In The Sign of the Four, Sherlock Hlmes says to Dr. Watson, “When you have eliminated the impossible,whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Fiona became incontinent a few weeks ago. She started drinking a ton, then, consequently, having accidents if I didn’t get her to the door as soon as she woke up from her many naps. She used to drink nothing all day while I was gone. Suddenly her bowl was dry and the floor was wet. She woke me up multiple times through the night drinking, then asking to go out.
My brain leapt straight to kidney failure, of course. Fortunately, my vet, Dr. Karen Davies, took a more scientific approach. She took urine, she took blood. And it all came back normal enough for a 13-year-old basset who had a tough first 8 years of life. Perplexing. Not a UTI, not Cushing’s disease. Maybe diabetes insipidus?
We had planned another urinalysis for Saturday, but my very scientific vet called the internist at the lab that ran the urinalysis. When we ran the first one, Fiona had been on Clyndamicin, an antibiotic, for an ear issue. Dr. Davies asked the internist how long Fiona should be off before we did a second test. The internist recommended two weeks, then mentioned that excessive drinking could be an unusual side effect to the drug.
Last week, I noticed that Fiona wasn’t drinking as much. As the week wore on I slept longer, her water bowl looked untouched when I got home, and there were no puddles on the floor. Dare I hope?
On Saturday, Fiona saw Dr. Davies for her monthly acupuncture appointment. We talked it all over and we think the internist might have been right. I’m keeping an eye on things of course, but, for now, I’m hopeful that we’ve solved the mystery.
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