! So glad to hear how well Elvis is doing. I've been wondering about you guys!!!!

Hi, Sam!!! Yes, Elvis has been doing great....not so much his mother until recently, but an old story now. How are your darlings doing? I was wondering about you too.
 
I have recently switched to young again and it's working great. Numbers going down he's happy and healthy. Just wish it didn't break the bank to buy it!!

You find it expensive? $49 for 3 months is a blessing to me after paying $38 every month on the Hill's C/D.
 
Well they say that they don't need to eat as much of it as the high carb food, so maybe that's what you're witnessing?

Three tablespoons a day is what they say is plenty. Elvis does prefer the Mature blend more than the Zero, but thankfully I didn't need to keep him on the Zero. I think the Mature has 5% carbs.
 
They have been doing great, but some how Hidey has become the AGGRESSOR at times (when neighborhood cats come by) it started when Hidey had a reaction to a flea bite. He's as healthy as can be but OMG I've never seen him be so violent. I have had this happen 3 times since November. I had to go through the reintroduction period and keep them separated for several days. Now all my windows are covered, I spray my front porch with vinegar to deter cats, as well as fox urine around the perimeter of my house UGH!

But I am happy to say that Hidey had his year anniversary fr remission last month. His bg's still range from 40's-90's but he is like a kitten. Gets into trouble like crazy, and DEMANDS attention and affection lol.

I am now feeding him the mature zero carb as well as his canned. I was so excited when I found out that they were offering the mature.
 
@Elvis for me it is cuz I have two cats and they always eat the same food! Even though the other isn't a sugarcat..but yes I was used to just feedin em catchow..ugh! @Sandman that is AMAZING! That is where I'm heading, only a microdose of insulin now. Good luck!!
 
They have been doing great, but some how Hidey has become the AGGRESSOR at times (when neighborhood cats come by) it started when Hidey had a reaction to a flea bite. He's as healthy as can be but OMG I've never seen him be so violent. I have had this happen 3 times since November. I had to go through the reintroduction period and keep them separated for several days. Now all my windows are covered, I spray my front porch with vinegar to deter cats, as well as fox urine around the perimeter of my house UGH!

But I am happy to say that Hidey had his year anniversary fr remission last month. His bg's still range from 40's-90's but he is like a kitten. Gets into trouble like crazy, and DEMANDS attention and affection lol.

I am now feeding him the mature zero carb as well as his canned. I was so excited when I found out that they were offering the mature.

So great to hear, Sam. Have you tried their Yummy treats? Elvis scarfs them up like cocaine. Anyway, I'm so grateful for them, and to you for the EVO you sent. I keep a bag of that around now as once in awhile I mix about a tspn of it in with the Mature. It is amazing how they're like kittens again. Elvis gets into everything again, especially in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep....that's his play time when he starts opening drawers and pulling things out. But I wouldn't want it any other way. His gums started to flare up again recently, but I immediately starting administering 10mg of CoQ10 and it took care of it thank goodness.
 
@Elvis for me it is cuz I have two cats and they always eat the same food! Even though the other isn't a sugarcat..but yes I was used to just feedin em catchow..ugh! @Sandman that is AMAZING! That is where I'm heading, only a microdose of insulin now. Good luck!!

Oh yes I guess two cats eating it could be a bit costly. I have another cat who turned 18 last December, but she loves her Fancy Feast w/cheese and only eats a few bites of the YA when desperate in the middle of the night. The 8lb bag lasts me 3 months still so for me anyway it's a bargain.
 
Well my experience with Young Again is nothing short of a miracle, and I owe my cat's life to them and to a great degree, this forum too. Thirteen months ago my 12 year old male, Elvis, was diagnosed with diabetes. After being put on an aggressive (IMO) course of insulin shots and keeping him on Science Diet C/D (dry) which vets had him on for nearly 10 years [the culprit] then W/D , he was not improving. That's when I found this forum and did a great deal of research. I could never get Elvis to eat canned or wet food and this time was no different and I was faced with a dilemma. I was at my wit's end until I found Young Again, and determined that Elvis had other issues too like gum and teeth infections and white coat syndrome, which were driving his #s up as well. (I still believe Elvis' diagnosis was premature and transient, but that 'a another story.)

