Constipation

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VeDDRA Code: 267

1,965 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

1,965
Total Reports
300
Deaths
1530.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 1,205
Cat 723
Human 13
Horse 13
Ferret 3
Cattle 3
Pig 3
Guinea Pig 1
Other Rodents 1

Breeds Most Affected

Domestic Shorthair 397
Retriever - Labrador 100
Crossbred Canine/dog 88
Shih Tzu 65
Chihuahua 56
Dog (unknown) 54
Terrier - Yorkshire 54
Cat (unknown) 52
Domestic Longhair 52
Domestic Mediumhair 45

Associated Drugs

Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 162
Maropitant Citrate 160
Buprenorphine 149
Carprofen 122
Cefovecin 95
Robenacoxib 78
Frunevetmab 76
Spinosad 73
Gabapentin 72
Meloxicam 67
Selamectin 66
Afoxolaner 62
Fluralaner Chew Tablets 55
Ivermectin + Pyrantel As Pamoate Salt 54
Oclacitinib Maleate 46
Prednisone 43
Famotidine 41
Trilostane 41
Pyrantel Pamoate;Sarolaner 39
Grapiprant 38

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 1,965
Reports with fatal outcome 300
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 1530.0%
Species observed 9
Breeds observed 20
Drugs associated with reaction 20

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER); reaction term coded under VeDDRA 267.

Constipation Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 1,965 adverse event reports that reference Constipation as a reaction term, including 300 reports with a death outcome — a 1530.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 267, the standardized veterinary dictionary used to normalize clinical signs across submitters. Because reports are voluntary and often describe multiple concurrent signs per animal, the volume here reflects reporting intensity rather than true incidence in the broader pet population.

Constipation appears most frequently in reports for Dog (1,205 reports), Cat (723 reports), Human (13 reports) — with Dog dominating at 1,205 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Domestic Shorthair (397), Retriever - Labrador (100), Crossbred Canine/dog (88). These distributions are influenced both by underlying breed popularity and by how veterinarians and owners code a given clinical sign, so they should be interpreted as a reporting fingerprint rather than a pure susceptibility ranking.

The drugs most commonly co-reported with Constipation are Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad (162 reports), Maropitant Citrate (160 reports), Buprenorphine (149 reports), Carprofen (122 reports), with Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad appearing alongside this reaction in 162 submissions. Co-reporting does not establish that any specific product caused the reaction — FDA CVM data captures temporal association only. The value of these aggregates is in flagging which therapeutic classes appear repeatedly alongside a given clinical sign, so owners and veterinarians can ask targeted questions about medications currently in use.

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reports FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reports Data reflects voluntary submissions and may not represent actual incidence rates

Related

Data sourced from official AKC, AVMA, ACVO, and breed-club veterinary references. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBreed Editorial