Performing CPR on a dog or cat

CPR is only for an animal that is not breathing and has no heartbeat or signs of circulation. Starting it on an animal that is still breathing, perhaps merely fainted, can cause harm. The check takes a few seconds, done with outward calm even if inside you are in a panic: look, listen, feel. If there is no breathing and no heartbeat, do not wait any longer, because time here is everything.

• Call the animal and touch it firmly: if there is no reaction at all, it is unconscious.
• Watch the chest for ten seconds: look for the rise of a breath, which in arrest is absent or only occasional agonal gasps.
• Put your ear to the chest behind the elbow and feel for the heartbeat.
• Look at the gums: pale, bluish or grey signals a lack of oxygen.
• If it is not breathing and you feel no heartbeat, move to compressions at once: every second counts.

Home CPR is not a destination, it is a bridge to the clinic: while you compress, someone has to call and the car has to get ready. If you are alone, put the phone on speaker and do not stop compressions to talk. Ideally you divide the tasks in advance, so each person knows what to do without arguing at the worst moment.

1. 1

   Have someone call the clinic or emergency line at once

   The caller says in one sentence what happened, that the animal is in arrest and that you are doing CPR, then asks for the fastest route and whether they can prepare for an emergency arrival. Keep it on speaker so you get instructions while you continue.

2. 2

   Move the animal onto a firm surface

   A solid floor or table transmits compressions far better than a soft sofa or bed. If you can, lay it on its right side, but do not waste precious time hunting for the perfect position.

3. 3

   Get transport ready in parallel

   Someone opens the car, grabs keys and a blanket and clears a seat. The animal must be able to leave the instant a heartbeat returns, or within a few minutes anyway, continuing CPR on the way if needed.

4. 4

   Assign roles if there are two of you

   One person compresses, the other gives breaths and keeps time counting aloud. Swapping the person who compresses every couple of minutes stops fatigue from making the compressions too shallow.

Compressions are the heart of the manoeuvre: they replace the heartbeat by pushing blood towards the brain. The spot and the technique change with size and chest shape, but three rules always hold: compress hard, compress fast and let the chest rise fully between pushes. A chest that does not spring back does not refill with blood, and the next compression is wasted.

After the compressions you add breaths, which bring oxygen to the lungs. In animals you use mouth to nose, not mouth to mouth, holding the mouth closed so the air enters through the nose and reaches the lungs. Compressions and breaths alternate in a fixed cycle that has to be repeated without stopping until help arrives or breathing returns.

1. 1

   Clear and straighten the airway

   Pull the tongue forward and line up neck and head with the body to open the way for air. Look inside the mouth: if a foreign body is visible, remove it, because blowing against an obstruction achieves nothing.

2. 2

   Close the mouth and breathe into the nose

   Hold the lips shut with your hands, wrap the nose and blow with enough force to make the chest rise. If the chest does not rise, recheck the head position and search for an obstruction.

3. 3

   Alternate 30 compressions and 2 breaths

   Give 30 compressions at the right rate, then 2 breaths, and repeat. If there are two of you, you can coordinate continuously, but never interrupt compressions for more than a few seconds at a time.

4. 4

   Recheck every two minutes, without long pauses

   Every couple of minutes take a few seconds to check whether breathing or a heartbeat has returned. If there is nothing, resume immediately: long pauses undo the pressure you were building towards the brain.

5. 5

   Transport while continuing the manoeuvre

   Do not wait at home for an improvement that may never come. Get to the clinic as soon as possible, keeping up compressions and breaths on the way if a second person can do it safely.