Potassium Citrate

It can. When kidney disease makes a cat's blood too acidic, vets may use potassium citrate to correct it, but only after testing, since many kidney diets already do this.

Potassium citrate is a potassium salt of citric acid. In food it supplies potassium, and citrate is an alkalizing compound that can raise urine pH. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that potassium deficiency in cats can cause muscle weakness. If your cat has kidney disease or urinary stones, talk to your veterinarian, since it is also used as a prescribed medication.

Source: merckvetmanual.com

Potassium citrate is added to supply potassium and to influence urine pH. Citrate is alkalizing, so foods designed for urinary support sometimes include it. It appears on only a few of the dry foods we track. Citric acid and potassium citrate are related but different ingredients on a label.

Both supply potassium. Potassium chloride pairs it with chloride, which tends to make urine slightly more acidic. Potassium citrate pairs it with citrate, which tends to make urine more alkaline. A formulator chooses based on the urine pH the food is designed to produce.

Citrate can bind calcium in urine and raise urine pH, which is why it comes up in discussions of calcium oxalate stones. Whether a cat needs it depends on stone type and lab results, so this is a question for your veterinarian.

Pettings gives potassium citrate 4 out of 5 and lists it as a mineral. It appears on 3 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. Our How We Score page explains how ingredient scores are set. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.