A month after doing it the vet's way and seeing no improvement and a very lethargic and unhappy cat, I decided to take things into my own hands. First I demanded that I was going to take my own readings at home instead of putting him through trips to the vet which immediately freaked him and caused both of us unbelievable stress. Then I took him off Science Diet and tried many of the suggestions offered on this list, mostly canned because of the adverse feelings about strictly dry which I understood, but Elvis just wouldn't eat them. Then I changed vets and insisted they check his mouth (which the first vet did not do), and that's when they saw the mouth problems and gave him and antibiotic. The #s came down a bit, but still were considered too high.

When I heard about Young Again I gave them a call and I have never had such wonderful experiences with a vendor of any kind. They were knowledgeable, patient, showed genuine concern, and would stay on the phone with me to answer all my questions for as long as I needed every time I called, so I decided to give their Zero Carb food a try. Less than one week from the moment I started Elvis on their food, I weened him off the insulin shots and his #s began to drop. He has not received or needed another shot since, and has maintained readings ranging from 51-88 (on a human meter) for what will be one solid year next week.

More importantly, I have a cat who LITERALLY got "Young Again." For months before and up to and through his diagnosis and vet's treatment, he would not play anymore, jump on window sills, talk (he was always a chatter box), didn't want to interact with me any longer, stopped grooming, was constantly sleeping all day on the floor and not his favorite higher spots, and had a very old and unhappy look to him. Well, he's young again.....playing, jumping up on high levels, clear eyed, talking up a storm, and just like he was years ago. He drinks plenty of water (as the people at Young Again said he would because this food induces that), and he has the healthiest BMs and urinations I have ever seen, and like clockwork. He's been off their Zero Carb and on their Mature blend for about 6 months now, and still doing absolutely great. He is ape over their treats too. The 5 Ps are back!-- Purring......Playing.....Preening.....Peeing....and Pooping! What I also find remarkable and a plus.....their food runs about $49/8 lb. bag BUT, it lasts for 3 MONTHS!!!!!! I use to pay $38/8 lb. bag with Hill's Science Diet, but it only lasted a little over a month.....so don't let the food's price fool you, it's a bargain.

I strongly recommend to anyone who is leery about giving your cat dry food to at least give these people a call and talk to them about your concerns. I spoke with Jennifer there and she has steered me in the right direction every time.

Good luck to all!!!!
See I have the world's pickiest and finickiest cats on Earth. I have both the Mature and Original Zero carb but for some reason my cats don't like the Mature formula. I am at wit's end because I want to reap all the benefits that this food so call says it does but so far it seems the same. Most eat it and my diabetic cat eats a bit but to me doesn't seem excited about it. I know the Mature formula is probably the healthiest given the lower mineral content but what am I to do if they don't care for it? It really upsets me that others buy it for their cats and they love it and it works wonders( unless they are making it up to endorse the product).
 
Three tablespoons a day is what they say is plenty. Elvis does prefer the Mature blend more than the Zero, but thankfully I didn't need to keep him on the Zero. I think the Mature has 5% carbs.
Calculator says 6.
 
See I have the world's pickiest and finickiest cats on Earth. I have both the Mature and Original Zero carb but for some reason my cats don't like the Mature formula. I am at wit's end because I want to reap all the benefits that this food so call says it does but so far it seems the same. Most eat it and my diabetic cat eats a bit but to me doesn't seem excited about it. I know the Mature formula is probably the healthiest given the lower mineral content but what am I to do if they don't care for it? It really upsets me that others buy it for their cats and they love it and it works wonders( unless they are making it up to endorse the product).

I had the same problem with Elvis. First he liked it, then he didn't; then he preferred one over the other at times. But what I did notice is that he always liked the dry EVO Turkey and Chicken formula. So once in awhile I put a tsp. or two of it mixed in with the Mature. The smell I guess is what he likes too so even though he thinks he's fishing out just the EVO, he really winds up eating both, but more importantly mostly the Mature. You might give that a try. You don't need to use very much so the 6 lb. EVO bag should last at least as long as the Mature. You just have to outsmart your genius cat. Good luck.
 
no, he is never in the normal range now. I think when I very first got sample packs of the original zero carb he ate it good and I checked his sugar and it was in the 100s briefly. Since then he has struggled to eat both foods and his numbers high.
 
no, he is never in the normal range now. I think when I very first got sample packs of the original zero carb he ate it good and I checked his sugar and it was in the 100s briefly. Since then he has struggled to eat both foods and his numbers high.

Has he ever been on it for a sustained amount of time, say at least 3 weeks straight?
 
No, I just bought it last Wednesday and ran out due to feeding other cats and I messed up by having some problems with the mature formula and mixed both foods and put it back into the wrong bag. lol. So supposed to get a fresh new bag Wednesday. So I'd say around 1 week this Wednesday since he has had the food.
 
