Is it really epilepsy? – with Dr Bob Proesmans & Dr Caroline Moeser

Many conditions can trigger seizure-like events. How do you differentiate among them? What is paroxysmal dyskinesia? What are the suspected triggers for episodes of head tremors? And a discussion of variant Benign Juvenile Epilepsy.

Bob runs a small animal veterinary practice together with his wife Mieke, also a vet, in Belgium since 1987.

As a founding member of the Flemish Working Group on Ethology, from which he was a board member for many years, he experienced the impact and importance of behavioural knowledge on pets and owners. 

Bob also seated in the Order of Veterinary Surgeons, a council that is responsible for every legal and ethical aspect of the profession.

From 2013 up to 2022, Bob was a member of the International Guide Dog Federation’s Development Committee. In this Committee, Bob shared his personal veterinary expertise, but more importantly, puts the guide dog community in direct contact with international experts from the veterinary profession as a whole.

Since 2021, Bob is chair of the IGDF Dog Welfare Working Group. This working group provides the IGDF and its members with clear pragmatic information, in order to translate this into professional practice. 

From 2017, Bob started a new challenging project, together with experienced engineers and veterinarians, specialized in orthopaedics, IT, statistics and genetics.  This new “Purpose Dogs” project is a selective and well thought-out breeding project, in order to provide high quality pups to several service dogs schools, mainly but not restricted to Belgium. The project is strongly linked to the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ghent, Belgium. Bob is the vice-president of Purpose Dogs, and his main interest and contribution to the project is reproduction and international collaboration.

Dr Caroline Moeser B.V.Sc. Caroline graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1994. She enjoyed working in small animal practice in Sydney for 13 years, with interests in orthopaedic surgery and dermatology. Caroline commenced working in 2008 as the Veterinarian at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. 

She became the Veterinary and Breeding Services Manager for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT in 2017. Her current role enables her to maintain her veterinary knowledge and apply this knowledge to the breeding program.

Caroline co-authored a paper on transitional lumbosacral vertebrae that was published in the Australian Veterinary Journal in 2017. She has also written a paper on faecal transplants and the potential impact on skin disease in the Labrador.

Caroline’s current focus is on reducing the incidence of atopic dermatitis in the Labrador through both a genetic and environmental focus.

Caroline spends her free time with her husband, three children, and various Labradors.