Researcher: Joseph W. Bartges, DVM, PhD, University of Tennessee
Sponsor(s): Dalmatian Club of America Foundation, Inc.
DCAF Funding: $30,000.
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- Abstract: Urinary stone disease occurs commonly in Dalmatians, and is most often composed of uric acid (urate). Dalmatians have a higher risk for forming urate stones because they metabolize uric acid differently than most other breeds of dogs. Urate stones may be dissolved using special diets and a drug, called allopurinol; however, success is variable, and urate stones are highly recurrent. One problem with urate stones is that they are not usually visible on plain x-rays, which means they may be missed. Some believe many Dalmatians form urate stones in their kidneys, which may be associated with recurrent stone formation, abdominal pain, and possible kidney failure. The proposed study will evaluate two issues: 1) how commonly urate stones occur in kidneys from Dalmatians, and, 2) how effective preventative measures are for urate stones in Dalmatians.