Vets from the Small Animal Hospital of the University of Glasgow Veterinary School conducted a survey of their clients who owned dogs with epilepsy. They were trying to understand how the owners of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy felt about their pet’s treatment. The results were reported in an important veterinary journal - the Journal of Small Animal Practice (Chang and others, 2006).
Questionnaires were sent to the owners of 29 dogs with epilepsy that were being treated with either phenobarbitone or potassium bromide or both.
| The three things that most concerned these owners were: |
| 1. |
their dog’s quality of life, |
| 2. |
how frequently seizures occurred and |
| 3. |
what side effects the drugs had. |
The balance between these 3 factors determined the owners’ overall satisfaction with how well their pet’s disease was controlled. In general, owners thought that less than one seizure every three months was adequate seizure control. However nearly half the owners questioned thought that their dogs had a poorer quality of life since becoming epileptic. The reasons for this were: side effects of medication (seven of 12), seizures not well controlled (five of 12) and behavioural changes (three of 12).
Practical considerations of convenience and cost appeared to be less of a concern for owners. Although in this survey owners did not report concern about the cost of seizure management, this group of dogs were not receiving higher cost ‘novel’ therapies. Whilst most owners did not consider the administration of medication a nuisance, nearly two-thirds reported that caring for an epileptic dog had an effect on how they organised their free time.
Extended Study
In 2010 the neurologists from the Small Animal Hospital of the University of Glasgow Veterinary School will be undertaking a survey of owners of epileptic dogs across the country. Questionnaires will be available to download or print from this website. If you are the owner of an epileptic dog and would be willing to take part in a survey please check back later this year or send your email contact details to editorial@vetstream.com and a questionnaire will be sent to you by email as soon as it is available.
References
Chang, Y., Mellor D. J. & Anderson T. J. (2006) Idiopathic epilepsy in dogs: owners’ perspectives on management with phenobarbitone and/or potassium bromide JSAP 47, 574–581.
Lord, L. K. & Podel, M. (1999) Owner perception of the care of long-term phenobarbital-treated epileptic dogs. JSAP 40, 11-15 |
