# Dalmatian Dry Food / Purines / Recommendations



## Swiftks (Oct 9, 2011)

Fist off, let me say this is my first post, and I look forward to posting, commenting, etc. in the future.

Now to my point. I have a 6 1/2 year old dalmatian & a 3 year old miniature dachshund. My primary concern, and the focus of this post, concerns the dalmatian. I've understood for a while now that dalmatians should be feed a diet low in purines. A great article can be found here for further explanation:
Healthy Dalmatian Diets: Dog Food Rules to Prevent Urinary Stones and Allergies

Long story short, they need to stay away from foods that contain organ meat (i.e. liver, hearts, etc.) and game meats, like venison, duck, etc. For the past couple of years I have feed both of my dogs Natural Choice Lamb & Rice Meal; as Lamb is a low protein meat that does not upset either of their stomachs. Now, I also understand that protein content does not necessarily correlate to purine content, however as a general rule of thumb, many high protein kibbles also contain some from of livers and other ingredients that are high in purines; but not all the time. On the other hand, whole grains, eggs, fruits, etc. contain little or no purines.

I have decided to finally switch my dog food to higher premium/quality food, but want to keep in mind the above info. $Price$ isn't so much a factor, although I don't want be paying a hundred dollars every 3 weeks I need a 30Lbs bag of kibble on the other hand. To that end, I have the following questions that I am hoping the wonderful people of this forum can help me with.

1) Should I stay with a grain based dry kibble, or go grain free?
- The protein % of the grain free kibble, are anywhere from 10% - 15% higher, but if I understand correctly, that's b/c there's no grain, and therefore a higher % of protein. I figure as long as I stay with lamb or maybe a lean meat like buffalo, and make sure no organ meat is included, I should be ok; yes/no?

2) Should I stay with lamb or maybe branch out to say... buffalo?
- Really like the idea of buffalo, can't really explain it... lean meat but high source of protein. Anyone have any idea how high/low purine percentage is to lamb? Care to venture a guess? I wouldn't really consider it a gamey meat, would you?

3) Considering the above questions, I've narrowed my choices to the following brands. What do you think? What else would you suggest, keeping in mind the foods I need to stay away from?

Grain Kibble:
- <a href="http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/?product=62&code=170">Solid Gold Wolf King (Bison)</a>
- <a href="http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/index.php?product=1&code=100">Sold Gold Hund-n-Flocken (Lamb)</a>

Grain-Free Kibble:
- <a href="http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/LIDlamb">Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb Meal Formula</a>
- <a href="http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/detail.php?c=112&s=20840">Merrick Before Grain Buffalo</a>

Sorry for the long first post, and thanks for your help and thoughts, I hope that I will be able to help you in the future.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

I don't have any personal experience feeding dalmatians, but have met some dalmatian owners at our dog park. I remember a few things they believe are helpful:

chicken and turkey have the lowest purine levels among meats
peas are high in purine
the quality of the meat source seems to matter more than the actual percentage of protein.

Sorry I can't offer you more help, but maybe rethink your choices and look for a chicken or turkey based formula with a short ingredient list. Also, would there be a dalmatian forum you might tap into to find people with personal experience? Good luck in your search.


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## dr tim (Mar 27, 2011)

Having owned 2 dalmatians and seen many more through my hospital the question is whether or not you are seeing crystals in the urine of your dog. The purine issue is only with dogs that genetically cannot handle that amino acid and that would be about 35% of all dalmatians. Check the dogs urine and see if you need to do anything.

Typically these dogs present as a puppy or yearling and they are peeing all over the place. I would have thought you would have had a problem years ago in this department unless you just got the dog.

If you do have the crystals in the urine, then we will talk more.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I agree with Dr. Tim in that the big question is are there actually crystals in the urine.

My BRT has hyperuricosuria and actually did have urate crystals in his urine (tons of them). I switched him to a low purine barf diet and he is doing great. 

I have actually done a lot of research on low purine kibble as well for a friend that has my dogs littermate. I have found that Flint River Ranch makes a low purine kibble (a lamb based one and a fish and potato one). If you take all ingredients into account the lamb based one is lowest in purines, imo. I also agree with trying to find a chicken based kibble, as chicken is a meat lowest in purine. I have also found that a limited ingredient kibble may work, such as Wellness Simple Solutions Rice and Duck formula. I know it has duck, but it is not in meal form. The duck is also the second ingredient so the actual meat content would not be high. 

Stay away from kibble with several meat meals listed at the beginning (which is actually best for healthy dogs without urate stone problems), stay away from peas, spinach, brewers yeast and kibble containing organs of any sort.

As with any dog that has urate problems it will all come down to what your individual dog can handle and tolerate. Duncan is very sensitive to purines and his diet is very strict.....while other dogs may possibly be able to tolerate more purines in their food without having any trouble.

If your dog doesn't actually have crystals present in the urine then you don't have to be quite as careful. :0)


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Sara - I'm so glad we have you here!!


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Richelle, I am happy to be here and a part of this group with you! :biggrin1: :grouphug:


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## Caprilli (Dec 9, 2013)

Hi there,

I realize that this topic is old but would like to reply in case any new owner of Dalmatians will take the information for granted.

1. All Dalmatians (unless they are LUA Dalmatians) need to be on a low purine diet since ALL of them form crystals.

2. They can still enjoy some offal, beef, lamb, duck, fish and all other high in purine foods BUT it must be balanced with something like Cottage Cheese and Eggs, as a matter of fact it is important for them that they will receive a balanced (all inclusive) diet.

3. The chances of the formation of Urate Stones decreases by 70 % if you add one cup of water to their meals or feed fresh food which is generally higher in its water content.

4. It is vital for a Dalmatian that they are not spayed or neutered before they are full mature since the OZ Penis stops in its development and therefore leaves a much smaller exit for any crystals to be be flushed out naturally.

5. Commercial Diets for Dalmatians such as Hills and Royal Canine use wheat as a filler and never supply enough Protein for an active and muscular dog. If you must feed kibble feed one that is the least processed as possible and very high in protein but then add cottage cheese/eggs to balance this fact.

Greetings
Stephanie and her Caprilli Dalmatians


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