Weight or abdominal girth on one repeatable technique beats sporadic visual guesses.
Trend appetite, mobility, and pain tolerance as short textual slopes—not single-day absolutes.
Hydration and elimination shifts often precede obvious crises—note frequency changes honestly.
Monthly micro-reviews convert drift into adjustments instead of emergency surprises.
Senior: three fixed checks every two weeks
- Weight or girth (same technique always)
- Subjective trio: appetite, activity, pain tolerance—one trend sentence each
- Drinking/urination: visible change (frequency, clump size, nighttime)
Chronic drift breaks if you skip two weeks—there is no curve to read.