Zero Carb Young Again Cat food

2cats4me

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Thank you, 2Cats! I want to have another option just in case.
Ya welcome .. I hope your kitty likes it . 

Mine liked the Young Again samples but I have decided to go with Wysong Epigen 90 instead ..

The YA is too expensive for us at  $44.00 for an 8 lb bag ..
 
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graziae

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Hi,  I saw your post about Young Again Zero Carb.   I have a 10 year old that was diagnosed with diabetes last month.   The vet put him on 3 units twice a day and recommended Hills Weight Management.  I'm almost positive the diabetes was brought on by high doses of steroids for his allergies.  He breaks out in sores on his tail from time to time.  When he does we give him steroid injections.   I suspect the allergies are caused by eggs or grain in his food.  Previously he and the other two cats ate Natural Balance Duck and Green pea.   I limited the amount of food he would eat to try and get him to lose a lb.  He currently weighs 19 lbs.  He's a big cat, but could lose a few ounces.   After 4 weeks on insulin twice a day and eating Hills 1/4  cup twice a day, his levels kept getting lower.  He didn't lose any weight, but he was reduced to 2 units twice a day  then, to 1 unit twice a day.  Now he's on no insulin, but I test  him every day.  The fact he got off the insulin in such short order makes me believe even more it was caused by the steroids.   The vet said he can no longer take steroids.  Now I have a cat that is pre disposed to diabetes, has skin allergies  and walks flat footed because of this diabetic episode.  I almost forgot about his super sensitive stomach. That too is probably from a food allergy.   He used to throw up quite often.  Although his digestive system tolerates the Hills product I don't like the  ingredients.  So I started searching.   I want to prevent his diabetes from coming back. My order of young again is on it's way.   I figured I'd give it a try with the hopes his stomach will tolerate it and it will prevent another diabetic episode.  My questions for you since you've used this food is:  

1.  How is your cat doing now? 

2.  Did you free feed?

4.  If you did not free feed how much food did you feed your cat and how often?           

5.  Did your cat have soft stool when you first started the food?   

All three of my cats love this food one of them (the pre-diabetic) had soft stools after eating the sample.   I'm reluctant to free feed since the diabetic will gorge.  I used to free feed my cats until I got him.   The other two cats will walk away when full he would empty the self feeder.   Also, I have two dogs and  it's going to be hard to put the food in a place where the dogs won't find it but my diabetic can reach it since he can't jump up high anymore. 

I know I can contact the company regarding this.  They've been very helpful, but can't say how much to feed if I don't free feed.  It'll be trial & error. Hopefully you or someone else out there might have some good advice.   I guess worst case scenario, I feed him the Hills if it works.

Thank you in advance for any information you can give.

Ellen.
 

msserena

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Just to throw my two cents in. Young Again Zero dry cat food is NOT zero carbs, anyone can calculate this for themselves, I get about 4%. They make an excellent product & I recommend this brand to people that want to feed dry cause it's surely better than the crap they sell at the pet store.

Wysong Epigen 90 has been reformulated since this post started but I calculate the carbs at around 6%. Much lower than pet store garbage in a bag.

Both of these brands I have in my house & I'm terribly picky to what I feed my animals. I don't feed dry every day, just a couple times a week mostly as a treat, they LOVE it!
 

young again

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Thank you Msserena for recommending Young Again. I would like to add some information to further the discussion on the starch content of our Zero foods.

You are correct Young Again Zero foods do not contain zero carbs, but they do all contain slightly less than 1% starch/digestible carbohydrates. Our company uses an outside lab to test each of our diets to confirm starch content. From a calorie consumption point of view our starch content is even lower. The Zero diets break down accordingly; 46% of the calories come from protein, 53% from fat and about 0.8% from starch/digestible carbohydrates.

A helpful hint when trying to calculate the digestible starch/carbohydrates of a food is; not all carbs are digestible. By definition carbs include starch, crude fiber and soluble fiber. Only starch is digestible by your cat and only starch will cause a rise in blood glucose. Most companies will only list the level of protein, fat, crude fiber and moisture (some may list ash), however soluble fiber is seldom listed. In order to calculate starch content accurately, you will also need to know the 6 nutrient levels previously mentioned. If you do not know the soluble fiber level of a food, it will mistakenly be lumped in with the starch and the starch calculation will show artificially high. It is crucial to know the total starch content of a cat diet especially if your cat is diabetic. The Zero foods all contain a little more than 4% soluble fiber, but less than 1% starch.

