Some background information for the rest of us:
Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 1986 Jan;16(1):127-31 Genetic predisposition to purine uroliths in Dalmatian dogs. Schaible RH. Homozygosity for a defective recessive gene results in all Dalmatians having elevated concentrations of urine uric acid and predisposes them to formation of purine uroliths. Why some animals form uroliths and others do not is not known. --------- The Dalmatian Club of America FIFTEEN YEARS' DATA OF ALMOST 3,000 DALMATIAN URINARY STONES by Carroll H. Weiss Study Group on Urinary Stones Research Committee Dalmatian Club of America Breeders inevitably ask, "If all Dalmatians are born with the defect, how do we know which ones will shift from potential stone-formers to overt ones?" The answer is no one knows nor is any kind of data gathering even possible which could lead to plausible suggestions. There simply are overwhelmingly too many factors influencing overt stone-forming to be surveyed in order to come to any sort of statistically significant trends from which to draw even preliminary answers to the question. Yes, it is known that diet and perhaps the quality of local water purification can be two influences to push the potential Dal into overt stone-forming but lurking in the background and complicating any appraisal of a meaningful database of Dalmatians are many other contributing factors, such as: how often each Dal is permitted to void, how "normally" concentrated its urine is, in the case of show entries, how often it leaves its home environment and to where, how accurate was the identification of abnormal crystals and stones (reported to be 65 percent in error according to a published veterinarian survey of U.S. assay methods). Breeders and fanciers now are reluctantly aware that every one of our beloved breed is born with the potential of urate stone-forming because of breed-specific defects of urine production in Dalmatian livers and kidneys. I join with them in unhappily accepting this deplorable fact which has been known and taught to veterinarians for 81 years. I know some breeders claim "I have never had a stone-former in my line." I sincerely and fervently wish this were so but what they really should be saying is "I have never produced an overt stone-former" - or - "I have never produced a Dalmatian who has shown abnormal urate crystals." Until every puppy of every litter tests with no abnormal urinary crystals, until those puppies grow up to become adults and, regardless wherever they live and whatever they're fed and whatever they drink, continue to test without abnormal urinary crystals, an unequivocal statement "I have never produced a stone-former" is open to question. ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
