Canine Hyperuricosuria

[gemy]

Hperuricosuria means elevated levels of uric acid in the urine. This trait predisposes dogs to form stones in their bladders of sometimes kidneys. These stones often must be removed surically and can be difficult to treat. Hyperusicosuria is inherited as as simple autosomal recesssive trait. A mutation in exon 5 of the gene Sofute carrier family 2 member 9 has been found to be associated with hyperuricosuria in dogs. A DNA test for this specific mutation can determin if dogs are normal or if they carry one or two copies of the mutation. |Dogs that carry two copies of the mutation will be affected and susceptible to develop bladder/kidney stones.

UC Davis offers testing kits. It is I believe around $60 per test.

UC Davis recommends testing any dog that has formed kidney or bladder stones comprised of urate or uric acid

I was at a breeding seminar for BRT's where we had a lecture about this condition. The lecturer shared that for Dalmations in Canada and the USA, this condition is rife, in fact so much so, that there are very few if any dogs not affected, so they are now looking to Europe in hopes of finding clear dogs.

This is a painfull condition and oftentimes affects males more than females.

[Woogie Man]

I have heard of urinary tract problems in Dalmations. I posted earlier about one researcher that crossed a Pointer with a Dalmation in order to produce clear dogs, so this must be an endemic problem with the breed to resort to such a drastic measure. Here's the bit about it.

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"About fifteen years ago a researcher crossed a pointer with a Dalmatian and then back-crossed to Dals in subsequent generations. He successfully met his goal of eliminating inherited urinary problems that are present in almost every Dalmatian. The board of the breed club petitioned AKC to admit some of the products of this breeding program � dogs which had only one Pointer in a five-generation pedigree full of Dalmatians. Two of the dogs were admitted, but the breed club�s membership raised a hue and cry, voting to rescind the request. AKC refused any further registration of the �cross-bred� dogs.

The membership of the breed club rejected these dogs because they were often mis-marked, allowing a cosmetic problem that might have been corrected in subsequent generations to take precedence over the elimination of a significant breed health problem."

Form this link........Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute, Inc.

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Gail, did the lecturer indicate this was a problem with other breeds and was there a recommendation for asymptomatic dogs to be tested with this specific test as part of a pre-breeding protocol?

[Woogie Man]

I did a little looking around since my last post and it seems that Dalmations are uniquely affected by this. Here's a link with some info...

Uric Acid Stones in Dalmatians

Here's some more info from the DCA....

Dalmatian Club of America - 15 Years' Data of Almost 3000 Dalmatian Urinary Stones

Here's the link for the genetic test available....

Hyperuricosuria

Here's a short quote from the link.....

"The trait can occur in any breed but is most commonly found in the Dalmatian, Bulldog and Black Russian Terrier. Dalmatians are considered to be homozygous for hyperuricosuria."

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Woogie Man

I did a little looking around since my last post and it seems that Dalmations are uniquely affected by this. Here's a link with some info...

Uric Acid Stones in Dalmatians

Here's some more info from the DCA....

Dalmatian Club of America - 15 Years' Data of Almost 3000 Dalmatian Urinary Stones

Here's the link for the genetic test available....

Hyperuricosuria

Here's a short quote from the link.....

"The trait can occur in any breed but is most commonly found in the Dalmatian, Bulldog and Black Russian Terrier. Dalmatians are considered to be homozygous for hyperuricosuria."

Yes Jim and exactly the breeds you found mentioned as well. The lecturer did not go so far as to say all breeds should be tested, but of course my breed is one that should be tested prior to breeding.

UC Davis general recommendation is to test for this gene marker if there is a history of bladder stones. Of course in breeding dogs, the problem can show up well after being bred. Just another reason for breeders to know well the health history of their lineage.

This test is open to all breds of dogs by UC Davis.

[lisaly]

I''m sure it is very painful for them. Is there anything other than diet that can prevent them in dogs that are predisposed to this? Is lithotripsy to blast out the stones an option rather than surgery or is the cost too prohibitive? This sounds so scary and my heart breaks to hear of dogs having to go through so much pain.

