Young Again kitty food

Does anyone use young again dry food? I've mentioned before that I have a very picky cat who does not like wet food. I got a sample of the zero carb dry and all my cats seem to like it. After talking to the company, it seems like a quality food and they supposedly have had alot of customers with cats going into remission. Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with it.

 

Were you able to pick up a sample in a store? I have been looking for it, but have only seen it online.

 

They will mail u a free sample if u call. The number is on the website. They are really nice and always answer the phone-it's a family business that's been around for 20 years. The sample was a little smashed, but she said the food is delivered ups and doesn't get smashed. My cats all liked it. It's $49 for an 8 LB bag, but worth it if it helps Bob.

 

Thanks Dara, I agree it is well worth it if they will eat it. I am looking to buy it for my two civvies. They are still mainly on dry. I have tried some of the no grain dry foods, mixed with their regular. They really try to pick around the grain free. Cleo, my sugar kitty, cannot reach their food. But I want them eating something healthier! I will try and call today.

 

Cat Info has some tips on transitioning to low carb canned. It took Dr Pierson something like 7 months to get one of her cats switched, so persistence over the long haul is encouraged.

Meanwhile, the cat has to eat. For the die hard," no I won't eat that mushy canned stuff", dry food addict, Young Again, Wellness Core, and Evo Cat and Kitten dry have been helpful in lowering the glucose levels some.

You might try sprinkling a bit of FortiFlora over the no grain dry food to increase palatability.

 

There are proponents of those dry foods but I am not one of them. Here is why:

After yet another UTI, the bouts of diarrhea every 3-4 weeks, the swing the other direction to constipation, the partial urinary tract blockage where my foster Wink was straining to pee and only peeing in driblets was when I said "No more dry."

Cats simply do not have that strong of a thirst drive to overcome the lack of water in a dry food diet.

That sugar rich environment in the urinary tract system of our unregulated diabetic cats is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and infection.

To this day, I still add plenty of water even to the moist canned food to make sure there is enough water in all my cats diet.

Was it easy to transition from dry to wet? Absolutely not. I probably used at least a dozen of those tips and tricks in Dr Lisa Pierson's article on Transitioning Dry Food Addicts.Transition Tips It took persistence, will power, coaxing my cats to eat, trying another one of those tips, backing up a step here and there until they were mostly on the wet food and then removing all dry food from the house.

I made my civvies switch "cold turkey", using their natural hunger drive to get them to eat the canned food. They were easy to transition, loving the canned food. Not all cats are like that and sometimes you need to out stubborn the cat.

They can smell that dry food in a cabinet or cupboard and you need to remove it from your house if you want to be successful in the transition. A month after Wink had been eating only wet food, he chewed through a bag of dry food that I had left in the hallway to grab something else. I took that ripped bag out to the garage and dumped it in the garbage.

Would Wink prefer to be on dry food still? Absolutely but he needs more water in his diet and that is why I will never have dry food in my house again.

 

I've been feeding my civvies Young Again Zero Carb. They all seem to like it well enough. I haven't been able to get everyone on the same page about a wet food transfer and I've given up fighting for a while. I feed them the YAZC because Chester, my sugarcat, is going to get into it even though he gets as much canned food as he will eat. It does come by UPS and the bags have always been on schedule and in good condition.

That said, we're running a trial right now of Wellness Core. I'd love to say that money is no object for my kitty family, but it's really an object for my entire family. Wellness Core is a little bit cheaper than the YAZC. It's also a bit more convenient. Even with the ultra-convenient YAZC bottomless bag refills, scheduling delivery with enough bag overlap to get us through has been tricky. Since it's online only, I can't just run down to the store to get more if we run out. But, if the Wellness core has a significant effect on Chester's BG numbers, we'll be right back to YAZC.

 

I tried Young Again zero carb and gave at least one of the cats diarrhea. After about 4-5 days they both refused to eat it and it just sat there. I shipped it back to them for a refund.

