Young Again Zero

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Case

Case

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Hi everyone!

I have 3 very kibble addicted cats. When I found out one of them was diabetic the first thing I did was pick up the dry food and went with a strictly canned food diet 2 times a day. This was about a month ago and while I think they've gotten used to it, they all still act like they aren't getting enough food.

Doing some research I know it's better to give my diabetic, Sookie, a few smaller meals throughout the day but it hasn't been possible with my schedule. Some have recommended the automatic pet feeder but I don't think it would work with my cats because they all push each other out of their bowls and I have to closely monitor them at feeding time because of this. It's so frustrating! I've tried giving them more wet food at feedings but Sookie will end up just "scarfing and barfing" it. :facepalm: She's always been this way and used to be VERY overweight before her diagnosis. She has since lost a lot of weight (which is actually why I brought her to the vet in the first place) and is now considered to be at her ideal weight. I'm afraid of her getting too big again but at the same time want to make sure she eats enough as she's always hungry mostly because of the diabetes.

I feel especially bad for my civvie Mia because she's just over a year old and still very small for her age. She likes to eat a little and come back for more later, but if I don't pick up her bowl the other cats will just eat it on her.

So I've been doing some reading on the YA website and decided to order some hoping this will solve our food dilemma. They recommend free feeding all day but I'm afraid the cats will just end up overeating it. I still plan on feeding the wet food in the morning and evening before Sookie's insulin, I'm just wondering how much of the YAZ I should leave out during the day.

Does anyone else have issues like this with multi-cat households? How do all of you use this food?
 
JanetNJ said:
I have ever six cats and leave out young again, evo, and dr elseys clean protein all day in addition to wet food twice a day. Non of mine really over eat... Probably because they know they always have access to food.

Maybe putting dry in something like this would slow them down....

Trixie 5-in-1 Activity Center https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001O8L2UO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XFJAzbZHD700S
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! You're lucky your cats don't overeat, I don't know why mine always have even though there's always been plenty of food for them.

That's a pretty cool idea, I didn't even know something like that existed! I'm sure making them work for it could help and it wouldn't be bad if they got a little stimulation during the day.
 
Hi Case!
I do use YAZ but just for one kitty. I do not free feed as Maury loves it so I'm pretty sure he would eat himself sick and throw it all back up :rolleyes:. I'm stuck at leaving his portion to 3/16 of a cup every 12 hours. I tried reducing it to 1/4 cup and he's hungry 2 hours before PS (preshot) time :facepalm:. He does get a wet food snack around +4 and wet food meals :)
 
Case said:
Thanks for the reply! You're lucky your cats don't overeat, I don't know why mine always have even though there's always been plenty of food for them.

That's a pretty cool idea, I didn't even know something like that existed! I'm sure making them work for it could help and it wouldn't be bad if they got a little stimulation during the day.
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I don't have it, but think some of my kitties might really like it. Maybe I'll have to get one too... just for fun. There are other kinds of cat food mazes as well, but that one looked so interesting with several different tasks for them. Plus if food is always available they might not feel like they have to get there before the other cats do. I think if they are forced to slow down they might be able to read those signals from their brain saying they are full before going too fast and puking, ya know? Like eating peanuts in the shell one at a time verses already out of the shell where you eat a bunch at once. hahaha
 
Trixie brand has SEVERAL different cat food puzzles. really interesting. There's other brands as well if you search amazon for "cat food puzzle"
 
Yong said:
Hi Case!
I do use YAZ but just for one kitty. I do not free feed as Maury loves it so I'm pretty sure he would eat himself sick and throw it all back up :rolleyes:. I'm stuck at leaving his portion to 3/16 of a cup every 12 hours. I tried reducing it to 1/4 cup and he's hungry 2 hours before PS (preshot) time :facepalm:. He does get a wet food snack around +4 and wet food meals :)
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Hi Yong! I'm worried my Sookie will do the same as far as eating herself sick. I guess I won't know until it gets here to try it. I was wondering about timing midday snacks because if I'm around I'd like to give her something small during the day. When you give Maury a snack at +4 does it affect his nadir number? I like to test at +6 because we're still trying to figure out her dose and I want to know how low she gets, but I'm thinking a snack may influence it so not sure what to do there.
 
