Young Again no Carb Cat food

I purchased this product but have not started using it yet. I know for sure that at least one of the vets I consulted never heard of it. I am dropping off the instructions for a diabetic cat at both vets today. Even though I home test, I am nervous about using insulin with this product. The instructions say that if u don't home test you should discontinue insulin when you start using this product. Does anyone on the board have experience with the Young again No Carb food??

 

It is really not no-carb but has a lot less carbs that most other dry food.
Changing to it will likely lower the cat's insulin needs
What are you feeding now?
How much insulin and what type insulin?
What were the BG values that yo have from the vet since it appears you are not home testing.
Most of us here do hone test.
Some cats really will not eat the Young Again food

 

We do encourage home testing, it is best for you and your cat. It can be intimidating at first but you'd quickly get the hang of it.

What are you currently feeding? The young again is approximately 5% carbs

 

I do home test but I have been spot checking rather than testing before each injection. I stated in my original post that I home test. I may have confused people when I wrote that the company recommends stopping insulin if u don't home test. I don't think my vets have had any experience transitioning cats to a no carb dry cat food. I guess it would work the same as transitioning from dry to no carb canned food. Big difference is Young Again wants you to stop all other food and ONLY FREE FEED THEIR NO CARB CAT FOOD.

Since yesterday afternoon when I got a 62 BG at peak, I have tested before each injection. Last night his preshot was 366. Because he had gone so low earlier in the day I didn't feel comfortable giving him 4 units so I only gave him 2. His preshot BG this morn was 476 ,so he got his full dose. He also ate a Lot this morning compared to last night.

I am wondering if anyone has transitioned their cats to Young Again and eliminated the need for insulin.
Bogie will eat the No Carb cat food. He likes his Merrick Grain free better but he will eat the Young Again food also.

Young Again Zero carb cat food has no digestible carbs. Their regular cat food had 5% digestible carbs.

Barbara and Bogie
Humulin N

 

- Young Again no-carb does have some carbs.
- I adopted my Dulce earlier this year as an untreated diabetic. I started treating him with Lantus and tried to get him to eat canned. However, I have not been successful he still eats mostly dry Evo Cat and Kitten food. It is about 8% carbs. After about a month he no longer required insulin and I test him about once per weeks. His last BG before meal time was 80.
- N insulin is not the best for most cats. You will see a large swing in BG like you are observing. The maximum effect of N is about 4-5 hours. When (how long after shot) was the 62 measured?
- When transiting to a different food yo should gradually, aver a week or so add more the new food and decrease the old food. Otherwise the cats my experience gastric problems

 

Honestly if your cat will eat canned and actually prefers canned over dry then I would go with the canned diet as it is better for him all the way around than any dry food will ever be. It's not just the carb content that makes dry a poor choice of diet for any cat it is the dehydrating factors that all dry food has.

What would go the longest way in controlling the diabetes and give you the best chance at remission is having your vet change his insulin to a longer lasting and more gentle one. The preferred insulins around here are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc. The problem with N is that it hits very hard in the beginning causing a steep drop early on, but it wears off around +6-+8 (6-8 hours after injection) which leaves the cat without any insulin coverage for a good 4 to 6 hours before the next shot is due. Some folks have been able to work around this with N by dosing every 8 hours instead of every 12 if they absolutely have to use N for their cats. But that can be a real pita if you have other things going on in life that makes it impossible to dose every 8 hours. Both the L insulins are depot insulin in that they work differently than either the N you are using now or ProZinc because they build up a depot under the skin and that depot is what gives it the carry over from one shot to the next. N and the PZI family of insulins are In and Out insulins in that you shoot them, they do their job and are gone by the next shot time, the only difference is that the PZI family tend to have a much longer duration

Mel and The Fur Gang

 

I feed low carb canned and the young again zero carb.

I have had my cats on it pretty much since Hidey was diagnosed. Dry food is frowned upon, not only because of the carbs but the other health issues it can cause. For a happy middle, since I know my cats love their crunchies, I give them 1 TBS each of the young again in the morning, and then they each get 6 oz of low carb canned food throughout the day. Hidey is now in remission with this diet and only 2 months on insulin. I do know someone that was able to get their cat in remission with the food change of only young again zero since they were having a hard time trying to transition their cat to canned but they continued their insulin, tested before every shot and slowly reduced the amount based on the drop from the diet change.

