Pet First Aid: What to Do in an Emergency

Before Anything Else: Stay Safe, Then Call

Two things determine whether first aid helps or hurts. The first is your own safety. An injured or frightened animal, including your own, can bite hard enough to cause serious injury, and a bitten owner cannot help anyone. Approach slowly, use a muzzle made from a strip of cloth or a slip lead on a dog that is not vomiting or having breathing difficulty, and wrap a cat in a towel with the head covered before handling.

The second is the phone call. Save your regular vet's number and the nearest emergency clinic's number before you need them, and have the address and route in mind. Calling ahead means the clinic can prepare, and in poisoning cases the person on the phone can often tell you immediately whether what you are about to do is the right thing.

The universal rule for first aid: it stabilises, it does not cure. Everything below buys time.

CPR for Dogs and Cats

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in pets follows guidelines published by the veterinary resuscitation community, and the numbers differ from human CPR in ways that matter.

Step 1: Check for responsiveness and breathing. Tap firmly and call the pet's name. Look at the chest for five to ten seconds. If there is no response and no breathing, or only occasional gasping, start CPR immediately. Call someone to drive, or drive while someone else performs compressions.

Step 2: Position the animal. Lay the dog or cat on its right side, on a firm surface. Soft surfaces absorb the force you need to transmit.

Step 3: Compress the chest.

• Rate: 100 to 120 compressions per minute, for both dogs and cats. This is faster than most people's instinct.
• Depth: roughly one third to one half of the width of the chest. For a small dog or cat, this is a few centimetres.
• Location: over the widest part of the chest, behind the shoulder blades, for most dogs. For barrel-chested breeds, the deepest part of the chest. For cats and very small dogs, compress directly over the heart, just behind the elbow when the leg is folded back.
• Technique: for cats and small dogs, wrap one hand around the chest and squeeze with the thumb on one side and fingers on the other; for medium dogs, one hand; for large dogs, two hands stacked as in human CPR.
• Do not stop. Compression interruptions reduce blood flow and survival. If you must pause, keep it under ten seconds. If another person is available, swap every two minutes, because fatigue degrades effectiveness quickly.

Step 4: Ventilate if you are trained and willing. After 30 compressions, give two rescue breaths. Close the mouth with your hand, seal your mouth over both nostrils, and blow just enough to see the chest rise. Do not blow forcefully, which forces air into the stomach. With two rescuers, one can maintain continuous compressions while the other delivers breaths.

If mouth-to-nose contact is something you cannot do, perform compressions only. Continuous chest compressions without ventilation is far better than doing nothing, and it is a legitimate approach for an untrained rescuer.

Step 5: Continue until the animal breathes on its own, or until you reach the clinic. Do not stop to reassess frequently; keep compressing and let the veterinary team take over.

A common hesitation is fear of breaking ribs. Ribs heal. A stopped heart does not. Compress hard enough to actually move blood, because compressions that are too shallow accomplish nothing.

Choking

If the animal is breathing, coughing, or making noise, do not intervene forcefully. A partially obstructed airway can be converted into a complete obstruction by a panicked attempt to grab the object. Keep the animal calm and go to the clinic.

If the animal is silent, blue, and pawing at its mouth, the airway is likely fully obstructed:

1. Open the mouth and look. Only remove something you can see clearly, with your fingers, a spoon handle, or tweezers. A blind finger sweep can drive the object deeper.
2. For a small dog or cat, hold the animal with its back against your chest, head down, and give five firm compressions against the chest just behind the shoulder blades, as in a modified Heimlich manoeuvre.
3. For a large dog, stand or kneel behind the animal, wrap your arms around the abdomen just below the rib cage, and give five quick upward thrusts, as you would for a choking person.
4. Check the mouth again, then repeat. Never perform abdominal thrusts on a conscious, coughing animal with a partial obstruction.
5. Even if the object comes out, go to the clinic. The airway may swell, and the object may have caused internal injury.

Bleeding

• Apply firm, direct pressure with a clean pad, gauze, or a folded cloth for at least three to five minutes without lifting it to look. Lifting to check restarts the clot you are trying to build.
• If blood soaks through, add more padding on top rather than removing the soaked layer.
• For a limb wound that will not stop, apply a pressure bandage snugly, and if that fails, a tourniquet above the wound as a last resort. Record the time you applied it, because a tourniquet left in place too long causes tissue death.
• Never use a tourniquet on the neck or on the body.
• Nosebleeds: keep the head level or slightly forward, do not tilt it back, apply cold to the bridge of the nose, and seek care if it does not stop within a few minutes.

Seizures

Seizures are frightening to watch and less dangerous than they appear, provided you avoid the single most common error.

