2 Jun 2021
Research by RVC and University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover shows owners want focus on issues that impact their pet’s daily life, while vets prioritise clinical issues and management strategies.
James Westgate
Job Title
Image © Karoline Thalhofer / Adobe Stock
A new study has identified clashing research priorities between vets and dog owners when it comes to treating canine epilepsy.
The work – carried out by the RVC and University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover – showed that when it comes to research into the disease, owners want focus on issues that impact their pet’s daily life, such as side effects and behavioural comorbidities, while vets prioritise clinical issues and long-term management strategies.
It is hoped the findings can provide new insights and highlight the importance of ensuring owners’ views are integrated into the direction of future research planning, and ensure it more effectively improves the quality of life of both affected animals and their owners.
Seeking to better understand these challenges, a team of researchers – led by Rowena Packer at the RVC, alongside RVC PhD student Gareth Jones and Holger Volk at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover – conducted prioritisation activities to highlight the most important and urgent research needs.
The study also investigated views on non-drug therapies for epilepsy, an emerging area of research in epilepsy.
Analysing the results of an online survey, the team was able to identify the areas of canine epilepsy research deemed most important by 414 owners of dogs with epilepsy, and specialist neurology and general practice vets. It also assessed how these views changed from 2016-20.
The key findings were:
Dr Packer, lecturer in companion animal behaviour and welfare science at the RVC, acknowledged the different priorities of vets and owners – something often mirrored in the field of human epilepsy research.
She said: “This is perhaps unsurprising given the different experiences of epilepsy between owners and vets, with similar findings seen in studies of doctors and human epilepsy patients.
“Although all of the research areas included in this prioritisation activity are important areas of investigation, ensuring that the voices of owners are heard in the planning of future research should be a broader goal in veterinary medicine, to ensure efforts are targeted at those areas most likely to improve the quality of life of both affected animals and their owners.”
Dr Volk – University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover professor of small animal diseases, and head of department of small animal medicine and surgery – said: “We all hope that our research makes a difference for pets, their owners and vets, but how often have we really explored what that means for the individual stakeholders?
“In this study, we have clearly shown that future research needs can differ depending on which group you ask. We do need to take this into account for our future research projects.”