No peeing changes, I mean it was awful before I got his numbers down but now it's good. @rbrumbaugh82, maybe just give it some time....I'd do all wet food if he'd eat it , cuz my other cat looooves it..but he just is crazy about crunchies..
 
No, I just bought it last Wednesday and ran out due to feeding other cats and I messed up by having some problems with the mature formula and mixed both foods and put it back into the wrong bag. lol. So supposed to get a fresh new bag Wednesday. So I'd say around 1 week this Wednesday since he has had the food.

I believe once you get him on at least a 2-week course, you'll begin to see the numbers come down and stay down. Good luck.
 
I sure hope so. I really hope this fresh batch will get him to eat it regularly when he is hungry to eat. Right now I feel like he isn't eating much of it and yet he doesn't come whining or acting like he is starving. Though if I slap a can of wet food down he goes up to eating it like he is starving but I can see due to its different food and some some carbs in it that may be tasteful to him.
 
I would throw out a word of caution here, even though I believe YA is a very good hard food. I have a friend who has 3 cats and he started feeding YA, they started off eating it pretty good considering they were eating Wellness Core before. After the first 8lb bag he ordered a bigger bag and that is when his problem started. One of his cats started eating less than the others, he thought that was the way it was suppose to be based on the information from YA and the cat needed to lose a little weight. He started watching him more closely and figured out he was barely eating at all so off to the vet he went, vet said the cat was eating less than half of his required amount of calories and based on blood work he was very concerned the cat was going into hepatic lipidosis. He told my friend to find another food, didn't cared what it was at this stage it just had to be something he would eat. So he picked up another hard food and some canned food to get him eating again. It has been a slow process but the cat is out of the woods and putting weight back on again. Vet was not sure what the cause was, he was just happy the cat turned around.

So I guess I am saying I realize YA says the cats will eat less of their food, but make sure they are eating enough to either sustain their weight or not losing it to fast if they need to lose weight. My friend free feeds his hard food, but that made no difference on the one cat, he just was not eating it. I have tried to get him to feed can food if not all the time, more often but not having a lot of luck with it as he was feeding just canned, but was over feeding and the cats really put on some weight. As stated well on this forum ECID.

Just wanted to let folks know this can happen and to watch your kitties carefully.
 
Yeha unfortunately Poopers is showing that. Ate some at first but now I have to try to force feed him it and I shouldn't have to. So going to have to feed him Turkey and Giblets FF because he has to eat.
 
Yeha unfortunately Poopers is showing that. Ate some at first but now I have to try to force feed him it and I shouldn't have to. So going to have to feed him Turkey and Giblets FF because he has to eat.
If he'll eat the FF why are you trying to feed him Young Again? Feed him both if he likes them but I would use YA as a crunchy treat more than his main meal. He'll do well with FF pate foods, you can leave wet out through the day and night. I put a refrigerated core of wet food surrounded by normal temp food and it stays fresh throughout the day and nights. By morning they will have eaten most, all or leave a little. You just need to find a food he likes quickly and stick with it, you don't need food drama on top of the diabetes.
 
Your right. He eats the turkey and giblets FF. I just worry on how much I need to feed him so he is getting enough nutrition and energy so he isn't feeling sluggish. I also don't want a sharp carb rush that spikes his numbers up. I wish he would pace himself to eat when he is hungry and not gobble it all up at one setting so that it cna go throughout the day until I give him a can at night. He is 21 pounds so I know he needs to lose weight but I want it to happen the healthy and right way.
 
I see the effects of a very logical drop in BG numbers when switching from a 36/37% carbs diet to a diet with 6% carbs. That's a big difference.
He eats the turkey and giblets FF. I just worry on how much I need to feed him so he is getting enough nutrition and energy so he isn't feeling sluggish. I also don't want a sharp carb rush that spikes his numbers up. I wish he would pace himself to eat when he is hungry and not gobble it all up at one setting so that it cna go throughout the day until I give him a can at night. He is 21 pounds so I know he needs to lose weight but I want it to happen the healthy and right way.
You might find this helpful: Implementing a Safe Weight Loss Program
 
Options:
Spread the food thinly across a big plate to slow him down.
Invest in a timed feeder such as the Pet safe 5 to feed mini-meals (he won't get too hungry that way).
If you add some water, it increases volume without calories.
 