JanetNJ said:
I don't have it, but think some of my kitties might really like it. Maybe I'll have to get one too... just for fun. There are other kinds of cat food mazes as well, but that one looked so interesting with several different tasks for them. Plus if food is always available they might not feel like they have to get there before the other cats do. I think if they are forced to slow down they might be able to read those signals from their brain saying they are full before going too fast and puking, ya know? Like eating peanuts in the shell one at a time verses already out of the shell where you eat a bunch at once. hahaha
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Lol that's so true, great analogy with the peanuts! I definitely agree if they just slowed down a bit they would realize they don't need to eat it all at once. I think it would be good for them, I'm going to look at a few on Amazon today. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Case said:
Hi Yong! I'm worried my Sookie will do the same as far as eating herself sick. I guess I won't know until it gets here to try it. I was wondering about timing midday snacks because if I'm around I'd like to give her something small during the day. When you give Maury a snack at +4 does it affect his nadir number? I like to test at +6 because we're still trying to figure out her dose and I want to know how low she gets, but I'm thinking a snack may influence it so not sure what to do there.
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I haven't noticed a big impact on his nadir from his snack/lunch. There are days he hasn't eaten it or ate it late. I think when he does eat it, it just helps slow his drops but he's still going to nadir where he's going to nadir :). @StephG her kitty, Chuck, ate like a couple days worth when she tried the free feeding with him, I think. Poor boy upset his tummy and needless to say, puked it up. So I'm pretty sure she can't do the free feeding of YA either. I've tagged her to chime in when she can ;).
 
Yong said:
I haven't noticed a big impact on his nadir from his snack/lunch. There are days he hasn't eaten it or ate it late. I think when he does eat it, it just helps slow his drops but he's still going to nadir where he's going to nadir :). @StephG her kitty, Chuck, ate like a couple days worth when she tried the free feeding with him, I think. Poor boy upset his tummy and needless to say, puked it up. So I'm pretty sure she can't do the free feeding of YA either. I've tagged her to chime in when she can ;).
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That makes sense, so I won't have to worry about giving her a snack if she's acting super hungry. Its always low carb anyway so shoudn't spike her numbers or anything. Thanks for the help! :)
 
Yes, Chuck ate way too much. It spiked his numbers but it didn't when he got a spoonful snack. It would level him out or slow his drop a little.
I got an email from the president of YA and I'll share it here. It's about protein and bg numbers.
 
Last edited:
"Hello Stephanie,


Any time they over eat their BG will go wild. The BG also goes up on the chicken because it is high in protein and low in fat. Cats can still convert protein to BG so when protein is out of sync with fat the BG goes up. You need about 2 parts protein to 1 part fat for BG to remain in balance. Chicken meat is mostly protein.


Since you have been restrict feeding your cat it may be best to start out restricting our food as well. Two tablespoons of our food has the same nutrition as a 3 ounces of a of high quality canned food. The reason he stopped eating his soft food is because he did not need it and he was not hungry. Soft stool is a classic sign of overeating a high protein/fat diet.


Not sure how much your cat weighs but for a 10 pound cat you would feed ¼ level cup or 4 level tablespoons in 24 hours. I like 3 feedings a day, when you wake again around 4-5:00pm and again just before bed. You would break that ¼ cup into 3 feedings a day. Only ¼ cup total every 24 hours.


Some people misunderstand and think they are supposed to feed ¼ of a cup 3 times a day: this is wrong.


A 15 pound cat would be 1/3 of a cup in 24 hours.


Our food is timed released so do not worry about feeding before a shot, that is only necessary if you are feeding a diet with carbs or feeding a canned food. It is important to check his BG before each injection and if it is below 150 I would suggest you adjust his dose accordingly. I personally feel that there is little benefit to testing in between meals; it is stressful to the cat. Before each injection is a must on our food and you should adjust the dose accordingly. Not sure how long your cat has been diabetic, but if you go to strictly our food, most cats go into remission within a few weeks.


If you have questions please feel free to give me a call and we can be more specific to your kitty and situation.



Michael J. Massie

President"

This was when he was on ProZinc. I don't agree with EVERYTHING he said but it talks about the restricted feedings and amounts.
 
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StephG said:
"Hello Stephanie,


Any time they over eat their BG will go wild. The BG also goes up on the chicken because it is high in protein and low in fat. Cats can still convert protein to BG so when protein is out of sync with fat the BG goes up. You need about 2 parts protein to 1 part fat for BG to remain in balance. Chicken meat is mostly protein.


Since you have been restrict feeding your cat it may be best to start out restricting our food as well. Two tablespoons of our food has the same nutrition as a 3 ounces of a of high quality canned food. The reason he stopped eating his soft food is because he did not need it and he was not hungry. Soft stool is a classic sign of overeating a high protein/fat diet.


Not sure how much your cat weighs but for a 10 pound cat you would feed ¼ level cup or 4 level tablespoons in 24 hours. I like 3 feedings a day, when you wake again around 4-5:00pm and again just before bed. You would break that ¼ cup into 3 feedings a day. Only ¼ cup total every 24 hours.


Some people misunderstand and think they are supposed to feed ¼ of a cup 3 times a day: this is wrong.


A 15 pound cat would be 1/3 of a cup in 24 hours.


