Accepted Answer

Thanks for the quick reply,

I have seen quite a few older Labs like this in my life and at fifteen years of age he will correspond to a human in their nineties. The deafness, the stiffness which is most likely arthritis and perhaps some degree of senile dementia are typical.

I have to say that in my experience that at the end of the day it could be that nothing will help but of course it is worth a try, here are a couple of ideas :

1. Get your dog on a trial dose of a good quality prescription anti-arthritis drug such as metacam. Prescription drugs like this are much safer for long term use than human over the counter drugs such as aspirin. If he is moving about better he may go outside to defecate again, I have known this work.

2. Consider trying a trial dose of a drug like Selegiline which is used to treat senile dementia in dogs, here is a link so you can read more about this drug : LINK Again I have known drugs like this work well for a time.

3. The age onset deafness may be part of the picture as well but there is very little you can realistically do about this.

If I have not covered your question fully enough or you would like to ask more I will be online for the next hour or so and I will be at your disposal.

Scott Nimmo BVMS MRCVS

Expert:	Scott Nimmo BVMS, MRCVS
Pos. Feedback:	99.0 %
Accepts:
Answered:	6/13/2009

Veterinarian

I have 28 years experience in all aspects of small animal medicine and surgery.