This one’s for the kitties (well, the dogs can come too. And the hedgehogs.)

by Dr. V | Tuesday | May 11, 2010 | 24 comments

A few weeks ago, I was approached by Young Again Pet Food to see if I would like a sample of cat food for Apollo. They said, quite reasonably I thought, that Apollo deserved a go at a sample of a high quality food and they thought he might really like theirs.

I’m quite sure he would, actually. But as you probably know by now, his incredibly sensitive allergic body rejects a wide array of proteins and grains regardless of their quality, including the chicken found in Young Again’s cat formula, so I wasn’t able to accept it.

But you might. And rather than nabbing a bag of their dog formula for Brody and Koa (I will probably buy one to try anyway, since I like to rotate a variety of foods), I asked if I could do a giveaway for a reader instead, and they agreed.

Young Again makes gluten free, no filler foods for just about every pet you can imagine- dogs, cats, sugar gliders, finches, crested geckos, goldfish…to name just a few. If you’d like to check it out, head on over to the Young Again website, check out their story, and comment below with which food you would like to try and why. The giveaway is for one bag of any product EXCEPT the koi food.

I will pick a winner at random on Friday!

Filed: Daily Life, Reviews

http://www.calmingcollars.com Deb Mendez

I’d love to try the cat food. I’m always trying grain free dry foods to supplement the canned grain free my gang eats. I wish Young Again would make a cat wet food! They sound like a good company.
http://virginiamadness.blogspot.com Jenn D.

My cats are 12 (Skittles) and 10 (Scout and Spitfire) years old. Skittles was sick last Fall and has never fully recovered; her fur fell out and only about half of it grew back in, and she’s not moving as well as she used to. Scout and Spitfire are pretty healthy, but Spitfire does get treatment-resistant rodent ulcers 3-4 times a year. I’d love to try Young Again cat food, since I’m always looking for a better dry food option for my kitties!
http://www.farmhousefling.wordpress.com Kathy

I’d love to try the cat food too. Well, actually, I’d love for my cats to try the cat food, I’m not particularly interested in trying it personally.
Sarah

I’d love to try the adult dog food for my two goldens and lab mix. They are a lot of dog to feed (obviously!), but I too like to rotate occasionally and none have any known allergies or sensitivities. My good dogs say “thanks!”.
Rose D.

I’d love to try the cat food. I try to keep my Eesa on a low/no-grain diet, so this sounds good!

http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

Congratulations! You won!

Heather

I’d love to try the cat food. my 2 girls have never eaten dry food before because I’ve never been able to find a dried food that I was happy with nutrition wise (even the so-called “premium” brands available off the shelf in Australia are chock full of grain and not much else).
http://www.greeneggsandhamlet.wordpress.com Shelley @ Green Eggs & Hamlet

I know my Boston Terrier Hamlet would love to test drive the Adult Dog Food 40. Hamlet suffers from allergies and we are always trying different foods to see what will work best for him. Young Again sounds like a great product!
http://moxiepaws.com/ Moxie Paws

I am trying desperately to ween the Princess, Miss Mia off of another brand of cat food…so would love to give Young Again a whirl in the hopes Miss Mia will like it. She is so finicky…! Very frustrating…
Michelle

I’d love to try the adult dog formula for my older (nearly 10) greyhound. She’s not too bad when it comes to sensitive tummy, but still, some high-quality food might be a good choice now that she’s getting older.
rachel

I was thinking, “hmmm another giveaway, that’d be cool if I could get some cat food for Milo” and then I read these sentences, “Cats that were never real “people” cats now purr contentedly on laps. And cats that used to be sedentary now romp like kittens. “…what does the food do for cats that are already crazy hyper? I don’t know if I should risk it, lol.
Jeanne

I’d like to try the cat food to see if my very picky crew would like it.
http://www.wordpress.com/beccity98 Beccity98

I would love to try the cat food. I have been wanting to try a better cat food, but my budget just doesn’t allow it. I have them on the best food I can afford-Science diet and purina proplan, but I would like to get away from all the gluten and by-products.
http://www.huntyr.com huntyr wilson

I would like to try the active dog food, but momma says we should try the food for Buddy, our african gray parrot.
I don’t know why she always spoils him so much………

huntyr, the jack russell terrier…….
Dianne

I share my home w 3 senior/geriatric rescue dogs with ages of 13, 14 and 17 years. I would love to see what Young Again Pet Food can do for them! I would be interested in the Young Again Adult Dog Food 40. Thx for the chance to win some!
Dianne

I share my home with 3 50 lb senior/geriatric rescue dogs with ages of 13, 14, and 17 years. I would love to see what Young Again Pet Food can do for them! I would be interested in the Young Again Adult Dog Food 40. Thanks for the opportunity to win some!
Margaret

I would love to try the dog food for my picky doxie. We can’t get her to eat dry food at all.
Debbie

I’d like to try any of the adult dog foods, 40, 45, or 50. I’m interested in finding a low to no carb choice that my dogs would eat. They’re both (10 y/o English Shepard mix and 8 y/o Flatcoated Retriever) getting older, but are still very active (training and competing in agility). I actually thought I won a sample of food a few months ago, but never got it. Maybe it was a different Debbie (?).

http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

Was it the Honest Kitchen one? They actually said they would send samples out to anyone who asked from the blog- just contact them through their website.

