Young Again Dry Food Question

My Baby eats FF pate, but I like to give her treats for all the BG checks. I have PureBites in a variety of flavors (is one better than another as far as carbs go?). I also am wondering if anyone feeds their kitties Young Again dry food as treats? I got a sample from them and Baby likes it, but just as a treat do you recommend the regular ZeroMature or is it better to give her their "treats", the Zero TruCarnivore (Does not contain vitamins and minerals). Apparently, their regular ZeroMature is loaded with all kinds of vitamins and minerals...is that okay in addition to the FF pate? Thanks!

 

The Purebites are all pretty much the same.....they're nothing but a dried protein so are no carb

I wouldn't buy a whole bag of YA just for treats....it does "go bad". I'd stick with using the Purebites or just get the YA treats in the smaller bags

 

Ok, great - thanks, Chris!

 

I do. I get the smallest size bag. None of my six cats liked the sample of treats they sent.

 

Hi Janet, thank you, good to know! They sent me a sample of the regular food which she really likes. I think maybe I should just stick with what I know also and buy the smallest bag. How much do you give of those tiny pieces as treats at any one time?

 

Young Again can cause nasty, runny poop. I used to use it until I got a bag that caused that... never again! I recommend Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein chicken dry food as a treat (it is Mia's testing treat, when she wants one). It has the cleanest ingredients I have seen on any dry food, and the carbs are at 4-5%.

 

I also will never buy Young Again, again. It is low in carb, and the owner (?) will talk to you on phone enthusiastically about how wonderful it is for diabetic cats, but in a span of 4-5 months ordering it I got two really bad bags of it and the company reps sidestepped responsibility. The first bad bag had blue mold in it. I took pictures and emailed them so then they called this a "problem with flavoring." They replaced that bag of food. Thinking this was an anomaly, and just by nature giving it a second chance, I continued feeding Mabel YA. It was the Zero Mature, by the way. The second time I got what I believe was a bad bag, a couple of months later, the bag looked normal but both my cats got very bad diarrhea as soon as I'd opened that bag. They were scampering to the litter box frequently with very runny light colored poo apparently feeling constantly like they had to go, my diabetic cat more than the other since she ate it as her primary dry food. When the diarrhea set in I questioned the cause because I didn't immediately connect it to the food as the previous bag had not caused any problem. But several days into the diarrhea, on taking up the Young Again, duh, Mabel's bowels returned to normal within a day. The company would not admit the food could have been the cause and they were uncooperative and actually said they had already replaced one bag of food for me! and they made me pay to ship the second bad bag back in order to have the cost of the bag refunded. I reported them to the MN Dept of Ag, in writing with pictures, which I spent significant time doing. I realize this sounds like complaint, but I found the company dishonest to say the least. And subsequently my Mabel relapsed to insulin dependency. I cannot say for sure if the illness spawned by the food was a trigger but there is a sequence of events in play. I had switched to Orijen as adjunct to the canned food lo carb pates I feed both cats regularly. But Orijen is about 16% carb, and Orijen will not guarantee the carb count. They say it is an estimate and it can vary in production. I have written about our issues and trials of food elsewhere on this forum to let other people know. Now, after samples of Wysong Epigen 90 and Epigen and trials of Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein I have chosen to go with Dr. Elsey's. It is available through Chewy's. These product lines both are high protein. Giving treats seems wise. Then if cat is doing well increasing them gradually as adjunct to canned lo carb food to the point cat is getting sufficient calories and satisfied would seem a good approach to me.

 

Wow, that is awful. Poor kitties! So far I've only given Baby a maximum of a dozen little pieces at any one time and she has had no problems. But I wonder if I gave her say a tablespoon if it would affect her. I am waiting to hear from @JanetNJ to see how much she gives to her kitty. Thanks, Emmy.

 

Mary Ann & Baby, I used the free feeding method touted by the company owner. Every bag came with his instructions to free feed YA Zero Mature. Of course, no one has to do that and perhaps hardly anyone does. But I tried his approach. You can read about that on their web site, too. I did transition my cats though. I would never switch completely and quickly from any one food to another. I do think they got sick because that batch of food was bad, from a problem with production, or source food, or the food had turned, and I think that because they ate from that bag in the same way they ate from other bags but their diarrhea coincided with opening the bag. It is also true that feeding these high protein foods, such as Epigen, Epigen 90, or Dr. Elsey's (59% protein) we have to be careful because apparently a switch to high protein can in itself cause diarrhea. It must have to do with digestion or inability to digest.

 

Just a pinch. 8-10 tiny kibble maybe.