Most companies have very low levels of soluble fiber in their diets and it seldom makes as big an impact on the final starch percentage, as it does with the Young Again foods. The normal calculations will work for the vast majority of foods out in the market place. However, the Zero diets all use a completely different technology and the soluble fiber needs to be taken into account in order to get an accurate starch percentage.
 
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msserena

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YAY! Welcome!! It's very wise of you to come to a cat community forum. I feel many people on here would benefit from your products. Hope you get a chance to talk to some.
 

young again

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Thank you. I find many people are curious about how a company approaches nutrition and appreciate the opportunity to get a look inside their thought process.
 

young again

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4.  If you did not free feed how much food did you feed your cat and how often?           

5.  Did your cat have soft stool when you first started the food?   

All three of my cats love this food one of them (the pre-diabetic) had soft stools after eating the sample.   I'm reluctant to free feed since the diabetic will gorge.  I used to free feed my cats until I got him.   The other two cats will walk away when full he would empty the self feeder.   Also, I have two dogs and  it's going to be hard to put the food in a place where the dogs won't find it but my diabetic can reach it since he can't jump up high anymore. 

I know I can contact the company regarding this.  They've been very helpful, but can't say how much to feed if I don't free feed.  It'll be trial & error. Hopefully you or someone else out there might have some good advice.   I guess worst case scenario, I feed him the Hills if it works.

Thank you in advance for any information you can give.

Ellen.
Hello Ellen,

Free feeding the Young Again Zero works the best, but if your cat is one of the few that can't be fed free choice then I would feed 3 times a day. When you wake in the morning, again around 4:00 or 5:00 and again just before bed. I'm sorry that someone at the company told you that we could not give you an amount to feed; I will do a training round and get that fixed. The amount to feed is dependent on the weight of your cat. For example a 10 pound cat will consume 1/4 cup of food in 24 hours. A 15 pound cat will consume 1/3 of a cup in 24 hours. I like to measure out the proper amount every morning into a separate container and then feed from that container for the day, with the night time feeding being a little larger. A happy cat at night makes for a well rested human. If you pick an amount and the cat is still begging you for food or not letting you sleep, then raise the amount of food a little.

For example: you were feeding a level 1/4, now try a rounded 1/4 cup. It is important to be consistent, so when you make a change you can see results. Results generally take 24-48 hours to see. For example: the cat is begging for food so you up the amount and if you go too high then you will get soft stool; the consistency of mashed potatoes. This result will generally show up within 24-36 hours. Soft stool on the Young Again food only happens when the cat over eats. Starch/carbs act as a binder and our Zero foods have less than 1% starch, if the cat overeats the excess protein (which does not act as a binder) will cause the stool to soften. Soft stool is not harmful in any way, but it does need to addressed.Think of soft stool as an early warning system; you now know you have a problem that needs fixing.

Many cats are overeating their current food, but because of the high carbs the stool always looks normal. Of course you may have a diabetic cat in 10 years, but what the heck at least you had 10 years of nice stool. When you first start free feeding our food they will over eat out of habit. The stool will soften and then it usually clears up in a few days as they learn that this food has a lot of calories and they are actually satisfied.Think of it this way, you can eat as many crackers as you want and you will be hungry in an hour, but how many cheese curds can you eat and will you be hungry in an hour? What stool would you expect if you ate too many cheese curds, that primarily consisted of protein and fat? Sorry to be so graphic, but it is important to understand how you cats digestive process works. 

Often times a cat that needs to be restrict fed can be converted to free choice feeding a few months latter after he has learned that he is satisfied and does not need to eat all the time. Bad habits take time to change. Remember it is their job to try and make you feel guilty and it your job to be firm; do not give in. For example: if a cat walks up to the dish and and just walks away it does not mean that they are hungry or that they didn't like the food, only that things are different and they have not yet adjusted their thinking. It takes 1-2 weeks for a cat to learn a new habit. A cat that is unhappy will be very vocal, under foot while cooking and will not let you sleep.

Hope this helps and pleas feel free to call any time.
 

kommunity kats

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The Zero diets break down accordingly;
46% of the calories come from protein,
53% from fat, and about
0.8% from starch / digestible carbohydrates.
4% soluble fiber {a little more than, non-digestible carbohydrates) . . .
Thank You for explaining that so we can easily understand! (Of course, I condensed it!)

