Drug profile

The FDA adverse-event record for Vitamin B12

724 FDA reports name Vitamin B12, a high-volume drug in the CVM extract. Species, reactions, and outcomes follow.

#226 of 2,679
by report volume (all drugs)
724
adverse-event reports
23.1%
death-coded share
Cat
most-reported species

Corpus placement

According to the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine openFDA adverse-event extract, Vitamin B12 ranks #226 of 2679 by total reports (724) and #199 of 1130 by death-coded share (23.1%). National dual: Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad is #1 of 2679 drugs by total adverse-event reports (149,624) at death-coded-share rank 965 of 1130 drugs with at least 50 reports (2.3%); separately, Atlantic Salmon Transgenic Whole (Opafp-Ghc2 Rdna Construct Inserted Into The A-Locus In The Eo-1A Lineage) is #1 highest death-coded share at 97.8% (report rank #821).

149,624
Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad reports (#1)
97.8%
Atlantic Salmon Transgenic Whole (Opafp-Ghc2 Rdna Construct Inserted Into The A-Locus In The Eo-1A Lineage) death share (#1)
#226
This drug, reports of 2679
#199
This drug, death share of 1130

Report volume reflects how common a breed or drug is and how often owners and vets file — not actual risk. Death-coded share ranks are limited to entries with enough reports to be meaningful. The two maps do not agree at #1.

Release-over-release change

What changed in the latest FDA data snapshot

PlainBreed reconstructed the prior snapshot from dated openFDA partitions through 2025 Q4, then compared it with the 2026-07-27 openFDA export. Vitamin B12 has 724 reports now versus 693 in that prior snapshot: 31 more (4.5%).

Report change
+31
Death-coded reports
+8
Death-coded share
+0.1 pts

This compares reported-event counts in two source snapshots. It does not establish a change in real-world risk, product safety, or disease incidence.

Subscribe to Vitamin B12 changes

Signature read: death-coded report count at 167 is the most distinctive stamp on Vitamin B12's FDA AER row.

Important: Adverse event reports do not establish that a drug caused or contributed to the event. Consult your veterinarian before making treatment decisions.
724
Total Reports
167
Deaths Reported
23.1%
Death-coded share of reports

Active Ingredients

Vitamin B12

Administration Routes

UnknownSubcutaneousParenteralOralIntravenousOtherIntramuscularCutaneousOphthalmicIntraocular

Species Affected

Cat 352
Dog 351
Human 14
Pig 3
Cattle 2
Horse 1
Parakeet 1

Most Affected Breeds

Domestic Shorthair 202
Retriever - Labrador 46
Domestic Mediumhair 35
Domestic Longhair 29
Shepherd Dog - German 29
Chihuahua 25
Unknown 16
Cat (unknown) 15
Siamese 14
Retriever - Golden 14

Most Reported Reactions

Vomiting 148
Diarrhoea 110
Lethargy (see also Central nervous system depression in 'Neurological') 103
Weight loss 101
Death by euthanasia 93
Anorexia 92
Lethargy (see also Central nervous system depression in Neurological) 82
Not eating 80
Other abnormal test result NOS 77
Lack of efficacy - NOS 75
Death 67
Ataxia 62

Outcome Breakdown

Ongoing
293 (40.0%)
Outcome Unknown
146 (19.9%)
Recovered/Normal
116 (15.8%)
Euthanized
94 (12.8%)
Died
75 (10.2%)
Recovered with Sequela
8 (1.1%)

Vitamin B12: high death-coded share in the FDA AER row

Read these counts as reporting volume, not risk: per our methodology, a widely-prescribed drug will rack up more raw FDA reports in a given year than a rarely-used one at an identical true rate, so we recommend comparing within similar-exposure products rather than across the full 2025 catalog.

High-volume nationwide drug peers

Two openFDA-derived peer sets for Vitamin B12, both floored at ≥50 reports so the neighborhoods stay in the advertised mass.

Similar report volume

Nearest other drugs by FDA report count (724 here).

Similar death-coded share

Nearest other drugs by death-coded share (23.1% here), distinct from the volume row.

What to do with this drug

A report does not prove a drug caused the reaction; consult a veterinarian before acting on this data.

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine openFDA Animal & Veterinary Adverse Events (CVM AER) · 2025

openFDA Animal & Veterinary Adverse Events (FDA CVM) for Vitamin B12 (#226 of 2,679 by report volume); death-coded 23.1%. PlainBreed drug row · death-coded report count stamp 167 · vintage 2025.

Informational only. FDA adverse-event reports are voluntary and do not prove causation; consult a veterinarian before acting on them. Verify with FDA CVM →