 

I need to comment on this thread, since Jerry was switched to Young Again on June 1. He has done quite well on it, and I have just put in an order for a third bag. I also give him Fancy Feast pre-shot twice a day. The YA is for the rest of the time. He does seem to really love it, so much that I had to start regulating it, and not putting out 2 whole cups at a time, like the company says to do. He was eating 1/2 cup a day, which for a 12 lb. cat is a bit too much. His stool was a bit runny, but not terribly bad or out of control. Yes, I did speak to Mike, the owner, when I had questions at first, and he texted me back and forth, too. I think it is a good company, and so far, I have not had any problems with them. Jerry also eats their zero carb yummies, and loves them, too. I sure hope their quality control department is up to par, and the above mentioned incident(s) were a rarity. I spend $54 for an 8 lb. bag of this food, and it only ends up lasting 2.5 months, at the most. That's a huge chunk of change for dry food. Unfortunately, Jerry threw up right after eating a can of Dr. Elsey's I wanted him to like it, but oh well. He rarely throws up now. Plus, his numbers have improved greatly over the past month, to where I usually only give him 1 unit or less, depending on the reading. I think it might very well be the Young Again food. So, I have had success with it so far. I would recommend it.

 

PS-He is on the Zero Mature, btw. And while I'm here, can someone tell me the best website to order u40 syringes/28 or 29 gauge? Thanks.

 

@Rain7 In my opinion, Young Again food is a 'crap shoot' (pun intended). I also used Zero Mature and had no problems at first. I started reading several stories of people's cats having poop issues on it, and I found that odd and was glad I did not see the same. Then, I got a bag that caused the nasty, runny poop. Obviously, at the very least, they have quality control issues. I'm glad it's working for you now, but be forewarned that it could change with any bag you get.

 

Adwdiabetes.com

 

ADW has them for about the best price....and they have them with half unit markings too!

https://www.adwdiabetes.com/search.aspx?keywords=u40 insulin syringes with half unit marks

 

Yeah, Jerry had diarrhea at first, because he is a food obsessed cat, and so I had to start regulating the amount that I give him. Now his poop has normalized, for the most part. It is solid and not runny. The runny poop is probably from your cat over-eating the food, and since they digest protein differently than carbs, and since this is 54% protein, that causes the runs. Anyway, I hope I continue to have success with it, and as with any pet food, etc. EVERYTHING in life is a "crap shoot." I'm sorry you had a bad experience with it. I suppose if I do somewhere down the road, I will just start feeding him ALL Fancy Feast, and he'll cry for food constantly. I'll cross that bride if and when I get to it.

 

And yes, the poop is the worst I have ever smelled. That goes along with all the animals he is eating...pork (which I am not too crazy about), fish, and chicken, all in one little morsel.

 

Do you know of any coupon codes for free shipping? I only need syringes right now. And which type do you buy? I definitely want the ones with the 1/2 unit mark, but there are so many brands!

 

Not a chance. She only got a few kibbles... maybe between 6 and 10 on top of her wet food! Besides, her wet food is 51% protein, and she gets extra protein because I add home cooked chicken breast or PureBites freeze dried chicken. So, it is definitely not the protein.

 

ok

 

Well, now I don't know what to do LOL. I've got a yay and a nay on the Young Again. Maybe I'll try one small bag and see what happens with just a small amount for snacks each day. I just got an auto pet feeder - what do you guys think of this plan:

7am 3/4 can FF
10am some Purebites
1pm the other 1/4 can of FF
4pm few Young Again
7pm another 3/4 can FF
10pm some Purebites
3am few Young Again

Baby is only 9lb, she's way down from a few years ago so I feel she could stand to gain a pound.

 

Not today, but there's a 10% off sitewide you can use to help save a little

MISSU10

 

You need a certain amount for free shipping. I use FortiFlora so I throw that in the cart along with lancets and syringes. A 10% off coupon code is MISSU10

 

I think you should give them a try, but others may not. I did my own research, asked lots of questions, and decided that I would go for it. Jerry is used to kibble, and this is the only one that I found that he could eat as a diabetic cat. He loves it, and even though it is expensive, it's the only one that is nearly zero carbs. I don't think it is completely ZERO carbs, but it is close to it, I am sure. I would start her out slowly on it, to let her adjust, unlike what the company says. If she is a big eater, she will almost surely have diarrhea. They give you feeding guidelines on the bag and on their site. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

thank you, Chris & China & JanetNJ! You just saved me $1.18, and as we all know, every little bit helps

 

Drinks are on you!!!