We are guardian of a mature neighborhood tomcat whose weight ballooned after getting neutered, & he kept eating the kitten's food (there were 7 at that time). He wasn't allowing us close enough to catch him, & if I didn't put enough out for everyone some of the kittens would have gone hungry, as he would have eaten their's. (We had borrowed traps to TNR them all.) Now he lets me groom & pick him up (so I can remove him from the others at feeding), so I've been looking for the right food for him, to get his weight down. Yours is one I am most seriously considering, but I have some questions that I'll ask in another post. (:

BTW, in your post ("#25") immediately under what you quoted, all I see is a long wall of coded text, one that takes over a minute to scroll thru using the arrow button. I guess I need to change something in the settings on my computor! I hope I'm not missing something important by not being able to see it as intended!
 

luvmy4sibs

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I tried this food because of the low carbs and the pork protein source. One of my 9 year olds is obese and the other has IBD, so this food sounded perfect. After 4 weeks all 4 of my cats still had soft bowel (I expected this from the one with IBD) and emailed the company. Young Again replied and said I was either doing something wrong, food bowl too low, or my cats had a parasite that was hard to detect.
This company asked no questions about my cats so to even suggest they have parasites was upsetting but I wanted this food to work so I continued to feed it to my animals. I was hoping that it was just going to take them a little longer to adjust.
After another 4 weeks there was no improvement in their soft bowel, I was actually giving them probiotics a couple times a week to help firm it up. I again emailed the company and asked for suggestions, opinions, or anything else to help me because I wanted to use this food. It has been a week and they still haven't replied.
Two days ago I switched to a different food and their bowel movements have firmed up already.
I'm sure this is a very good food but be aware not all cats will tolerate it. I guess I'm more upset over the poor customer service. All they had to do is tell me not all cats adjust, mine can't be the first, and I wouldn't have continued another 4 weeks, making me and the cats miserable.
 

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You are right, not all cats do well with all foods. I have not tried the Young again, i use Dr. Elseys.

My cats also Love Farmina dry. All of the flavors, but i have one cat that gets very soft stool on any of the Farmina dry, except the Pumpkin line of food. My other cats are all good with any of their lines. :dunno: Some ingredients bother some cats i think.

I have written 3 companies about issues, they all replied, but nothing all that informative or helpful, just like what you experienced.

Im glad you found a food that works for your guys!
 

maggiedemi

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I'm sorry this happened to you. Is it a grain-free dry food? My cats had the same problem, I tried several different brands. Maybe it doesn't have enough fiber in it for them, thus causing the loose stools? I have no idea, but you're not alone. I'm sorry the company gave you such a useless response.
 

luvmy4sibs

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Yes, this food is grain free and less than 1% carbs. As I said, it's probably a wonderful food, I just don't like being told I'm doing something wrong or my cats have parasites. I even went so far as to buy the Corelle dishes they suggested to feed them from. I started feeding them Petcurean Go! and they had no more problems, duckpond mentioned Farmina food and if I have any problems with the Petcurean, I will try it. I understand my situation may be unique with 4 cats and one of them with IBD. I have to find a food they all like and is tolerated by the one.
 

duckpond

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Its all about finding the food that works for our specific cats, and that they will eat :oops:
For Dry foods i do like Dr. Elseys ,which is what i normally feed, and Farmina best, of the ones i have tried. their pumpkin line works well for all of my guys.. Normally my guys do not like Venison, but the Farmina Pumpkin and Venison they all love.
 

luvmy4sibs

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I appreciate the information, mine don't like venison or rabbit but will eat almost anything chicken. This makes it a lot easier to find food as long as it doesn't irritate the one with IBD. I think this is the price we pay for loving our pets! :)
 