 

Maybe we have answered your original question, but I am not sure. I would guess the reason the company has the caution about their food and insulin is that, if you switch a diabetic cat from a high carb food to a low carb food, their blood glucose levels can drop drastically. Our Oliver dropped 100 points overnight with the switch from dry to wet. This is a concern for people who don't home test. We were testing and when we saw his levels for the next preshot number, we lowered his insulin dose accordingly. We also caution people to be aware that levels may drop with a food change, and urge they watch their cat's levels carefully and adjust the dose downward as needed..

 

I have watched one who went otj after switching to YAZC.

She had to radically reduce dosage when she switched to YA from Evo dry.
here is her chart. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Aqf3qFsppPQidDNIOVVoUC13QzVQa2lxOUw4cC1nNWc&output=html


The 4 units may become too much very quickly.

 

62 was +4 hours which should be just around peak on N. I gave him some carb treats (TEMPTATIONS) and retested in an hour and it was up to 83 so I left the house to go to my grandkids BD party BUT I LEFT SOME FOOD DOWN just in case he wanted to eat. I went to a second vet for another opinion and he agreed with first vet about using N. Both vets feel better to be on high side than too low. I think I'm going to have to start daily testing to get a better handle of what's going on. I was hoping to avoid testing before every injection.

Barbara and Bogie

 

Hi there,I too ordered the young again dry cat food,but my diabetic cat doesn't want it or any dry food since I have switched him to all low carb canned. I think it is just a marketing hype putting the warning on the bag about the insulin and home testing. All low carb canned foods could all give the same warning if they wanted to,as they can do the same thing..ie" lower BG, reducing the need for as much of an insulin dose. Nothing to get freaked out about.As long as you start low with your doses as you do the diet change,doing home testing,then there is nothing to worry about.I agree with the others,that dry food is terrible for a cats diet and you just want to give it sparingly.I have 5 other cats that still like their crunchier stuff,so I mix the YAZC half and half with their favorite low carb dry( instinct limited ingredients) and keep it in my cookie jar on the counter and save it for in between meals,when they are pestering me,and I call them cookies.Its used just as a snack.none of them are crazy about the YAZC,so I will not waste my money on it again.Good luck!

 

That's because BOTH vets are out of date. Ask them to read the Merck Veterinary Manual section of diabetes mellitus here
Excerpts

Since both vets know how to work with a non-depot insulin, getting ProZinc or BCP PZI will make sense to them in terms of how it works. And both of those last up to 12 hours, so you won't be leaving 4-6 hours each day without glucose control.

 

We've used Young Again No Carb for over a year.
The label and instruction sheet for diabetic pets that you are referring to are relatively new; the food only started coming with these lately.

I don't think the warnings are "marketing hype". They're intended, I think, for people who may be switching from a typical high carb dry food like Purina or Iams.
Vets don't always know to warn about the link between carbs and glucose levels and not everyone knows to expect a glucose drop when going from high to low carbs. If you weren't home testing, the cat could be in danger fairly quickly.
I'm actually thrilled to see the words "testing your cats blood glucose level before each injection" on a pet food label!
So few people (and vets) seem to know about home testing...

What I don't like about the new labels are all of the "MUSTS".
MUST free feed, MUST not feed any other foods, etc.

We feed YA as a snack once or twice a day, but also feed low-carb wet foods. Our three cats adore YA. But, in addition to our diabetic cat, we have a cat with a liver problem who must stay hydrated but isn't a natural water drinker.
We couldn't possibly consider switching her over to a dry diet; she needs to get as much moisture from her food as she can. The YA is given with a spoonful of water on top or used in the timer feeders to make sure mealtime happens if we can't be home at the usual time.

Used the way we feed, at least, the YA has not been a "miracle cure", and I doubt that it would be even if it were the only food we fed. Like all very low-carb diets, though, it helps regulate blood sugar. Daisy is down from 2 units of Lantus, twice daily, to a scant unit up 1-2 times most days. We test before each meal and she is low enough to skip shots almost as often as not, sometimes going several days in a row with low numbers. We keep hoping she'll go all the way OTJ, but she is a yo-yo cat: numbers in the 300s one day and double digits the next, with no food pattern to be found. She's a very old kitty, and it is my understanding that younger cats are more likely to go into - and stay in - remission.

If you go on 100% YA, please post to let us know how it goes. I'm curious, but predict that results will probably comparable to the very-low carb wet foods.
As a side note, which Merrick foods are you feeding? We used to love Merrick's "Before Grains" line, but I think they've been discontinued. The Merrick "Perfect Bistro" foods are grain free, but all over the boards in terms of carbs. Daisy does well on the Duck pate, but some of the other varieties are way to "carby" for her.