Pet Drug Reports

Reported signs

Reported sign · VeDDRA term

Product defect, product difficult to use/handle: reports listing this term

In plain language: a product quality report, not a sign in an animal

1,914reports listing the term, 2003–20260.1% of all reports
930reports, 12 months to March 2026594 in the 12 months before
6.9%classed serious, as reportedall reports: 38.6%
5.3%of these reports concern dogscat 4.3%

"Product defect, product difficult to use/handle" (a product quality report, not a sign in an animal) is a coded term listed in 1,914 adverse event reports received by FDA, 0.1% of the database. Terms come from VeDDRA, the veterinary dictionary that FDA and drug companies use to code what a reporter describes.

930 reports listed it in the 12 months to March 2026, up 57% from 594 in the 12 months before. FDA posts reports quarterly with a delay of three to six months, so the newest months are incomplete and usually grow in later releases.

By active ingredient, the drugs named most often in those reports are mirtazapine, pyrantel pamoate + sarolaner and cyclosporine. That order mostly follows how many reports each has overall; the table gives the term's share within each drug's own reports as well.

5.3% of the reports concern dogs, 4.3% of the reports concern cats and 1.6% of the reports concern exposed people. Of reports listing this term that state seriousness, 6.9% were classed as serious; 0.4% record a death or euthanasia among the outcomes.

Drugs named most often in these reports, by active ingredient

Active ingredients recorded for the drugReports listing the termShare of that drug's own reports
Mirtazapine2498.8%
Pyrantel Pamoate + Sarolaner2190.4%
Cyclosporine2141%
Gentamicin Sulfate + Hydrocortisone aceponate + Miconazole Nitrate1608.7%
Metronidazole1173.3%
Fluralaner900.1%
Lotilaner + Moxidectin + Praziquantel + Pyrantel Pamoate572.5%
Moxidectin470.1%
Velagliflozin461%
Lotilaner420.4%
Praziquantel401%
Fluralaner + Moxidectin381%
Bexagliflozin340.9%
Deslorelin Acetate348.7%
Milbemycin Oxime + Praziquantel300.1%
Capromorelin291.1%
Amoxicillin Trihydrate + Clavulanate Potassium260.5%
Ciclesonide268.6%
Meloxicam250.1%
Milbemycin Oxime + Spinosad240%
Oclacitinib240.1%
Sarolaner + Selamectin220.2%
Pimobendan170.3%
Afoxolaner130%
Omeprazole130.4%

Ordered by number of reports, which mostly tracks how many reports a drug has overall. Across the whole database the term appears in 0.1% of reports. A drug's presence in a report means the animal received it, not that it produced the sign; FDA states that these data cannot be used to compare one product with another. openFDA masks brand and manufacturer names in adverse event records, so the reports counted here cannot be attributed to a particular brand.

Single ingredients, pooled across combinations

Active ingredientReports listing the termShare of the ingredient's own reports
Pyrantel Pamoate2960.1%
Sarolaner2510.3%
Mirtazapine2498.8%
Cyclosporine2141%
Gentamicin Sulfate1602.5%
Hydrocortisone aceponate1608.6%
Miconazole Nitrate1606.6%
Moxidectin1600.2%
Praziquantel1450.2%
Fluralaner1280.1%
Metronidazole1173.3%
Lotilaner960.7%
Milbemycin Oxime590%
Velagliflozin461%
Selamectin350%
Bexagliflozin340.9%
Deslorelin Acetate348.7%
Clavulanate Potassium300.4%
Capromorelin291.1%
Spinosad270%
Amoxicillin Trihydrate260.4%
Ciclesonide268.6%
Meloxicam250.1%
Oclacitinib240.1%
Ivermectin210%

Species split

Dog5.3%102
Cat4.3%82
Human exposure1.6%31
Donkey0.1%1
Horse0.1%1
Llama0.1%1

Coloured bar: share of reports listing this term. Grey bar: the species' share of all reports. The term appears in 0% of all dog reports; The term appears in 0.1% of all cat reports.

