Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST)

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VeDDRA Code: 2049

2,378 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

2,378
Total Reports
465
Deaths
1960.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 1,989
Cat 315
Horse 53
Cattle 9
Human 7
Sheep 1
Other 1
Other Rodents 1
Other Birds 1
Lynx 1

Breeds Most Affected

Retriever - Labrador 431
Domestic Shorthair 199
Crossbred Canine/dog 173
Retriever - Golden 74
Chihuahua 73
Shepherd Dog - German 49
Terrier - Yorkshire 46
Beagle 43
Shih Tzu 43
Maltese 41

Associated Drugs

Carprofen 607
Maropitant Citrate 167
Oclacitinib Maleate 154
Trilostane 145
Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 103
Afoxolaner 97
Fluralaner Chew Tablets 95
Gabapentin 86
Meloxicam 76
Moxidectin 68
Deracoxib 66
Spinosad 66
Ivermectin + Pyrantel As Pamoate Salt 63
Bedinvetmab 63
Tramadol 57
Famotidine 56
Sam-E, Silybin, Vitamin E, Zinc 52
Cefovecin 51
Prednisone 48
Fluralaner 13.64% 12-Week Chew 45

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 2,378
Reports with fatal outcome 465
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 1960.0%
Species observed 10
Breeds observed 20
Drugs associated with reaction 20

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER); reaction term coded under VeDDRA 2049.

Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 2,378 adverse event reports that reference Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) as a reaction term, including 465 reports with a death outcome — a 1960.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 2049, 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.

Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) appears most frequently in reports for Dog (1,989 reports), Cat (315 reports), Horse (53 reports) — with Dog dominating at 1,989 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Retriever - Labrador (431), Domestic Shorthair (199), Crossbred Canine/dog (173). 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 Elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are Carprofen (607 reports), Maropitant Citrate (167 reports), Oclacitinib Maleate (154 reports), Trilostane (145 reports), with Carprofen appearing alongside this reaction in 607 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