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I tried this food because of the low carbs and the pork protein source. One of my 9 year olds is obese and the other has IBD, so this food sounded perfect. After 4 weeks all 4 of my cats still had soft bowel (I expected this from the one with IBD) and emailed the company. Young Again replied and said I was either doing something wrong, food bowl too low, or my cats had a parasite that was hard to detect.
This company asked no questions about my cats so to even suggest they have parasites was upsetting but I wanted this food to work so I continued to feed it to my animals. I was hoping that it was just going to take them a little longer to adjust.
After another 4 weeks there was no improvement in their soft bowel, I was actually giving them probiotics a couple times a week to help firm it up. I again emailed the company and asked for suggestions, opinions, or anything else to help me because I wanted to use this food. It has been a week and they still haven't replied.
Two days ago I switched to a different food and their bowel movements have firmed up already.
I'm sure this is a very good food but be aware not all cats will tolerate it. I guess I'm more upset over the poor customer service. All they had to do is tell me not all cats adjust, mine can't be the first, and I wouldn't have continued another 4 weeks, making me and the cats miserable.
I tried this food because of the low carbs and the pork protein source. One of my 9 year olds is obese and the other has IBD, so this food sounded perfect. After 4 weeks all 4 of my cats still had soft bowel (I expected this from the one with IBD) and emailed the company. Young Again replied and said I was either doing something wrong, food bowl too low, or my cats had a parasite that was hard to detect.
This company asked no questions about my cats so to even suggest they have parasites was upsetting but I wanted this food to work so I continued to feed it to my animals. I was hoping that it was just going to take them a little longer to adjust.
After another 4 weeks there was no improvement in their soft bowel, I was actually giving them probiotics a couple times a week to help firm it up. I again emailed the company and asked for suggestions, opinions, or anything else to help me because I wanted to use this food. It has been a week and they still haven't replied.
Two days ago I switched to a different food and their bowel movements have firmed up already.
I'm sure this is a very good food but be aware not all cats will tolerate it. I guess I'm more upset over the poor customer service. All they had to do is tell me not all cats adjust, mine can't be the first, and I wouldn't have continued another 4 weeks, making me and the cats miserable.
Sorry you had a bad experience with them. Psycho started Pred in April for suspected IBD. He had been eating Orijen for 3 years and all was fine until they changed the formula in Jan ‘17. That’s when the vomiting stared. It was once a month then progressed.Looking at the new Orijen formula I noticed there were a lot of fish and beans. I decided to take advantage of his huge appetite on Pred and switched him gradually to YA. I got the LID fomula. Psycho gets a 3 oz can of wet each day and just 3 T of kibble so YA is not his main food. I do not follow their protocol at all. His stool was a bit soft in the beginning but I cut back on the amount of kibble from 4 T to 3T and that seemed to do it. YA said he was eating too much and to cut back. He s been on it 2 months and has perfect logs . I m sorry this did not work for your kitties but it sounds like you found what works for them. Best of luck !
 

luvmy4sibs

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Thank you. Mine used to love Orijen too until they changed their formula, they had been eating it for years. I still would like to try a food with low carbs because of my fat boy but I have to be careful with the one with IBD. I didn't try cutting back on the YA, that may have worked but right now I don't care if I do. I still have some YA left and may put my obese boy back on and cut the amount I give him. Right now I'm just want happy, healthy pets without stinky butts :)
 

psychomama

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Thank you. Mine used to love Orijen too until they changed their formula, they had been eating it for years. I still would like to try a food with low carbs because of my fat boy but I have to be careful with the one with IBD. I didn't try cutting back on the YA, that may have worked but right now I don't care if I do. I still have some YA left and may put my obese boy back on and cut the amount I give him. Right now I'm just want happy, healthy pets without stinky butts :)
I tried this food because of the low carbs and the pork protein source. One of my 9 year olds is obese and the other has IBD, so this food sounded perfect. After 4 weeks all 4 of my cats still had soft bowel (I expected this from the one with IBD) and emailed the company. Young Again replied and said I was either doing something wrong, food bowl too low, or my cats had a parasite that was hard to detect.
This company asked no questions about my cats so to even suggest they have parasites was upsetting but I wanted this food to work so I continued to feed it to my animals. I was hoping that it was just going to take them a little longer to adjust.
After another 4 weeks there was no improvement in their soft bowel, I was actually giving them probiotics a couple times a week to help firm it up. I again emailed the company and asked for suggestions, opinions, or anything else to help me because I wanted to use this food. It has been a week and they still haven't replied.
Two days ago I switched to a different food and their bowel movements have firmed up already.
I'm sure this is a very good food but be aware not all cats will tolerate it. I guess I'm more upset over the poor customer service. All they had to do is tell me not all cats adjust, mine can't be the first, and I wouldn't have continued another 4 weeks, making me and the cats miserable.
Thank you. Mine used to love Orijen too until they changed their formula, they had been eating it for years. I still would like to try a food with low carbs because of my fat boy but I have to be careful with the one with IBD. I didn't try cutting back on the YA, that may have worked but right now I don't care if I do. I still have some YA left and may put my obese boy back on and cut the amount I give him. Right now I'm just want happy, healthy pets without stinky butts :)
I agreed
Thank you. Mine used to love Orijen too until they changed their formula, they had been eating it for years. I still would like to try a food with low carbs because of my fat boy but I have to be careful with the one with IBD. I didn't try cutting back on the YA, that may have worked but right now I don't care if I do. I still have some YA left and may put my obese boy back on and cut the amount I give him. Right now I'm just want happy, healthy pets without stinky butts :)
I agree if they are doing well now don t change anything.
 
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