Itching

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VeDDRA Code: 958

10,357 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

10,357
Total Reports
76
Deaths
70.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 8,815
Cat 1,285
Cattle 111
Human 103
Horse 32
Unknown 4
Ferret 3
Other Canids 2
Rabbit 1
Donkey 1

Breeds Most Affected

Retriever - Labrador 796
Domestic Shorthair 716
Crossbred Canine/dog 575
Dog (unknown) 550
Chihuahua 518
Shepherd Dog - German 434
Shih Tzu 386
Terrier - Yorkshire 368
Retriever - Golden 348
Pit Bull 201

Associated Drugs

Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 2,373
Afoxolaner 1,722
Spinosad 1,143
Nitenpyram 754
Ivermectin + Pyrantel As Pamoate Salt 477
Pyrantel Pamoate;Sarolaner 447
Moxidectin 304
Milbemycin Oxime + Praziquantel 271
Lotilaner 267
Fluralaner 13.64% 12-Week Chew 252
Fluralaner Chew Tablets 247
Selamectin 234
Oclacitinib Maleate 214
Frunevetmab 209
Sarolaner 184
Fluralaner Spot-On Solution 131
Selamectin;Sarolaner 128
Ivermectin 107
Diphenhydramine 102
Bedinvetmab 99

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 10,357
Reports with fatal outcome 76
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 70.0%
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 958.

Itching Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 10,357 adverse event reports that reference Itching as a reaction term, including 76 reports with a death outcome — a 70.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 958, 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.

Itching appears most frequently in reports for Dog (8,815 reports), Cat (1,285 reports), Cattle (111 reports) — with Dog dominating at 8,815 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Retriever - Labrador (796), Domestic Shorthair (716), Crossbred Canine/dog (575). 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 Itching are Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad (2,373 reports), Afoxolaner (1,722 reports), Spinosad (1,143 reports), Nitenpyram (754 reports), with Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad appearing alongside this reaction in 2,373 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