About PlainBreed, FDA Animal Adverse Event Data for Pet Owners and Veterinarians

Our Mission

We believe pet owners and veterinary professionals deserve easy access to animal drug safety data. The FDA collects adverse event reports for every veterinary product on the market, but the raw data is buried in bulk download files that require technical skills to process. PlainBreed transforms this data into searchable per-breed pages so you can look up drug reaction history for any breed in seconds.

PlainBreed exists because we believe informed pet care starts with transparent data. When a veterinarian prescribes a medication for your pet, you should be able to look up what reactions have been reported for that drug in your specific breed, not as medical advice, but as context for an informed conversation with your vet. That is why we built PlainBreed.

Data Source

All data comes from the FDA's Animal Drug Adverse Event (ADE) reporting system, maintained by the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Veterinarians, pet owners, and drug manufacturers voluntarily submit adverse event reports to the FDA when an animal experiences a suspected reaction to a drug, medical device, or other veterinary product.

The database covers reports from 2010 through 2025 and includes over 1 million individual reports across 506 breeds, 53 species, 2,558 drugs, and 2,471 reaction types. Each report contains the animal's breed, species, age, weight, the drug administered, the reaction observed, and the outcome (recovered, ongoing, died, or unknown).

The raw data is available from the FDA's public data portal. We download the complete ADE dataset and process it into our searchable database.
FDA CVM Adverse Event Reports

How We Process the Data

Our methodology transforms raw FDA adverse event reports into a structured, searchable database. PlainBreed downloads the complete adverse event dataset from the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine public database, then normalizes breed names, species classifications, and drug identifiers to build consistent breed-level profiles. Each report in the database represents a voluntary submission from a veterinarian, pet owner, or manufacturer describing a suspected reaction.

We aggregate these reports by breed, drug, and reaction type so that patterns become visible across the full dataset of over one million reports. No data is fabricated or statistically adjusted, report counts reflect the raw FDA filings. Breed names are standardized to handle common variations (e.g., "Golden Retriever" and "Retriever, Golden" are merged into a single breed profile).

Drug names are normalized to their active ingredient where possible, and reaction types are mapped to the FDA's standard terminology. Species and breed classifications follow FDA categorization with minor cleanup for consistency (correcting obvious typos, merging duplicate entries with different capitalization).

Data Currency and Update Schedule

PlainBreed's database reflects FDA adverse event reports filed from 2010 through 2025. The FDA CVM publishes updated adverse event data periodically. We refresh our database when new data releases become available, typically on a quarterly basis.

Due to the nature of voluntary reporting, there is an inherent lag between when an adverse event occurs and when it appears in the FDA database. Reports may take weeks to months to be filed, processed, and published by the FDA. The data vintage shown on PlainBreed reflects the most recent FDA data release we have incorporated.

Important Limitations

Correlation, not causation: An adverse event report does not prove that a drug caused or contributed to the reported reaction. The animal may have had a pre-existing condition, received multiple treatments simultaneously, or the event may be coincidental. Reports document suspicion, not confirmed causality.
Voluntary reporting: Not all adverse events are reported to the FDA. The data represents a sample of reported events, not a complete picture of all drug reactions in animals. Many reactions go unreported, especially mild ones.
Reporting bias: Popular breeds have more reports simply because more animals of that breed receive treatment and have more owners who file reports. Higher report counts for a breed do not indicate higher risk, they reflect reporting volume.
Not veterinary advice: This site does not provide veterinary medical advice. Always consult your veterinarian for decisions about your animal's health and treatment. Do not start, stop, or change any medication based on information found on PlainBreed.
Data quality varies: Reports are filed by different individuals with varying levels of detail. Some reports have complete information (exact drug dosage, detailed symptoms, outcome), while others have minimal details. We present all data as filed.
Species coverage is uneven: The vast majority of reports concern dogs and cats. Data for horses, cattle, poultry, and exotic species is much sparser and may not represent meaningful patterns.

Who Uses PlainBreed

PlainBreed serves pet owners researching medications prescribed to their animals, veterinary professionals looking up adverse event patterns for specific breeds or drugs, veterinary students studying pharmacovigilance, and researchers analyzing trends in animal drug safety reporting.

We design every page for clarity. Breed profiles show the most commonly reported drugs and reactions at a glance, with detailed breakdowns available for deeper investigation. Drug pages show which breeds have the most reports for that specific medication, and reaction pages show which drugs are most commonly associated with that reaction type.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainBreed is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from CMS, HHS, CDC, FDA, and HRSA is transformed into readable profiles, validated against the source before publication. The PlainBreed editorial team, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Disclaimer

PlainBreed is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any veterinary organization. The information presented here is for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This site is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. The data presented comes from government sources and is not a substitute for professional veterinary consultation. Always consult a qualified veterinarian for decisions about your animal's health. Do not disregard or delay seeking veterinary advice based on information found on this site.

Contact

For questions about the data or this website, please contact us at hello@plainbreed.com. We welcome data correction reports and feedback on how we can improve the site.