One of our senior patients stopped eating suddenly. She would go up to the bowl but then not want to eat. We assumed her kidney values were up or her reflux had flared up, but blood work revealed no problems and there were no other GI symptoms. No evidence of dental issues or swallowing problems.....
This situation is common and a dilemma for us. Do we wait and see if our elderly patients are just having a few bad days and will get better on their own, or do we do additional tests and treatments which may or may not be helpful. Well, in this case, our client figured out the reason for the inappetance: a new shiny metal food bowl! Apparently, this kitty would see her distorted reflection everytime she went up the the bowl and was put off by it. A switch back to the old bowl solved the problem.
From now on, "new food dish?" is going to be on my list of historical questions!
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