Trend

060119Apr 2021: 0May 2021: 0Jun 2021: 0Jul 2021: 0Aug 2021: 0Sep 2021: 2Oct 2021: 0Nov 2021: 0Dec 2021: 0Jan 2022: 02022Feb 2022: 0Mar 2022: 0Apr 2022: 0May 2022: 0Jun 2022: 0Jul 2022: 1Aug 2022: 1Sep 2022: 4Oct 2022: 3Nov 2022: 2Dec 2022: 2Jan 2023: 62023Feb 2023: 4Mar 2023: 4Apr 2023: 4May 2023: 15Jun 2023: 33Jul 2023: 42Aug 2023: 35Sep 2023: 33Oct 2023: 32Nov 2023: 38Dec 2023: 16Jan 2024: 322024Feb 2024: 34Mar 2024: 34Apr 2024: 38May 2024: 31Jun 2024: 33Jul 2024: 36Aug 2024: 47Sep 2024: 50Oct 2024: 70Nov 2024: 58Dec 2024: 64Jan 2025: 622025Feb 2025: 33Mar 2025: 72Apr 2025: 81May 2025: 109Jun 2025: 119Jul 2025: 94Aug 2025: 64Sep 2025: 99Oct 2025: 100Nov 2025: 55Dec 2025: 52Jan 2026: 552026Feb 2026: 56Mar 2026: 46

Reports by month FDA received them, five years to March 2026. The newest months are incomplete because FDA posts reports with a delay of three to six months.

04709402003: 120032016: 120162018: 220182019: 520192020: 420202021: 220212022: 1320222023: 26220232024: 52720242025: 94020252026: 1572026

Outcomes and ages in these reports

Outcome recorded in the report

Recovered/Normal3.8%72
Recovered with Sequela0%0
Ongoing2.4%45
Died0.2%4
Euthanized0.2%3
Outcome Unknown4.9%94

Age of the animal

Under 1 year0.3%5
1 to 3 years1.8%35
4 to 7 years2.1%41
8 to 11 years1.4%27
12 years and over2.3%44
Age not given92.1%1,762
MeasureReports listing this termAll reports
Reports1,9141,357,245
Classed serious, of reports stating it6.9%38.6%
Death or euthanasia recorded, per 1,000 reports3.763.8

Grey bars and the right-hand column are the whole database. Outcomes are as stated by the reporter and describe the report as a whole, not this term alone.

Questions about "Product defect, product difficult to use/handle"

What does "Product defect, product difficult to use/handle" mean in an adverse event report?

In plain language: a product quality report, not a sign in an animal. It is a VeDDRA dictionary term picked to code what the reporter described. The report's free-text description is not published by FDA and is not shown here.

How many reports list product defect, product difficult to use/handle?

1,914 reports through March 2026 (0.1% of all reports), 930 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs are named most often alongside this term?

By active ingredient: mirtazapine (249), pyrantel pamoate + sarolaner (219), cyclosporine (214), gentamicin sulfate + hydrocortisone aceponate + miconazole nitrate (160) and metronidazole (117). Drugs with many reports overall lead almost every term's list. Brands cannot be identified: openFDA masks them.

Which species are involved?

dog (5.3%), cat (4.3%), human exposure (1.6%) and donkey (0.1%).

Does a drug appearing here mean it produced this sign?

No such conclusion can be drawn. FDA states that "there is no certainty that the reported drug or device caused the adverse event" and that the event "may have been related to an underlying disease, other drugs used at the same time or other non-drug related sources."

My animal shows this sign. What now?

This site cannot assess an animal. A veterinarian can; for an emergency, contact a veterinary emergency clinic. See the guide on when to call a vet.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Animal & Veterinary adverse event bulk files released 28 Sep 2026, which hold reports FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine received through 31 Mar 2026. openFDA masks brand and manufacturer names in these files, so drugs are counted by the active ingredients each record discloses and no figure is attributed to a brand, application or company. Ingredient names, and the separate reference lists of approved products, follow the FDA Green Book as of 1 Oct 2026. Spelling variants of the same VeDDRA term (for example with and without a cross-reference note) are pooled. No report text, lot numbers or reporter details are published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.