I thought since I just got certified in CPR and AED usage yesterday, I'd share an article on how to perform CPR on your feline friend, should she ever need it.
Signs to watch out for in your cat
- Breathing trouble
- Weakness or lethargy
- Unconsciousness
- Sudden onset of illness
To determine if CPR is necessary:
- Is the cat breathing? Watch for chest movement or fell it with your hand. Just as with a human, you can put your ear to their nose and look for chest movement.
- Check the color of the gums. Blue/gray is a sign of lack of oxygen; white is poor blood circulation
- Check for a pulse. Inside of the thigh, where the leg meets body.
- Listen for a heartbeat (left side of chest near the elbow)
If you do need to end up giving CPR (and let's hope you never have to):
- Check for breathing
- If not breathing, open mouth and remove any obstructions
- Pull the tongue to the front of the mouth then close the mouth and hold shut (gently)
- With the neck straight, breathe short puffs of air into the nose (1 breath every 4-5 seconds). If you've trained in CPR for infants, use a similar strength of breath.
- You should see a visible movement of the chest with these breaths
- If the heart is stopped, use both Artificial Respiration and CPR (the next few bullets)
- Check for heartbeat/pulse. If none, lay the cat on it's right side on a hard, flat surface.
- Place your thumb and fingers from one hand on either side of the chest behind the elbows and give a quick squeeze to compress the chest to about 1/2 of its normal thickness.
- Compress the chest about 15 times every 10 seconds; stopping to give a breath after every 10 compressions.
Again, hopefully you'll never need to do this, but it's always good to know!
~Jason
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