Muscle wasting

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VeDDRA Code: 611

794 adverse event reports referencing this reaction

794
Total Reports
234
Deaths
2950.0%
Death Rate

Species Most Affected

Dog 627
Cat 143
Horse 21
Human 1
Cattle 1
Mule 1

Breeds Most Affected

Retriever - Labrador 105
Domestic Shorthair 83
Crossbred Canine/dog 41
Shepherd Dog - German 37
Retriever - Golden 37
Boxer (German Boxer) 20
Dog (unknown) 17
Collie - Border 17
Shih Tzu 14
Beagle 12

Associated Drugs

Trilostane 192
Bedinvetmab 123
Carprofen 84
Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad 66
Gabapentin 63
Maropitant Citrate 53
Prednisone 52
Grapiprant 32
Fluralaner Chew Tablets 28
Oclacitinib Maleate 26
Tramadol 23
Bexagliflozin 23
Enrofloxacin 21
Meloxicam 21
Famotidine 21
Deracoxib 20
Cefovecin 20
Cyclosporine 20
Frunevetmab 20
Spinosad 19

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total reports referencing reaction 794
Reports with fatal outcome 234
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 2950.0%
Species observed 6
Breeds observed 20
Drugs associated with reaction 20

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER); reaction term coded under VeDDRA 611.

Muscle wasting Reaction Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently lists 794 adverse event reports that reference Muscle wasting as a reaction term, including 234 reports with a death outcome — a 2950.0% case-fatality figure calculated across only those events where this reaction was coded. The reaction is indexed in the openFDA system under VeDDRA code 611, 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.

Muscle wasting appears most frequently in reports for Dog (627 reports), Cat (143 reports), Horse (21 reports) — with Dog dominating at 627 entries. Within those species, the breeds most often named alongside this reaction are Retriever - Labrador (105), Domestic Shorthair (83), Crossbred Canine/dog (41). 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 Muscle wasting are Trilostane (192 reports), Bedinvetmab (123 reports), Carprofen (84 reports), Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad (66 reports), with Trilostane appearing alongside this reaction in 192 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