Lack of efficacy (ectoparasite) - Demodex

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VeDDRA Code: 2789

248 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

248
Total Reports
3
Deaths
120.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 236
Cat 10
Cattle 2

Breeds Most Affected

Dog (unknown) 29
Crossbred Canine/dog 23
Retriever - Labrador 18
Shepherd Dog - German 18
Pug 11
Pit Bull 11
Chihuahua 11
Shih Tzu 7
Retriever - Golden 6
Bulldog 5

Associated Drugs

Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 45
Amitraz 33
Fluralaner Chew Tablets 30
Fluralaner 13.64% 12-Week Chew 25
Selamectin 20
Spinosad 19
Ivermectin 17
Afoxolaner 16
Pyrantel Pamoate;Sarolaner 15
Sarolaner 12
Cephalexin 8
Moxidectin 6
Imidacloprid + Moxidectin 5
Lufenuron + Milbemycin Oxime 5
Cefpodoxime Proxetil 5
Prednisone 5
Cefpodoxime 5
Imidacloprid And Moxidectin 5
Oclacitinib Maleate 5
Lotilaner 5

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 248
Reports with fatal outcome 3
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 120.0%
Species observed 3
Breeds observed 20
Drugs associated with reaction 20

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER); reaction term coded under VeDDRA 2789.

Lack of efficacy (ectoparasite) - Demodex Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 248 adverse event reports that reference Lack of efficacy (ectoparasite) - Demodex as a reaction term, including 3 reports with a death outcome — a 120.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 2789, 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.

Lack of efficacy (ectoparasite) - Demodex appears most frequently in reports for Dog (236 reports), Cat (10 reports), Cattle (2 reports) — with Dog dominating at 236 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Dog (unknown) (29), Crossbred Canine/dog (23), Retriever - Labrador (18). 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 Lack of efficacy (ectoparasite) - Demodex are Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad (45 reports), Amitraz (33 reports), Fluralaner Chew Tablets (30 reports), Fluralaner 13.64% 12-Week Chew (25 reports), with Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad appearing alongside this reaction in 45 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

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