Vicki, My DI Dog
by Sera Segal

When I drove home with my giant schnauzer puppy from a world-renowned kennel in northern California, I soon realized we had a problem. We rushed her to the vet with double pneumonia and a bladder infection. At 3 months old, and having recovered from the pneumonia and bladder infection, the puppy we named Vicki still seemed to have something like diabetes. But tests showed no sugar diabetes. However, her urine was not concentrated, so the vet wanted to watch her. At 6 months, I made the vet check for diabetes again, as I was in tears with Vicki’s constant peeing. She was confirmed with central DI (the vet called it diabetes insipidus vasopressin) [Editor’s note: CDI is also referred to as pituitary or neurogenic DI] after consultation with a specialist. One way to avoid expensive veterinary tests is to measure 2 ounces of water per pound of puppy or dog. I discovered Vicki was drinking 2 to 3 times that.

Vicki is on dDAVP twice a day and is a pleasure to live with. She’s dry all night, most of the time. Before dDAVP, she peed in her sleep all the time, and I got almost no sleep. Now she’s just like other dogs¾a happy, healthy, loving puppy. Her water intake is now within the normal range. She drinks more than my other giant schnauzer and seems to breathe harder and longer after play. It seems like she’s hyperventilating.

On our walks she needs water more often. We know where all the leaking sprinklers are, and we make our 2-mile route based on them! As soon as we are back at the house, Vicki heads for our SUV (sports utility vehicle), where I keep a bucket of water. When it is warm to hot, I wear a backpack made for bike riders to carry water, just for her. I don’t allow her to get overheated. We either go for our walks early in the morning, when it’s not hot, or not at all. I even bought an air conditioner for my house, mainly because of her condition.

The first summer I had her, we hiked local trails with the bike rider’s water pack, only as long as the backpack held water. This summer I will add a water bladder to my backpack so we can hike farther. I’m considering getting HER a backpack, to hold two pre-frozen polar packs, one on each side. This will hopefully aid in keeping her cool.

While hiking, I’ll every so often ask, “Vicki, water?” If she wants some, I pull out the hose and she licks her fill. I’ve even taken the lid off the toilet in one bathroom, so Vicki will always have water, just in case. When I go out of town and my housekeeper stays, I take the door off the bathroom, so the puppy won’t accidentally go without water.

I’ve turned into a fanatic about getting Vicki’s pills to her 12 hours apart. I’ve learned that she has a window of perhaps one-half hour to one hour past her “puppy pill” time. After that it’s pee city. Living with a DI puppy, it seems the evening pill is more important (at least for me) than the timing of the morning pill. After the morning pill, she can pee outside. However the evening pill affects her sleep/dryness.

She’s learned not to sleep on our bed as our other dog does, but she knows that after she’s been out in the morning, she can come in bed for “Mom time” (about an hour). Ninety-eight percent of the time she will be dry then. She’s also learned that while on the bed, her “spot” is on a pee pad.  I have about eight “pee pads,” purchased at a bed and bath store and a baby store. All are washable and reusable, not like the ones sold at pet stores. She knows she isn’t allowed on the sofa unless there’s a pee pad on it. Paranoid, yes! I can only imagine living with a DI child or having DI myself.

I boarded her once for one night. I told the kennel about the 12-hour pills and told them that at 8:00 sharp the pills were to be given. “It’s a matter of life and death,” I said, “She doesn’t get the pills or water all the time, she dies. It’s that simple.” They got the message.

I know of another giant schnauzer, a 5-year-old female named April from the same breeder from whom I bought my puppy. April has had chronic bladder infections since her owner has had her.  The owner didn’t know April had DI, and the dog almost went into a coma recently after being water deprived at the groomer one day. She showed all the signs of a diabetic coma in progress when I sent her to my vet.

My vet then sent April’s urine test off for testing. The test came back confirming that April also has DI, and the vet began treating her with dDAVP. My Vicki and her April are obviously related! A strange thing happened a few months ago. April got into her dDAVP bottle and ate 50 to 75 pills. She showed no harmful effects however, she has been dry since and her water intake seems to be normal. Personally, I’m not going to try that with Vicki.

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