Pet Recall Facts

Ingredients / Pentobarbital

Pentobarbital: FDA adverse event reports for pets

Reports received through June 26, 2026. Data and limitations.

1,659Total reports
878Dog reports
205Cat reports

FDA-approved products with this ingredient (Green Book)

All approved products with this ingredient, for any species.

Brand names come only from the Green Book. Brand names in FDA's public report data are masked, so counts cannot be attributed to any brand. Ingredient names in the reports are written many ways; we group them under one ingredient name and count each report once per ingredient (method).

Reports by year received

19871
19881
19898
19908
19917
19923
19938
199417
199511
199640
199736
199839
199943
200047
200145
200254
200344
200452
200560
200650
200757
200853
200960
201060
201181
201288
2013106
201487
201579
201652
201763
201833
201931
202038
202123
202233
202335
202434
202552
202620

Species named in reports

Dog878
Cat205
Not given150
Human145
Horse131
Other112
Sheep5
Cattle4

Signs reported after Pentobarbital

INEFFECTIVE, EUTHANASIA889
Lack of efficacy - NOS295
INEFFECTIVE, DELAYED EFFECT199
Accidental exposure154
Death by euthanasia150
Vocalisation108
Unclassifiable adverse event96
Overdose92
Injection site pain58
Unrelated death50
Potency, Low49
Eye irritation45
Solution, Abnormal44
Abnormal breathing33
Hyperactivity27
Drug administration error22
Agonal breathing22
Vials, Leaking21
Product Defect, General21
Seal, Abnormal18
Uncoded sign18
Twitching16
Pain NOS16
Stopper, abnormal16
Eye pain15

Breeds named in reports

Dog (unknown)235
Mixed (Dog)167
Crossbred Canine/dog92
Horse (unknown)64
Retriever - Labrador64
Cat (unknown)63
Domestic Shorthair63
Domestic (unspecified)45
Retriever - Golden38
Shepherd Dog - German38
Quarter Horse22
Rottweiler18
Siberian Husky16
Chihuahua16
Shepherd Dog - Australian14

Reported outcomes

Died663
Euthanized547
Recovered/Normal42
Outcome Unknown19
Ongoing8

Report a problem to FDA