Our food is timed released so do not worry about feeding before a shot, that is only necessary if you are feeding a diet with carbs or feeding a canned food. It is important to check his BG before each injection and if it is below 150 I would suggest you adjust his dose accordingly. I personally feel that there is little benefit to testing in between meals; it is stressful to the cat. Before each injection is a must on our food and you should adjust the dose accordingly. Not sure how long your cat has been diabetic, but if you go to strictly our food, most cats go into remission within a few weeks.


If you have questions please feel free to give me a call and we can be more specific to your kitty and situation.



Michael J. Massie

President"

This was when he was on ProZinc. I don't agree with EVERYTHING he said but it talks about the restricted feedings and amounts.
Click to expand...

I see, that's very interesting. So if she eats too much her numbers will probably spike and I'll know right away. I'll have to keep an eye on her the first few days to see how she eats it. Especially after not having the dry food for a little over month, I have a feeling they're all going to go a little crazy for it. I may restrict the feeding as well depending on whether or not the kitties gorge on it. That is really helpful info, thank you.

By the way I love that pic of Chuck, he's very handsome. :cat:
 
StephG said:
"
Not sure how much your cat weighs but for a 10 pound cat you would feed ¼ level cup or 4 level tablespoons in 24 hours. I like 3 feedings a day, when you wake again around 4-5:00pm and again just before bed. You would break that ¼ cup into 3 feedings a day. Only ¼ cup total every 24 hours.
Click to expand...
:eek: Can someone help me explain this to Maury :rolleyes:. He's getting like 6T in a 24hr period. Each time I've tried to cut it back he's obviously hungrier before next meal time :oops:. Maybe I can try giving his snack a little later than +3 or +4. :bookworm:
 
Yong said:
:eek: Can someone help me explain this to Maury :rolleyes:. He's getting like 6T in a 24hr period. Each time I've tried to cut it back he's obviously hungrier before next meal time :oops:. Maybe I can try giving his snack a little later than +3 or +4. :bookworm:
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That's such a tough one, once our cats get used to something they really hate to have it changed! Especially anything about their food. I'm wondering if Maury isn't overweight, is it really a bad thing to give him the extra 2T (assuming he'd ideally get 1/4 cup)? And being diabetic I was under the impression it's ok to give them a little more, but I'm sure that changes further along the journey. I do also think timing is important though I don't know enough to say when feeding them that extra snack is the best idea. This stuff gets so complicated!
 
I'm probably going to try giving his snack between +4 and +5 instead and keep the YA portions for now. He's been holding 13.1/13.2lbs which is a good weight for him. He was overweight last year (18lbs :oops:). Put him on a diet, he lost a pound or two over a few months. With diabetes he got down to 10lbs. Too skinny for a half Maine Coon. I can figure it out :)
 
Sounds like a good idea. My cat was extremely overweight so I'm not in any position to give feeding advice haha, just thinking out loud (over the internet ;))

Glad to hear he's at a good weight now though. It's so hard to put them on a diet when they want to be fat. :p
 
All my cats love YAZC and would eat it 'til they burst, if given the opportunity!

If you have a reluctant or picky eater, it makes a great, enticing topping for wet food. I put some in my mini food processor and turn it into powder, sprinkle it over the food, and they all go nuts, lol.
 
Squalliesmom said:
All my cats love YAZC and would eat it 'til they burst, if given the opportunity!

If you have a reluctant or picky eater, it makes a great, enticing topping for wet food. I put some in my mini food processor and turn it into powder, sprinkle it over the food, and they all go nuts, lol.
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That's good to know, maybe I can finally get my little one to start eating more wet food with that powder trick. :joyful:
 
I vote for Dr Elesey ....mine got really sick (vomit and diarrhea on YA)
they do fine with both the chicken and salmon but the chicken is lower carb. 4.69% and salmon is about 9%
 
Case said:
I see, that's very interesting. So if she eats too much her numbers will probably spike and I'll know right away. I'll have to keep an eye on her the first few days to see how she eats it. Especially after not having the dry food for a little over month, I have a feeling they're all going to go a little crazy for it. I may restrict the feeding as well depending on whether or not the kitties gorge on it. That is really helpful info, thank you.

By the way I love that pic of Chuck, he's very handsome. :cat:
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Awww thanks! He's my special boy!
My civvie goes nuts for YA. He will beg constantly for it. Drives me insane!
 
jayla-n-Drevon said:
I vote for Dr Elesey ....mine got really sick (vomit and diarrhea on YA)
they do fine with both the chicken and salmon but the chicken is lower carb. 4.69% and salmon is about 9%
Click to expand...

I was thinking about trying that too. Will have to wait and see how it works out. Happy to have a few dry food options at least.
 
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