DALMATIAN AND CHEMISTRY

When amino acids are metabolized, the excess nitrogen is concentrated into uric acid, a compound with five amide bonds. A series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions degrades uric acid to ammonium ion. The extent to which uric acid is degraded in animals depends on the species. Birds, reptiles, and insects excrete excess nitrogen as uric acid. Mammals excrete excess nitrogen as allantoin. Excess nitrogen in aquatic animals is excreted as allantoic acid, urea, or ammonium salts. Dalmatians,unlike other mammals, excrete high levels of uric acid. The reason for this is that breeders of Dalmatians select dogs that have no white hairs in their black spots,and the gene that causes the white hairs is linked to the gene that causes uric acid to be converted to allantoin. Dalmatians, therefore, are susceptible to gout (painful deposits of uric acid in joints).