Learn to Give CPR to Your Cat or Dog
You already know that regularly update your CPR scores to help humans, but dogs and cats can benefit from CPR too. The recommendations are the same – just do the compressions while the animal is on its side.
Pets usually do not have the same cardiac arrest as humans, so you are less likely to meet a dog that needs CPR than a human. However, this is the right thing to do for a dog that has passed out after drowning or if it does have one of the rare conditions that warrants it. Send someone to call the veterinarian and continue.
Basic steps:
- Walk up to the animal carefully and look into its mouth. (If they try to bite you, they won’t need CPR.)
- If they are not breathing, take 4-5 artificial breaths while watching the chest rise and fall.
- Check the pulse using an artery on the inside of the dog’s thigh .
- Perform 30 chest compressions, aiming to place your hands on the animal’s heart, right where the elbow touches its body. With large dogs, hold both hands like a human. For small dogs and cats, you can squeeze the front of the chest with one hand.
In practice, the Stayin ‘Alive rhythm (about 100 beats per minute) is a good speed for dogs and cats, as well as for humans.
After watching this video, if you would like more information, you can read the technical instructions written for veterinarians, or check outthis segment on the Hallmark channel for more tips on how to handle very large and small dogs.