Elderly Labrador

Question
I have a thirteen year old labrador. I have never had a dog this old and I start to worry about every little thing, now that she's so old. She stopped eating her food not too long ago because her teeth were getting too weak to chew, so we got her elderly food which we mix with canned food to make it softer. Then, she started having diarhea, so we fed her a mixture of canned punmpkin with electrolyte. It seems to have gone away. Then, she started scratching her leg against the walls of our house and she shaved off a huge chunk of hair (we were on vacation and the care taker hadn't noticed she was doing this. Now, every day we wash it with a special soap and put antibiotic on it. We checked for flear, mites, or lice, butt here is nothing. Now, she just kind of sleeps most of the day. I know her time is coming soon and I want to make her life as happy as possible in her golden years. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Sabrina,

My suggestion would be to have your dog examined by your veterinarian, since you can't determine to cause of the itching, or make it stop. Even though you've checked your dog for parasites, there are some varieties of mites which are not visible to the human eye.  

Without the correct care, your dog can develop a secondary bacterial or yeast skin infection which would require treatment. In an elderly dog, this can quickly spiral out of hand and complicate the treatment, drawing it out over a longer period of time, or leading to other problems which could also require treatment.

With proper medical care, your dog will be as happy as possible in her remaining time.

Sorry I can't be a help to you, the real expert in matters of health is your veterinarian.

Best of luck,
Patti