Young Again Zero Carb dry food?

As some of you know, my cat Mac has had elevated BG numbers again recently after being very well controlled on diet alone for the past 6 years or so. I have to admit after all that time we had gotten a little complacent/lax about strictly following a very low carb diet; while he got only canned food, some of them were the higher carb FF varieties, which he ate a *lot* more readily than the pates.

However, now that his numbers have increased we have tightened back up on the diet to try to get things back under control/hopefully avoid the need for insulin... and I am having a problem getting him to eat the pates with the recommended amount of carbs. So far he seems to like the Wellness ones better than the FF, but the Wellness is much higher in calories, and Mac is already a little heavier than he is supposed to be; he's 15.8 lbs and the vet would really like him to be around 13-14.

I saw a post about the Young Again Zero Carb dry food and how a cat actually got into remission on it. Having had it drilled into my head that All Dry Food is Evil, I was very surprised by that, but it made me wonder if that would be an option to mix with the lower calorie pates to get Mac to eat it better. Any thoughts?

His BG is coming down slowly but steadily over the past week (from 270 -> 186 yesterday) but he is just not eating as well as I'd like. He LOVES any kind of dry crunchy food so if this product is an option I would love to hear it.

 

I feed my horde of seven YAZC. Chester gets Friskies or Fancy Feast, but I know he gets into the dry, especially in the middle of the night. Better to give them all something he can eat. We're nowhere near remission, but we are finally getting to regulation and his numbers are starting to come down, which is nice. My cats don't seem to eat it as quickly as they did other dry foods. An eight pound bag lasts us two weeks, easily.

I understand that wet food is better for a lot of reasons, but my cat family is not playing nice with meal times. Rather than deal with the fights or trying to get everyone into their own separate room to eat, I've decided that dry is the best way to keep peace in my house. We have several different water dishes out, fresh twice a day. At this point it's the best solution for us. I'd recommend it to anyone who's having transition issues or needs to include dry food for any reason. Yes, wet food is better, but this stuff is (IMO) as good as dry gets.

 

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense to me. I have two other cats (civvies) who would both prefer dry food for sure, but they actually eat the canned better than Mackie does. I guess I will keep trying to entice Mac to get with the canned program for now; he is acting fine and if he lost a little bit of weight (obviously not dropping a lot suddenly) that would be fine for the moment.

Of course I was hoping to hear that this particular dry food was as good as canned (oh how that would solve a lot of challenges in my house!) but it sounds like that isn't the case... my top priority right now is to try to get Mac back to a point where he stays in the normal BG range without the insulin if at all possible.

Thanks for your help!!

 

I personally think this food is as good as canned, as far as the dietary requirements go. From the information available for this food, Protein/fat/carb counts are as good, if not better than some of the cans I am feeding. I haven't done a lab analysis to see if it's exactly as good as it says it is.

It does not address issues such as water consumption, which I'm told can be inadequate with dry food. Dr. Lisa Pierson has a lot of information about why cans (or raw) are better for cats. I'm sure someone will jump in here soon to fill all of that in.

 

Oh! Wow, that might be great news, then. I am not seeking to replace the canned food, just mix a little bit of dry into it in the hopes of getting him to eat it more readily. I think his water consumption is ok; he drinks just fine from his fountain and has never been at all dehydrated...

Thank you again for responding so quickly... I really appreciate it!!

 

Glad to read about this since I am having the same issues with two civvies and one sugarkitty. Where do you buy the Young Again Zero Carb food?

 

Suzanne, I got it online: http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/10brow ... egory=cats