Death after Doxycycline in cats

The FDA has received 74 reports of death in cats after Doxycycline. That is 29% of all reports for this medicine, compared with 8.9% across reports for all cat medicines, so it is reported unusually often with this medicine.

74Reports

97%Marked serious

0.0%Recovered

100%Died or euthanised

7 daysTypical onset

How soon it started

Same day

9 15%

1–2 days

11 18%

3–7 days

13 21%

1–4 weeks

20 32%

Over a month

9 15%

How the animals did

Died

31 42%

Euthanised

43 58%

Problems reported at the same time

34 46%

31 42%

30 41%

19 26%

17 23%

13 18%

12 16%

11 15%

Age of the animals

Under 1 year

1–3 years

4–7 years

8–11 years

12+ years

About this medicine

Doxycycline treats bacterial and tick-borne infections.

Questions owners ask

Can Doxycycline cause death in cats?: 74 reports link the two, but a report alone does not prove the medicine was the cause: other illnesses, other medicines or coincidence can be involved. Your vet can judge it for your animal.
How soon after a dose was it reported?: In half of the reports with dates, it started within 7 days of the first dose.
What should I do?: Don't give another dose until you've spoken to your vet, and keep the packaging so you can tell them the product and dose. Your vet can also report it to the FDA (or you can, through the manufacturer or FDA form 1932a).

Death with similar medicines

Death after Cefovecin (Convenia) 1,898 reports · 22% of its reports
Death after Amoxicillin + Clavulanate (Clavamox) 372 reports · 16% of its reports
Death after Enrofloxacin (Baytril) 272 reports · 17% of its reports
Death after Amoxicillin 112 reports · 22% of its reports
Death after Metronidazole 67 reports · 17% of its reports

All reported side effects of Doxycycline in cats · Medicines most reported with death