Stuck on a essay re Epilepsy! help!!

Hi guys, hope you don't mind me posting but I am so stuck on a question about epilepsy in my dog behaviour coursework. this is the question

" Epilepsy in dogs is not as rare as it is in humans and despite the inconclusive evidence for a genetic link responsible breeders do not use dogs with this type of affliction for mating. Given that most seizures do not last long enough for a vet to actually witness they have to rely on the owners account in order to diagnose and subsequently prescribe anticonvulsant drugs. This situation could be exploited by the unscrupulous owner."

All I have really got is the reluctance to remove dogs and their siblings from breeding programmes (maybe because of financial gain). Are there other ways the situation could be exploited by the unscrupulous owner?? thank-you so much for any help you can offer, really struggling with this one am I missing something obvious!!??

What you are missing is the fact that certain breeders will not acknowledge the fact that their dogs carry epilepsy in their lines.

My God I had to read that a few times
Basically what the question is asking is,in most cases the vet has to rely on owner accounts to give a diagnoses and treatment( drugs)unscrupulous owners could take advantage of this situation....in what ways?....is that it?

Could the mis-use of drugs also be a possible factor

Thankyou - so do you feel the whole question is related to the breeders of the dogs and that the average owner would have no reason to use the situation to their advantage. What I mean is would people maybe use this as a way to gain access to the prescribed drugs for any reason? perhaps recreational use?? would people ever use phenobarbital for themselves???
realise I could be totally barking up the wrong tree here but trying to look at every angle and been staring at the question for like an hour now. think ive gone slightly gaa gaa!

ooh you read my mind, I had been wondering that - I guess its worth including in my answer if it had crossed your mind too. thanks!!

ps yes ive been reading that question over and over too and trying to come up with as many scenarios as I could. My brain hurts now! lol

Best wait till Malka or someone with experience on the drug front answers

Just made Malka sound like a junkie( sorry!!)She would know the answer to this though

I have an epileptic dog and she has prescribed drugs [Phenobarbitone/Phenobarbital] - for her epilepsy. For HER benefit, not for me to use for recreation. Phenobarbitone is a barbiturate. It is not a recreational drug.

What you seem to be asking is would people use this as a way to gain access to prescribed drugs for themselves. Drug addicts will use any excuse to aquire drugs but I have never heard of anyone trying to get drugs that are prescribed for an epileptic dob for their own recreational use.

Phenobarbitone is not a drug for recreational use. It is a barbiturate for epilepsy, for both humans and dogs.

It is not, as far as I can find, a drug that someone would take for recreational use. And I cannot believe that any owner of an epileptic dog would get prescription Pb just for their own recreational use.

Barbiturates are deadly. Not recreational drugs.

And to imply that people whose dogs have canine epilepsy get prescription drugs to keep their dogs alive but use those drugs for their own recreation is, to be honest, sick.

sorry, didn't mean to imply something that was sick Just trying to explore any of the possibilities and I am talking of unscrupulous people here not responsible loving owners such as yourself. sorry if I offended you

You do realise that Phenobarbitone/Phenobarbital are barbiturates and as such are only prescription drugs.

They are not recreational drugs.

I have never had an epileptic dog, thankfully but I see what you mean. Maybe a dog owner could be conning a vet in order to get drugs to then sell on and make money.
I know that Malka has Valium to give her dog after she fits. This would be worth a lot of money on the black market.

Not sure that I am on the right track, just thought I would put my tup'penth in!!!