• Do not put your hands or anything else into the mouth. During a seizure the jaw muscles contract with enormous force, and the animal is not swallowing its tongue. Owners who try to prevent that are the ones who get bitten.
• Clear hard objects from around the animal, and cushion the head if possible.
• Time the seizure. Under three minutes is typical. Longer than five minutes, or repeated seizures without full recovery between them, is an emergency.
• Dim the lights and reduce noise, then leave the animal quiet afterward while it is disoriented.
• Keep other pets away.
• Any first seizure, any seizure lasting over five minutes, or any cluster of seizures needs veterinary attention that day.

Poisoning

• Identify what was ingested, how much, and when. Keep the packaging, the plant material, or a photograph of what remains.
• Call a veterinary poison helpline or your vet immediately. Do not wait for symptoms, which can take hours to appear.
• Do not induce vomiting unless you are specifically instructed to. Vomiting is contraindicated for caustic substances such as bleach and drain cleaner, for petroleum distillates, for sharp objects, and for any animal that is already unconscious, seizing, or having difficulty breathing. Making these come back up causes additional damage.
• Do not give milk, oil, or home remedies, which can speed absorption of some toxins or complicate treatment.
• Activated charcoal is sometimes used, but only on veterinary advice, because it is contraindicated for certain substances and can cause serious complications if given incorrectly.
• Bring the pet to the clinic even if it currently seems fine, and bring the packaging with you.

Household toxins worth knowing by name: chocolate, xylitol in sugar-free gum and some peanut butters, grapes and raisins, onions and garlic, macadamia nuts, alcohol, antifreeze, rodenticides, and lilies, which are especially dangerous to cats.

Fractures and Spinal Injury

• Do not try to straighten or splint a limb unless you have been trained to do it. Do not attempt to set a fracture.
• For suspected spinal injury, keep the head and spine in a straight line, slide the animal onto a rigid board, a flattened cardboard box, or a firm tray, and secure it gently. Use a towel as a stretcher for a small pet.
• Muzzle only if the animal is not vomiting and is breathing normally.
• Keep the animal warm and still, and transport carefully rather than quickly over rough roads.

Burns, Electric Shock, and Heat

• Chemical burns: flush with large volumes of cool water for at least fifteen to twenty minutes, then seek care. Wear gloves, and do not neutralise the chemical.
• Thermal burns: cool with running water, cover loosely with a clean dressing, and do not apply butter, oils, or ointments.
• Chewed electrical cords: unplug the power before touching the animal, then check the mouth for burns, and go to the clinic because fluid can accumulate in the lungs hours later.

Eye Injuries

Chemical exposure to the eye is the one situation where immediate home irrigation is right: flush with saline or clean water for fifteen to twenty minutes, keeping the eyelid open, and then go directly to the clinic. Never put your hands or a foreign object on a corneal injury, and do not attempt to remove a penetrating object. A proptosed eye, where the eyeball has come out of the socket, needs covering with a moist dressing and immediate transport.

Transporting an Injured Pet

Use a carrier for cats and small pets, and a rigid surface or a firmly held stretcher for larger animals. Keep the pet warm with a blanket, since injured animals lose heat quickly, but do not overheat it. Drive smoothly. Do not let the pet ride loose in the car, and do not have a passenger hold an injured animal in their lap during a fast drive. If a second person is available, they can monitor breathing and keep the animal calm.

What Not to Do

• Do not try to remove an object you cannot see inside a wound or a mouth.
• Do not put your fingers in the mouth of a seizing animal.
• Do not induce vomiting without instruction.
• Do not give human painkillers. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are toxic to pets, and the doses owners estimate are frequently dangerous.
• Do not apply a tourniquet to the neck or torso.
• Do not delay transport to finish first aid. Stabilise and go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast should I do chest compressions on a dog or a cat?

Both species need 100 to 120 compressions per minute, at a depth of roughly one third to one half of the chest width. Push hard enough to move blood, and do not stop for more than a few seconds at a time. Swap rescuers every two minutes if possible.

Should I put my hand in my dog's mouth during a seizure?

Never. The animal is not swallowing its tongue, and the jaw muscles are contracting with enough force to break fingers or teeth. Clear the area, cushion the head, time the seizure, and keep the environment quiet until it ends.

Can I give my pet human pain medication?

No. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are both toxic to cats and dogs and can cause liver failure, kidney damage, or death. Never give human medication to a pet without explicit veterinary instruction and a correct weight-based dose.

Should I induce vomiting if my pet ate something toxic?

Only if a veterinary professional tells you to. It is specifically dangerous for caustic substances, petroleum products, sharp objects, and any animal that is unconscious, seizing, or struggling to breathe. Call first, and keep the packaging.

Is it safe to muzzle an injured dog?

It is appropriate for a dog that is breathing normally and not vomiting, and it protects you from a bite that would prevent you from helping. Use a cloth strip or slip lead, never a tight-fitting muzzle on a dog with breathing difficulty, and never muzzle a cat, which cannot pant effectively through a muzzle.