Medication error after Metronidazole in dogs

The FDA has received 50 reports of medication error in dogs after Metronidazole. That is 1.6% of all reports for this medicine, compared with 0.6% across reports for all dog medicines, so it is reported unusually often with this medicine.

50Reports

86%Marked serious

6.0%Recovered

32%Died or euthanised

10 daysTypical onset

How soon it started

Same day

9 21%

1–2 days

10 24%

3–7 days

2 4.8%

1–4 weeks

9 21%

Over a month

12 29%

How the animals did

Recovered

3 6.0%

Still unwell when reported

29 58%

Died

4 8.0%

Euthanised

12 24%

Not known

2 4.0%

Problems reported at the same time

25 50%

25 50%

19 38%

17 34%

16 32%

13 26%

12 24%

Didn't work as expected

12 24%

Age of the animals

Under 1 year

1–3 years

4–7 years

8–11 years

12+ years

About this medicine

Metronidazole treats some bacterial and parasitic gut infections.

Questions owners ask

Can Metronidazole cause medication error in dogs?: 50 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 10 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).

Medication error with similar medicines

Medication error after Amoxicillin + Clavulanate (Clavamox) 75 reports · 1.4% of its reports
Medication error after Doxycycline 86 reports · 2.1% of its reports
Medication error after Cefovecin (Convenia) 36 reports · 1.0% of its reports
Medication error after Enrofloxacin (Baytril) 26 reports · 0.7% of its reports

All reported side effects of Metronidazole in dogs · Medicines most reported with medication error