How to Perform CPR on Your Cat

cat

When someone is not breathing, you perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to help them breathe and save their life. When a cat is not breathing, you do the same thing. It might sound a bit ridiculous to some, but those who have pets of their own know all too well just how serious and how scary it can be when a pet is injured, hurt or not breathing. When I made the genius decision to adopt a dog two days before Christmas, the dog came into our home and attacked our cat. The cat, when finally pried from the jaws of the dog, wasn’t bleeding anywhere. But he was suddenly incontinent, he was breathing so hard and so heavily that his mouth hung as far open as it could, and his chest was barely moving despite his effort. I didn’t know that CPR was effective on cats when this happened, and thankfully I didn’t need it. It seemed forever before my husband could rush home and stay with our napping 9-month-old twins and our 3 and 6-year-old daughters, who just so happened to witness the entire incident while I rushed the cat to the vet. With a failing liver, failing kidney and collapsed lung, the cat was in shock and not expected to live through the night. It’s been almost three months and the cat is home and just as annoying and judgmental as ever – thank God.

What I didn’t know when this happened is that if the cat had stopped breathing, I could have performed CPR and saved his life. I would have done it, too, even though the cat is not my favorite. He belongs to my daughters and they love and adore him so much that their hearts broke when they witnessed the dog attacking him. I would have done whatever necessary to save Twitter (we adopted him with this name, FYI) and I would have done it for my girls. And this is precisely why it pays to know what you can and cannot do to save a cat’s life until you can get emergency veterinary assistance. So I’m here to tell you that you can perform CPR to save the life of your cat, and I’m going to tell you how to do it the right way.

What to Know Before CPR

In most instances, you should get your cat to the vet before CPR is needed. However, there are always instances in which an emergency occurs and it’s just too late to wait. For example, an animal attack or some sort of car accident that injures your cat might render the animal unable to breathe and require that you perform life-saving techniques. Other instances require that you get the cat to the vet as soon as possible. If you notice any of these symptoms being displayed by your cat, get him or her to the vet before performing CPR becomes necessary:

Lethargic behavior

Breathing difficulties

Your cat is rendered unconscious

Your cat is involved in an accident or trauma

Don’t wait for your cat to stop breathing to get him or her to the vet; go now. This will help protect you from having to perform CPR and it might help you increase your cat’s chances of survival.

When is CPR Necessary?

The first step in learning how to perform CPR on your cat is knowing when it’s time. You’ll want to start by checking the cat’s breathing by seeing if the chest moves at all. You will also want to place your hand in front of your cat’s face to see if you can feel any breath coming from his nose or mouth.

The second step is to open the cat’s mouth and check his or her gums; you’re looking at color here. You want to see if the gums are either a shade of blue or grey or if they are white. Blue or grey gums indicate your cat is not getting enough oxygen. If the gums are white, the cat’s blood is not circulating properly.

You’ll also want to check for the cat’s pulse inside the thigh on the back of the leg where it meets the cat’s body and then listen for a heartbeat if you cannot find anything else. If you notice any of these issues, you need to rush to the vet immediately, but you will also want to perform CPR en route (obviously while someone else is driving).

Performing CPR

  • You’ve already checked for breath, so you can move to the next step
  • Remove anything that might be obstructing your cat’s ability to breathe from its mouth by opening it up and scooping debris out of the way. See if the cat is able to breathe now.
  • The next step is to make sure the cat’s tongue is at the front of its mouth so that it does not obstruct the cat’s ability to breathe – do this by pulling it forward and then closing the mouth as much as you can while being very gentle.
  • Hold your cat’s neck straight and begin breathing small, short breaths of air into its nose. You will do this once every 5 seconds. This process is very similar to that of an infant’s version of CPR, so hopefully you are trained in this. While doing this you must watch the chest of the cat, which should rise and fall with each breath you provide. This should work.

This is a very delicate subject, and it’s not a situation in which you ever want to find yourself. What you would rather do is ensure your cat gets to the vet as quickly as possible. But if you find yourself nervous and in need of this to save your cat’s life, don’t hesitate to get the vet on the phone and let him or her walk you through the process so that you feel more comfortable and more capable. It’s a delicate situation, and you should do whatever is necessary to make it as easy and comfortable as you can.

We’ve included a video that will help you become a bit more comfortable and familiar with the process, and we highly recommend you watch now before you ever need this skill.

Photo by China Photos/Getty Images

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