[gemy]

Nomenclature N/N equals normal dog carries no copy of the gene

N/HU dog carries one copy of the gene - will not be affected by disease

HU/HU dog has two copies of the gene is susceptible to bladder stones.formed of urate or uric acid.

Say you have a male sire let's call him Max and you breed him once. Sometime later on you find out he has bladder stones formed of uric acid. You now know that he is a HU/HU.

If you bred him to a N/N female then these offspring will all have one copy of the gene present 100% N/HU. They are all carriers.

If the female in this case was a carrier of the gene herself N/HU then these offspring will have a 50% chance of being HU/HU and a 50% chance of being carriers N/HU.

As you can clearly see it won't take long for this to go through a breed if testing is not done.

Should you breed a carrier to a carrier N/HU to N/HU the stats for this come out as follows 25% N/N 50% N/HU 25% HU/HU

So what to do as a guardian of this breed? Be you a breeder or a lover of Yorkies


In my opinion if you have a pet that does form these stones, please get back to the breeder you bought from, and inform them of this condition. Also if you can, inform both sides of the equation, ie: the sire's owners as well as the bitch's.

As a breeder; a conservative approach would be to test your breeding stock to see just what you have in terms of this gene. If you have a carrier, then I would want to have the bitch/sire I wish to breed with checked out for their status. Remember if you breed a carrier to a carrier you will produce 25% puppies which will have hyperuricosia, and 50% carriers.Or another way of looking at this is 3/4 of the litter have either one or two copies of the gene present.

An affected dog quite simply shouldn't be bred.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by lisaly

I''m sure it is very painful for them. Is there anything other than diet that can prevent them in dogs that are predisposed to this? Is lithotripsy to blast out the stones an option rather than surgery or is the cost too prohibitive? This sounds so scary and my heart breaks to hear of dogs having to go through so much pain.

Lisa; I've linked this article from UCDavis It doesn`t speak about lithotripsy here. May be other research and protocols that I`ve not seen yet. But you know the saying prevention is worth a pound of cure. If my boy tests as HU HU he will start on proper diet and urine monitoring protocols.

Uric Acid Stones//Urate Urolithiasis - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

[lisaly]

I agree, Gail. Prevention is always the key. You won't need to go further medically if you can prevent it in the first place. I was curious about whether lithotripsy was possible for dogs. It won't work on most Yorkies because they say dogs need to be greater than 16 pounds. They are now doing something called laser lithotripsy, which is effective and far less invasive for the dog. It's only available a few places, but it is definitely something to look into as an alternative to surgery. My husband, John, had several bouts of kidney stones many years ago. At the time there was only one place on Long Island, New York to have lithotripsy done, so it took weeks to get an appointment. He needed treatment that would allow him to wait those few weeks until he could get them blasted. Other hospitals had something that put a person in water where they would try to blast them that way, but it wasn't as effective. Today, the places that do lithotripsy are more readily available, but it is very expensive, about $15,000 fifteen years ago. Now that there are more available, I wonder if the cost is less. We were insured, so at least we were lucky. I wonder if they would cover these treatments for dogs with health insurance.
Laser lithotripsy now available at VTH — College Of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University
http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/assets...winter2008.pdf p. 3

[gemy]

Originally Posted by lisaly

I agree, Gail. Prevention is always the key. You won't need to go further medically if you can prevent it in the first place. I was curious about whether lithotripsy was possible for dogs. It won't work on most Yorkies because they say dogs need to be greater than 16 pounds. They are now doing something called laser lithotripsy, which is effective and far less invasive for the dog. It's only available a few places, but it is definitely something to look into as an alternative to surgery. My husband, John, had several bouts of kidney stones many years ago. At the time there was only one place on Long Island, New York to have lithotripsy done, so it took weeks to get an appointment. He needed treatment that would allow him to wait those few weeks until he could get them blasted. Other hospitals had something that put a person in water where they would try to blast them that way, but it wasn't as effective. Today, the places that do lithotripsy are more readily available, but it is very expensive, about $15,000 fifteen years ago. Now that there are more available, I wonder if the cost is less. We were insured, so at least we were lucky. I wonder if they would cover these treatments for dogs with health insurance.
Laser lithotripsy now available at VTH — College Of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University
http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/assets...winter2008.pdf p. 3

Great Link Lisa. thanks