Re: Sue, gout and metabolism

[Royan Webb <bandr@globaldialog.com>]

Twas on a Wednesday that I first spotted this from Michael
>>   > Rothschild, B.M., Tanke, D., & Carpenter, K. (1997).  Tyrannosaurs
>>   > suffered from gout.  Nature, 387, 357.
>> 
>>   Maybe, but I suspect the actual cause was renal failure due to the
>>   many pathologies Sue has on the humerus, skull, and fibula. Sue was
>>   not a healthy individual at the time of her death.  As was pointed
>>   out in the article, other non-mammalian occurances of gout are
>>   known. What was not stated was that these cases are often linked to
>>   unhealthy kidneys.  Therefore, nothing about the metabolism of Sue's
>>   prey can be inferred from the presence of gout.
>> 
>>   Kenneth Carpenter
>> 
>Gout is not a routine complication of kidney failure in mammals.  
>However, birds and reptiles excrete nitrogen as uric acid which is 
>the crystal responsible for gout.  Is gout a complication of renal 
>failure in birds and reptiles?

>Michael Teuton

"Gout in birds is associated with the kidney's inability to remove nitrogen
waste products from the bloodstream. As a result, uric acid accumulates and
begins to abnormally collect in different sites within the body."

p 207 "The Complete Bird Owner's Handbook" bye Gary A Gallerstein, DVM

So .. yes. And the joint type is quite common in budgies (who seldom eat red
meat)

Royan
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And the budgie says -
If you order extra cheese on a pizza do you really get it?