Options:
Spread the food thinly across a big plate to slow him down.
Invest in a timed feeder such as the Pet safe 5 to feed mini-meals (he won't get too hungry that way).
If you add some water, it increases volume without calories.
That is what I do. I use a flat dish plate about 11 inches across and spread it out so its not one lump pile. I just free feed the wet food
 
I would throw out a word of caution here, even though I believe YA is a very good hard food. I have a friend who has 3 cats and he started feeding YA, they started off eating it pretty good considering they were eating Wellness Core before. After the first 8lb bag he ordered a bigger bag and that is when his problem started. One of his cats started eating less than the others, he thought that was the way it was suppose to be based on the information from YA and the cat needed to lose a little weight. He started watching him more closely and figured out he was barely eating at all so off to the vet he went, vet said the cat was eating less than half of his required amount of calories and based on blood work he was very concerned the cat was going into hepatic lipidosis. He told my friend to find another food, didn't cared what it was at this stage it just had to be something he would eat. So he picked up another hard food and some canned food to get him eating again. It has been a slow process but the cat is out of the woods and putting weight back on again. Vet was not sure what the cause was, he was just happy the cat turned around.

So I guess I am saying I realize YA says the cats will eat less of their food, but make sure they are eating enough to either sustain their weight or not losing it to fast if they need to lose weight. My friend free feeds his hard food, but that made no difference on the one cat, he just was not eating it. I have tried to get him to feed can food if not all the time, more often but not having a lot of luck with it as he was feeding just canned, but was over feeding and the cats really put on some weight. As stated well on this forum ECID.

Just wanted to let folks know this can happen and to watch your kitties carefully.

Had this problem with Elvis [not eating much at all] for a little while on the Zero, then when I switched to Mature it was better, but still at times not so much. It was only when I started to mix a very small amount of the EVO dry that he started eating it. There are times I don't put the EVO in and he eats it; if I see him finicky again, I put about a couple of tspns. and starts eating it again. I think it has something to do with the smell; the YA odor isn't very strong, but the EVO is.
 
Personally, I would choose any low-carb canned food over any dry food, even YAZC. Especially if the cat chooses wet over dry.

Well there's the rub. I have a cat that will not eat wet food. I put a piece of cooked salmon from my plate in front of him and he walks away. I would only recommend the YAZC (all dry) to those who have problems with their cats eating canned or fresh.

Isn't FF too high in carbs?
 
Your right. He eats the turkey and giblets FF. I just worry on how much I need to feed him so he is getting enough nutrition and energy so he isn't feeling sluggish. I also don't want a sharp carb rush that spikes his numbers up. I wish he would pace himself to eat when he is hungry and not gobble it all up at one setting so that it cna go throughout the day until I give him a can at night. He is 21 pounds so I know he needs to lose weight but I want it to happen the healthy and right way.

FWIW, Elvis was 18 lbs., sluggish and lethargic when he was on the Hills' Science Diet C/D.....since he's been on YA he has been right around 14lbs. for a year now, with occasional fluctuations of .5 lb. up or down.
 
Understand completely. Kitty has to eat, and if he will only eat dry, your options are feed him dry.
FF "classics" all fit the "low carb" category. I think Mixed Grill is the highest, but just about all of them are 5% or lower if I remember correctly.
 
Well there's the rub. I have a cat that will not eat wet food. I put a piece of cooked salmon from my plate in front of him and he walks away. I would only recommend the YAZC (all dry) to those who have problems with their cats eating canned or fresh.

Isn't FF too high in carbs?


If you feed the pates in the FF you are okay. The only problem I have with FF is all the by-product. Granted they need by-products (liver, heart, gizzard, etc..) but they need the muscle meat also and some do have muscle meat in them, I have tried to stay away from the Mixed Grill because it is all by-product. I tried feeding YAZC and Wysong Epigen 90, I had 3 cats that kept diarrhea from the food, that is 3 out of 7 so had to give it up, they can't keep running with diarrhea. So...I gave up on the hard food. It has been really hard managing the canned food when all they have known all their lives is hard food. I tired raw, they turn their noses up at it and walk away. Cats feed off of smell, so that means a lot to them. I think that is why fish is so popular, strong smell. My senior baby that I feed Tiki Cat, I mix 1/4 teaspoon of their fish flavors into the chicken so she will eat it. We do what we have to do.
 