Grace

I’d really like to let my Hank try the Adult Dog Food 40 – he’s not over or under weight but he’s been a little lazy lately.. the website says the high-protein formula will give him more energy, which would be great on our runs!
Tonya

I am on a never-ending mission to find the “right” food for my cat, Alley. She is 10 years old and struggles with IBD. Just when you think you have found the right one, it flares up again! I would love to try the cat formula. I’ve recently given away several $20 bags of food because she ate them for about 4 days and decided they weren’t what she wanted (why don’t all companies make sample bags?).
Maple

I’d love to have my cat Savannah or my Mum’s cat Rosie give it a try. Rosie’s getting a bit older now and could use a little bit more energy to keep catching the local finches!
http://www.leavethelightson.info/ Robyn

Argh, I’m so sorry I missed this give-away! Grain-free cat food? Sign me up! Actually, I’m already signed up. I buy it at a nearby pet boutique. But I am always willing to take freebies.
Shannonspetsitting

At the Lincoln State Cat Club Show this past weekend I was introduced to the Young Again pet food company. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner & founder Michael. When he approached me I was very leery about their product but I gave him a chance. Being a veterinary assistant & a previous telemarketer I’m not easily sold on things. http://www.shannonspetsitting.net Especially pet diets. The facts & statistical information he presented me with was impressive & it made sense! What if you could feed your diabetic cat a food & they’d never need an insulin shot again? His food has done that! How about an 8-year track record of no crystals, stones or blockages! So I pressed him & said what about kidney failure (Since my Kizzy has it) and she is extremely over weight at 16 pounds! He presented verbally & today in writing his response to me. (skip down if you don’t care to read as its a bit lengthy LOL)

Your cat is an obligate carnivore and should only eat meat and fat; all from animal sources. Both meat and fat digest at a rate that matches the cat’s energy needs/metabolism rate; they are synchronized. This is why a cat fed a balanced meat and fat based diet is never overweight.

Cats are originally from a desert environment and process water much more slowly than other animals; that is why dehydration is so dangerous for your cat. Generally once a cat is severely dehydrated they will not be able to drink enough water to save their own life and will require an IV. A dog in the same condition will do just fine with a bowl of water and a quit place to rest. Hence the digestion of water and animal protein/fat are also synchronized in your cat.

Carbs digest many times faster than do animal proteins causing a constant state of dehydration in your cat, because the cat can not speed up their rate of water digestion to match the increased speed of carbohydrate digestion. To make matters worse, the average cat will consume 60-75 grams of any diet containing more than 5% carbs (the typical cat food has 30-40% carbs), while that same cat will only consume 25-35 grams of our food. Cats can not process sufficient water for each carb rich meal and then consuming more than twice the total amount of food each day only compounds the problem further.

The reason your cat consumes more carb rich food is simple; carbs digest quickly flooding the blood stream with more energy than they can use for their metabolic needs, therefore, the excess glucose is stored by insulin as fat. Once the excess glucose has been stored the remaining high levels of insulin trigger a hunger response to get the cat to eat more food to satisfy the remaining high levels of insulin still in the blood. This scenario repeats endlessly; hence 57% of cats are over weight and kidney issues steadily increase to epidemic proportions in cats today and yet 40 years ago it was unheard of.

Dry has nothing to do with kidney and UT issues only the composition of the food. Our food works because it is a carnivore food and is sync with your cat’s digestion, metabolism and water processing ability.

I was floored – it made sense. So much so I purchased a bag of it just to see if it worked since they have a 60 day Satisfaction Guarantee. I will be taking my cats who are 12 & 16 pounds off the high calorie prescription diet K/d (Kidney Diet) & trying Young Again’s 50/22 Cat Food. I would NEVER jeopardize my cats health! But I know being at least 4 pounds overweight, not active & obese isn’t doing Kizzy’s kidneys any good either! When I compared the ingredients between the Young Again & the K/d I was disgusted! (Well I kinda knew but didn’t think I had a choice to be honest). The facts & statistics on their products is unreal & all over their website. I want to see how it works in conjunction with Kizzy’s blood pressure medication as well. Lets be honest, I want happy healthy old kitties! My friend Lauren Rizzo of St. Sophia’s Forgotten Felines has fed it to her cats & LOVES IT!! I gave Kizzy & Kaize some when I got home Sunday as a treat & they scarfed it down.

I invite you to check them out – it is pricey I wont lie, but think of how much you spend in specialty diets, prescription diets, medications & veterinary visits. I stand by “you get what you pay for” philosophy. They also have a RAW pre-mixes for those of you who are interested. I have attached the diabetes & general information brochures for you to review as well. They make foods for Dogs, Cats, Ferrets, Reptiles, Koi, Fish, & other small Animals.I’m not a product pusher or sales person but this is one I think deserves some attention & I wanted to share with you!

The website is http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/

To get 10% off your first order use coupon code: 134355

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Pawcurious Vet Blog: With Pet Blogger and Veterinarian Dr. V