 

haha! Sure, I'll buy everyone some water

 

Hey, bartender, a gallon of water for all my friends...I'm sparing no expense!

 

Quick note on two dry foods mentioned. I have one slightly overweight 10 y/o cat and one underweight 12 y/o diabetic cat (1 unit BID).

The heavy one eats anything; the diabetic won't eat wet food, but loves dry. For practical reasons, we free feed and give carb free treats (varies, usually freeze dried protein fish or chx) prior to injections.

I've tried both Dr. Elsey's Cleanprotein and YA Zero Mature. As for taste, they both liked both options, dove right in.

My healthy cat repeatedly throws up after eating Dr. Elseys. I tried it for a week, in which he threw up semi-digested food nine times. I gradually switched to YA Zero over three day period. He hasn't thrown up once since.

My diabetic cat did well on Dr. Elsey's Cleanprotein. She liked it and did not get sick. No appreciable spike. No problem whatsoever.

Both cats love and thrive on YA Zero Mature. No problems. They eat a lot at first, then it slows down. No weight gain or loss for either and no stomach upset. BOTH cats had runny stools for about 3 days, then soft normal.

The only problem with YA Zero is that the stools are very smelly. We have to be doubly vigilant in cleaning the litter. We practically follow them into the litter box. We also use more baking soda and litter deodorizer with YA. We can live with that, but it may be a consideration for a small apartment. It seems to have no affect on their weight, though I've read my overweight cat should slim down. He hasn't yet.

For the record, the diabetic cat tests the same on Purina DM canned food and YA Zero Mature. We've done curves on both on same dosage. There's no difference between free feeding YA Zero Mature and Purina DM canned food. ( For the record, Purina DM DRY definitely brought on higher numbers than YA Zero Mature).

Hope our experience helps....

 

That is helpful information, Maggie, thank you! Yes, the poop is the worst I have ever had the displeasure of smelling, that's for sure. I, too, practically follow Jerry to the litter box when I think he is going to poop, and immediately clean the foul smelling culprit. He really loves Young Again, and I wish I could keep him on it, but sadly, my finances are such that this is not possible anymore. I just purchased what will probably be his last bag last week, which will last 2 months and change. I have to figure out what I am going to do now, which will probably be just to have him on Fancy Feast. I know what this means. He will be hungry all the freaking time, crying for food all the time. That is what he did in the beginning of this ongoing nightmare, before I decided to put him on Young Again. He started YA on June 1. I wish it wasn't so dang expensive! I also wish that the first ingredient wasn't pork belly. I find that rather strange, and I really don't like the thought of him eating a pig...it's just weird. It's been a solid 4 months since he was diagnosed, and no, it hasn't gotten easier, just more frustrating and expensive. I am still waiting for it to get easier.

 

Hi Rain, so I bought the YA ZeroMature in the smallest bag. What I do is give Baby a can of FF pate at 7am & 7pm and then bought an automatic feeder that I put a heaping TEAspoon of YA in each compartment that goes off at 10am, 1pm, 4pm (then she eats FF can at 7pm again), then 10:45pm and 3:00am. That seems to satisfy her. She has STINKY poop, but not runny, and weighed in at 3oz more today at the vet! (She needed the extra weight, so I am thrilled)! Maybe you could follow this routine also?

 

I second this and add a cautionary note. My experience: the first bad bag of YA Zero Mature smelled peculiarly strong but that wasn't enough to alert me. When I did look at it up close I noticed the blue so I dumped the whole bag out and there was blue mold throughout. The second bad bag did not have mold but it was spoiled (perhaps bad source ingredients or it had turned rancid) and both my cats were vomiting and had diarrhea after eating from the newly opened bag. I took up the food and they got better. I think they ate it because of the flavoring (the powder that adheres to the food). I have no doubt whatsoever these were quality control problems. I took time to report to both YA and MN Dept of Ag Pet Food Division, which at least does an annual inspection. I won't buy YA food again due to risk of getting a bad bag. If your cats are eating YA food from a new bag and get ill, I'd first look to the food. I didn't connect the illness to the food immediately because I'd had good bags, too. In handling the problems the company replaced the first bag and didn't want the bag with the blue mold back. In the case of the second bad bag the company required me to pay to ship the bag back before they issued a credit for the $60 bag of food. And they did this grudgingly. I believe the policy re customer pays to ship food back is on their Web site. Under the circumstances though--my cats got ill--it was an additional burden.

 

That sounds like a great idea, but I don't have an auto feeder, and I certainly cannot afford one at this time or anytime soon. Thanks for the info!