 

Mary - how long have you been feeding them the young again? Have you noticed any differences using it? I understand about the money. I think since Bob was diagnosed (almost a month ago) I've put about $800 on my credit card. Yikes! I thought about the Wellness brands, but I was so upset when the company was sold to Proctor & Gamble! I despise that company! But, if they have something that works for my kitty, I guess I'll buy it. Is it a zero carb food or low carb?

 

I started free feeding Young Again Zero Carb a few days ago-- he still gets FF Classic for breakfast and dinner, but the dry stays out all day and night for free feeding. He doesn't eat much of it, but he is eating it. Hasn't caused a jump in BG numbers. He's really trying to be diet controlled though, and YAZC hasn't affected that.

 

I've been feeding YAZC since the middle of January.
The bags do last a while. My cats don't seem to gobble it up as quickly as some foods. An eight pound bag lasts for almost two weeks, with five full-time and two part-time (primarily canned food) adult cats eating it. There's less scarf'n'barfing. Actually, there's less barfing, period. Everyone seems to be happy and content. Even though they seem to be eating less, nobody acts as if they're hungry (unless I'm cooking).

 

My cat went into remission on the Young Again Zero Carb this past February and I would recommend it as an effective transition food. Before the Young Again, I was using Evo low carb dry but that product did little to help my cat’s BG. Only the Young Again worked. Not sure why.

I wish I had known about the Young Again when my cat was initially diagnosed as I sincerely believe I could have gotten her BG under control months sooner than I did. As mentioned above, I transitioned her to Evo low carb dry initially which did little to help lower the BGs over a 6 month period. Then I switched to YAZC and her BGs dropped like a rock. During those 6 months I tried every trick in the book to get her to eat wet and she just wouldn’t; so finding the YAZC was a God-send to me at that time.

Not sure if anyone out there has had verifiable success lowering BGs using other products like Evo or Core low carb (??). I did not, but if others did maybe they will post results here so you can make an informed decision about a workable transition food.

My cat too did have diarrhea on the Young Again Zero Carb food. I supplemented with Dr. Goodpet’s digestive enzymes for cats and a probiotic and that seemed to solve the problem. The digestive enzymes are tasteless and I just sprinkled a tiny pinch over the food.

The food is pricy at $49 a bag but shipping is free and the bag lasts a very long time if only one cat is eating it (well over a month). My cat had a checkup recently and the vet said she looks great.

Still… I too am concerned about urinary health over the long term, so am continuing to try to get my cat to eat wet food (though without much success – she runs from the room as though I am trying to poison her when the wet food comes out). I have tried Dr. Pierson’s wonderful suggestions among others and would encourage others to try those too. Just because they did not work for me does not mean they will not work for others.

If your cat is currently eating wet food or you can reasonably get your cat to eat wet food within a short period of time after diagnosis then in my opinion that is the best way to go. If your cat is stubborn and it looks like it is going to take time to transition to wet, the YAZC might be a viable interim option.

 

Milo went into remission on Wellness canned and Fancy Feast but now he eats mostly dry and is still in remission. His numbers are lowest on EVO (7%), a bit higher on Nature's Variety(5.2%) and even higher on Young Again at zero carbs. Probably different for each cat. The Wellness Core is much higher at 11% so I won't even try it. Not sure if it has anything to do with it but with those 3 foods, Evo is the most calorie dense so he doesn't need as much as YA or NV. But it makes sense to me that eating less of the higher carb food would not affect his numbers as much as more of a lower carb food. Evo and YA are pretty close but Evo is about 20 calories higher per cup.

In Milo's case, I won't be getting the Young Again ever again. But it seems to really help other cats. I also can't stand how it smells...


I did successfully get Milo on canned food only but once he got pancreatitis it has become near to impossible. As long as he eats I am happy. He loved the Young Again sample but doesn't seem to like the food now that I have a whole bag. His nausea is so weird, some days that is all he wants, other days he hates it. I can't even get him to eat a whole can of Fancy Feast every day. And I refuse to force feed. It might work for some cats but Milo gets very upset with that kind of thing. I would never subject him to that. He recently lost 2 pounds in 3 weeks so I really don't care what he eats as long as he eats. I just brought him to the vet today and the quick weight loss didn't do any damage thank god.

