Potassium Chloride

Verify with FDA CVM →

135 adverse event reports submitted to the FDA

Important: Adverse event reports do not establish that a drug caused or contributed to the event. Consult your veterinarian before making treatment decisions.
135
Total Reports
67
Deaths Reported
4960.0%
Death Rate

Active Ingredients

Potassium Chloride

Administration Routes

UnknownIntravenousSubcutaneousParenteralOralOther

Species Affected

Dog 93
Cat 38
Human 2
Horse 1
Sheep 1

Most Affected Breeds

Domestic Shorthair 23
Retriever - Labrador 13
Maltese 6
Domestic Mediumhair 5
Pointing Dog - Hungarian Short-haired (Vizsla) 5
Chihuahua 4
Shih Tzu 4
Unknown 3
Shepherd Dog - Australian 3
Poodle - Standard 3

Most Reported Reactions

Death by euthanasia 54
Vomiting 43
Other abnormal test result NOS 34
Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 34
Hypokalaemia 34
Lethargy (see also Central nervous system depression in 'Neurological') 32
Elevated total bilirubin 31
Dehydration 30
Not eating 27
Anorexia 26
Abnormal ultrasound finding 25
Elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 24

Outcome Breakdown

Euthanized
54 (40.0%)
Ongoing
34 (25.2%)
Recovered/Normal
18 (13.3%)
Outcome Unknown
16 (11.9%)
Died
13 (9.6%)

Data Summary

Metric Value
Total adverse event reports 135
Reports involving death 67
Case-fatality rate (reported events) 4960.0%
Distinct species in reports 5
Distinct breeds in reports 20
Distinct reactions reported 20
Active ingredients on file 1

Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine — Adverse Event Reporting (CVM AER). Counts reflect voluntary reports only.

Potassium Chloride Adverse Event Insights

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine database currently holds 135 adverse event reports referencing Potassium Chloride, including 67 reports in which the animal died — a 4960.0% case-fatality figure among reported events only, not a population-level mortality rate. Active ingredient on file: Potassium Chloride. Reported administration routes include Unknown, Intravenous, Subcutaneous, Parenteral. These numbers reflect voluntary submissions from pet owners, veterinarians, and manufacturers and therefore under-represent mild events and over-represent severe ones — a pattern the FDA has documented repeatedly for pharmacovigilance datasets.

The species most frequently named in Potassium Chloride reports are Dog (93 reports), Cat (38 reports), Human (2 reports), with Dog accounting for the largest share. Within those species, Domestic Shorthair (23), Retriever - Labrador (13), Maltese (6) appear most often — though breed popularity and ownership density shape these counts as much as any drug-specific sensitivity. This distribution matters because the same active ingredient can behave very differently across body sizes, ages, and species physiology.

The most commonly reported clinical signs associated with Potassium Chloride are Death by euthanasia (54), Vomiting (43), Other abnormal test result NOS (34), Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (34). Of the 135 reports with a coded outcome, Euthanized is the leading category at 40.0%. Because FDA adverse event data describes correlation rather than causation, these figures are best used to frame informed questions with a veterinarian and to compare reporting patterns across related products — not as a standalone safety verdict on Potassium Chloride.

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