A break from the normal DIYs and recipes, here’s a short story and review of Young Again Pet Food and how it cured my cat of diabetes.

Meet Scratch, my kitten McMitten and this blog’s namesake. Last summer he was diagnosed with feline diabetes. Two months later he was diabetes-free.

First I noticed our 10 year old, indoor tabby cat was having trouble jumping up onto things. He had fallen a few times and I was concerned. My husband and I began to watch him carefully and quickly noticed that he was walking on his hocks and dragging his feet. We turned to Google and immediately came up with the symptoms of feline diabetes. Scratch had many of them.

Symptoms of Feline Diabetes

Change in appetite (either increased or decreased)

Weight loss

Excessive thirst/increase in water consumption

Increased urination

Urinating in areas other than litter box

Unusually sweet-smelling breath

Lethargy

Dehydration

Urinary tract infection

Weak hind legs

Feet slipping out from under him/her on the floor

Walking down on the hocks in back and/or on the wrists in front

Lying down more frequently, especially after short walks

the list goes on…

Our cat had urinated outside of the litterbox (we thought something in the laundry room spooked him); he drank a lot of water (he always had); lethargy (Really? He’s a cat!); lying down more frequently (don’t cats sleep something like 23 hours a day?). Once we started learning of these symptoms we began to realize that feline diabetes was probably the cause. We brought him to the vet the next day. Sure enough, Scratch was diagnosed with feline diabetes. He was prescribed insulin and I was taught how to administer it. Our vet recommended we change our cat to low-carb cat food and directed us to a long list of options. We went beyond the list and with a few Google searches had learned a lot about feline diabetes. We wanted to keep him on dry food (even after learning that wet food is the better option for diabetic cats) because he uses an automatic feeder and we wanted to keep it that way. We came up with the best dry food for diabetic cats, Young Again Pet Food’s Zero Carb Dry Cat Food, and ordered a bag. Within the first couple of weeks, we noticed a drastic change.

Best Dry Food for Diabetic Cats

After two weeks of insulin and the new zero carb cat food, Scratch had an all-day appointment at the vet to monitor his glucose levels. I brought him in, they checked his glucose levels and sent us home with a lower-dose (by half) insulin prescription. Two more weeks passed (and several boxes of syringes) and Scratch had another glucose test. I brought him in that morning, they tested his glucose levels, cut his insulin dose by half again, and sent us home. At home, Scratch was again able to jump up on things that were previously causing him trouble, had no more litterbox incidents, and seemed to have more energy. Three weeks after that we brought Scratch to our vet for a final glucose test. The vet came out of the back room and said “Congratulations, Scratch doesn’t have diabetes anymore!” No more insulin, no more syringes, no more frequent vet visits. Scratch was back to being a normal cat.