 

Thanks for that info. What does she mean "transition food"? I wonder if the YA is not a good food to feed forever (if I can't get Bob to switch to canned). I was able to get Bob to eat some of the tuna FF, but not much and I know I shouldn't feed him fish all the time. I may check into the EVO and nature's variety too. My other kitties love the canned food, but I just can't get past the fact that it's all garbage. I know it's closer to what they eat naturally, but I just want something that is quality. I really wish I had the stamina to grind up some real animal parts for them like the dr. on catinfo.org, but i just can't do it!

 

Transition is change. Transitioning is changing one thing to another.

So a 'transition food' could be a dry food that is lower in carbohydrates than most dry foods. A 'transition food' could also be a food that has fewer or no grains or fruits or vegetables in it. It is an intermediate step in trying to get your diabetic kitty on a lower carb wet food. Ideally, you would be able to go directly from feeding whatever dry food you have been feeding to a low carb wet food.

Not all kitties are agreeable to that changover. They don't recognize the canned food as being edible and good for them. Sometimes, trying a different texture than the pates will work better.

Does your cat like chunky or flaked wet foods better than the pates?

If Bob loves the YA, you could keep feeding it. One concern would be if he suddenly decided he didn't like it and stopped eating it. That is one reason for trying to feed a variety of foods. Kitties can be very picky, loving one food for breakfast and turning their nose up at it for dinner.

 

Yes, by “transition food,” I mean that Young Again Zero Carb (YAZC) dry was effective in helping me to transition my “dry food addict” cat from a higher carb dry food, Hills Science Diet -- as an interim step. The ultimate goal is for her to eat wet food, which feline diabetes expert Dr. Lisa Pierson feels is best for the long-term health of the cat. She reports that cats who eat dry food tend to have higher incidents of kidney disease, cystitis, urethral blockage, bladder/kidney stones. Here is a link to her excellent article on the subject. http://www.catinfo.org/#Kidney_Failure .

That said, I was able to get my cat into diabetic remission using only the Young Again Zero Carb dry food and I think it can be a valuable tool for other “dry food addicts” who are resistant to change. In my opinion, if you can get your cat to eat wet food within a few days or weeks upon diagnosis, that is best. If not, then a switch to Young Again Zero Carb dry (while you are trying to transition to wet food) could help you get the blood glucose under control somewhat sooner than you might otherwise be able to do using other dry food brands -- possibly less organ damage to the cat and possibly less chance of other complications.

I struggled with my “dry food addict” cat every single day for six long months before finding YAZC. She was eating Evo low carb dry, receiving 4.5 units of Lantus twice daily with BGs in the 200’s and 300’s (and up to 600 in the early months). When I switched to YAZC her BGs dropped to low 100’s on a dose of .25 in just 12 days and she was in remission about a month later. I have no idea what those 6 months of high BGs did to her internal organs. I just wish someone had told me about the YAZC sooner.

Young Again is now one of the two transition foods recommended by Dr. Pierson (http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes) – and is the ONLY one that worked for me in getting the BGs down and getting my cat into remission. The Evo low carb made very little difference to her BGs as noted above. Your experience may be different, as every cat is different.

I have no scientific knowledge of whether Young Again is healthy for cats over time. I have been using it since December. My cat looks healthy, her weight and muscle tone are very good, she has a considerable amount of energy, and her BGs in remission are consistently in the 50’s and 60’s.

Although I do believe the YAZC has excellent potential as an interim solution for some “dry food addict” cats, I would be infinitely happier if my diabetic cat would just eat wet food and I still try with her every single day. In time I hope to make my own food like Dr. Pierson recommends as I KNOW it is healthier by far to any commercially available canned or dry: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood

Best of luck to you. Let me know if you have other questions about the product that I can answer.