How to Give Your Pet Dog
CPR
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There will be instances where
you might have to perform a CPR on your pet
dog. What? A CPR on your pet? Are you serious? Yes,
it is serious - serious enough that it may save your
dog's life.
There are some instances where a pet may accidentally
get something stuck in its airway.
This will cause choking and ultimately, death. Also,
pet CPR will prove vital in cases where the dog has
lost breathing or pulse. This is the case of most
pets that go into arrest. If this happens, it is urgent
that the pet's airway, breathing, and circulation
is maintained.
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To perform such, owners must be aware of the proper procedure
of performing a CPR. Most trained veterinarians will be
knowledgeable in this procedure. You may want to consult
with them for proper advice on the procedures outlined here.
A. Airway
After determining that the animal is non-responsive, step
one in performing animal CPR is obtaining a patent airway.
This is a very important step. One should seek to achieve
this first before continuing on. Remember that making sure
your pet has a clear airway is the most important aspect
of CPR. Without oxygen your pet could die within minutes.
Pull out the tongue of your pet
carefully. The emphasis here is on carefully. Pets,
even when unconscious can bite by instinct. Keep the pet's
neck straight, and line up the neck and the back. In case
there is neck trauma, do not hyperextend the neck.
Afterwards, try giving the animal two rescue breaths. Perform
this by putting your mouth to its nose, and keeping the
animal's mouth closed. If your breaths go in then you can
continue. However, if they do not go in, it means that there
is an obstruction in the animal's airway.
In this case, inspect the animal's airway, and try to extract
the obstructing objects. If you cannot, try doing a modified
Heimlich maneuver. Turn the animal over with its back against
your chest and its head towards the ground in a bear hug.
Deliver five thrusts to the abdomen; imagine making each
thrust dislodge the object. Be careful that you do not deliver
too much pressure as it may cause damage if overdone.
Do not stop until you are able to clear the airway. Even
if the animal goes into arrest, the primary concern for
you is to keep the airway clear.
B. Breathing
With the airway is cleared, determine if the animal is
breathing on its own. Pull out its tongue again (again very
carefully) so that the tongue does not itself obstruct the
airway, and perform mouth to nose respiration. Do this twenty
times a minute. If the animal begins to breathe on its own,
use a high-flow blowby.
C. Circulation
The last step of animal CPR should only be done if the
airway and breathing are stabilized. First of all make sure
there are no pools of blood or spurting. If there is, control
these as necessary.
Lay the animal on its right side, now put your hands on
the part where the animal's left elbow touches its chest.
This is the marker for the middle of the animal's rib cage.
Compress this part fifteen times then administer two rescue
breaths per minute. This rate may have to change according
to the size of the animal. If the pet is small use compressions
that are half an inch deep, for medium dogs one inch, and
for large dogs, one and a half inches. Repeat this as necessary
until emergency assistance arrives.
When administering animal CPR, you must make a deliberate
decision to be calm and collected. Doing such in panic will
only result in wrong decisions that may further imperil
the life of the animal. Your pet
may not have a strong carotid pulse, so you might have to
rely on its femoral pulse when assessing circulation.
Remember that your CPR actions are first-at-the scene maneuvers,
and that your pet will still need expert medical attention.
Make sure that the veterinarian has already been alerted
as soon as the problem arises.
Pet CPR is a very important skill for those who deal with
emergency medical cases concerning dogs. Although not everyone
learns it, those who do are a vital factor in saving the
lives of many beloved pets.
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