Both the Young Again and the Wysong Epigen 90 gave 3 of my kitties diarrhea, and getting them past it after removing the food took a bit. My kitties grew up with hard food, because that is what I knew, now I feed only canned food. And yes they are thinner and seem so much healthier, I believe raw would be better for them to pull the meat and chew like they would in the wild. But I have had no luck with raw food, they sniff it and walk away. They are so hard but I would not trade any of my kitties for the world.
 
Me neither Nancey. I love my babies and they bring me so much joy. I just wish it wouldn't be so hard to feed them something they all agree on. Poopers comes first with eating due to his diabetes and thankfully he eats Turkey and Giblets. It contains muscle meat first in turkey and has poultry giblets. Appears since it has less than 6% carbs I just hope it will start working for him. Today has not been good with his numbers. He started out at 325 but has gone up all day even with insulin in the morning. Yesterday was complete opposite so not sure why he kept going up today just by eating FF and maybe some YAZC.
 
His numbers might have nothing to do with what he ate.

Look at a few spreadsheets of people who feed the exact same food and give the same exact dose over several days. It is more likely that you will see very different looking cycles than that you'll see cycles that look the same (although that seems to defy logic).

Try not to focus on the cycle by cycle data, and look more at overall trends. The "big picture" is easier to get a handle on than the "whys" behind 12 hour chunks of time.
 
If you feed the pates in the FF you are okay. The only problem I have with FF is all the by-product. Granted they need by-products (liver, heart, gizzard, etc..) but they need the muscle meat also and some do have muscle meat in them, I have tried to stay away from the Mixed Grill because it is all by-product. I tried feeding YAZC and Wysong Epigen 90, I had 3 cats that kept diarrhea from the food, that is 3 out of 7 so had to give it up, they can't keep running with diarrhea. So...I gave up on the hard food. It has been really hard managing the canned food when all they have known all their lives is hard food. I tired raw, they turn their noses up at it and walk away. Cats feed off of smell, so that means a lot to them. I think that is why fish is so popular, strong smell. My senior baby that I feed Tiki Cat, I mix 1/4 teaspoon of their fish flavors into the chicken so she will eat it. We do what we have to do.

Tootsie, my 18+ year old who weighs all of 5 lbs. yet appears healthy as a horse, was on dry food for years, but since I've had to switch Elvis to Young Again, I started her on FF canned which she adjusted to beautifully; however she only likes the pates with the cheese. At least I don't have to worry about Elvis eating it, but it's good to know that if he ever does sneak some it shouldn't be a problem. This IS true too of these, not just the classics, correct?
 
Tootsie, my 18+ year old who weighs all of 5 lbs. yet appears healthy as a horse, was on dry food for years, but since I've had to switch Elvis to Young Again, I started her on FF canned which she adjusted to beautifully; however she only likes the pates with the cheese. At least I don't have to worry about Elvis eating it, but it's good to know that if he ever does sneak some it shouldn't be a problem. This IS true too of these, not just the classics, correct?

I had to go look as my cats were not fond of the cheese flavors. Looks like all but 3 are 10% or less.

Here are Carb percentages on the cheese varieties:
FF Name % Carbs
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Beef & Cheddar Cheese Feast 9.09
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Classic Chicken & Cheddar Cheese Feast 6.82
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Classic Salmon & Cheddar Cheese Feast 6.36
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Grilled Chicken & Cheddar Cheese Feast in Gravy 10.0
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Grilled Tuna & Cheddar Cheese Feast in Gravy 22.22
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Grilled Turkey & Cheddar Cheese Feast in Gravy 11.11
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Grilled Whitefish & Cheddar Cheese Feast in Gravy 11.11
Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Turkey with Cheddar Cheese Feast 6.36

I got this off of Tanya's CRF website, her list is a great source for numbers also, she has some foods that are not listed on Lisa's list. So I use both of them. http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm

I am glad the Young Again is working for you, wish it worked for mine so they would stay out of the dog food. But considering that is upsetting their tummies I am at my wits end. I can't put the dog food up during the day, she is 15 years old and nibbles at her food when no one is home with her. At night I put it up since she sleeps with us and never leaves the bed till morning (my husband has to put her on and off the bed). Needless to say it is not helping Frodo's BG's at all. It is a daily struggle, when they don't like the canned food they go after the dog food. I wish there was a pet food company that was consistent in their quality. Getting cans that are too dry and then the next they are juicy makes it difficult and just adding water to the can does not help. My husband has suggested I just make it myself since I am unhappy with what we are getting, but I need a recipe that does not require grinding of meat. Still trying to find a good one. If anyone has any suggestions/recipes I would love to see them.
 
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