Seizures in dogs under primary veterinary care in the United Kingdom: Etiology, diagnostic testing, and clinical management

Abstract

Background: Although seizures are common in dogs, limited published information is available on the classifications of seizures, diagnostic approaches, or clinical management of seizure-affected patients in the veterinary primary care setting.

Objectives: Explore seizure etiology, diagnostic testing, and clinical management of seizure-affected dogs in the primary care veterinary setting.

Animals: A total of 455 553 dogs in VetCompass.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis by cohort clinical data.

Results: From 2834 incident seizure cases, we identified 579 (20.5%) dogs with epilepsy based on the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force (IVETF) classification system, including 484 (17.1%) with idiopathic epilepsy, 95 (3.4%) with structural epilepsy, and 179 dogs (6.3%) with reactive seizures. In their clinical first opinion records, 245 (8.6%) cases were recorded with epilepsy. Overall, 1415 (49.9%) cases received diagnostic evaluation equivalent to or higher than IVETF Tier 1 diagnostic testing. Being <12 years of age and being insured were risk factors for receiving IVETF Tier 1 or higher diagnostic evaluation among seizure cases. Anti-seizure drug (ASD) treatment was not prescribed for 1960/2834 (69.2%) dogs in association with the incident seizure event. Of the remainder, 719 (25.3%) dogs received 1 ASD, whereas 155 (5.5%) an ASD combination.

Conclusion and clinical importance: The differences between seizure classifications in the clinical records and those retrospectively assigned by the researchers support the need for clearer diagnostic guidelines in clinical practice. Insured dogs and dogs <12 years of age were more likely to receive advanced diagnostic evaluation, suggesting that financial and perceived prognostic factors influence case management.

Keywords: IVETF; VetCompass; canine; epilepsy; first-opinion; fit; risk factor.