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To give chest compressions to your pet during CPR, you first want to make sure that you're both positioned appropriately. Your pet should be on his side. Either side is fine, and you should be positioned above him, so that when you're giving compressions, you can lock your elbows. You don't want him too close to you, because if you have to do compressions this way, you'll lose a lot of strength. Now your hand position will be a little bit different depending on whether or not you have a big or a small animal. For dogs that are about 25 pounds or bigger, you want to put your hands over the widest part of the chest. So generally back a little bit closer to the spine, in the middle of the chest. Right about here for Quinn. You're gonna put one hand on top of the other, again lock your elbows, and that's how you're gonna give the compressions. For cats and smaller dogs, you wanna put your hand over the heart, and to find where the heart would be, bend the top leg until you find the point of the elbow. Where the point of the elbow meets the chest is about where the heart is gonna be, and that's where you wanna position your hands. Again, one over the other, or in very small animals, you can put your thumb and fingers on either side of the chest and squeeze that way. All right, Quinn. Now for demonstration purposes, I'm gonna lay this towel down so that you can see my stuffed animal a little bit more easily. But the basic rules are gonna be the same. Put your hands in position over the heart, or the widest part of their chest, depending on the size. Over the animal with elbows locked, and compress the chest. Each compression should be even, and should compress the chest by about half, to a third, of the width of the chest. Making sure that you release completely in between compressions. Now, you're gonna want to give about 100 to 120 compressions per minute, which is a lot. And it's also very difficult to get that pace down. So some tricks that you can use, is give the compressions to the beat of one of a couple songs. One would be "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees, or if you prefer Queen, you can go with "Another One Bites the Dust". So again, position your hands, lock your elbows, and give compressions as so. Now, if you're by yourself, you're gonna need to interrupt compressions after about 30 to give rescue breath. You're also gonna want to check the pulse at that time to see if it's returned. If not, immediately return to chest compressions. Ideally though, you're gonna have a partner. And so if you have more than one rescuer, you should be alternating roles. While one person is giving chest compressions, without interruption, the other person is giving rescue breaths. One about every six to eight seconds. Now giving chest compressions can be exhausting, so you will need to switch roles about every two minutes. And these transitions need to be smooth, so that we minimize interruptions in chest compressions. Don't forget to check for a pulse, and if you do find that the pulse has returned, you'll need to transport your pet immediately to a veterinary facility. Chester, Chester. He's not breathing. I can't feel a pulse. Anna, I'm gonna need your help. Can you give him a breath every eight seconds? Okay, it's been almost two minutes, can you come around and tell me if you feel a pulse? No pulse. Okay. I'm starting to get tired so I'm gonna need you to switch out with me. Can you put your hands over mine? And on the count of three. One, two, three, go. And we're gonna continue like that, until we either get a pulse back, or ten to twenty minutes have gone by.
In this lesson, we'll be taking you through a cat and dog CPR demonstration. Obviously, watching the corresponding video for this lesson and practicing along on a stuffed animal will be the best approach to learning these techniques, and you should consider doing so until you feel comfortable performing high-quality CPR.
Before you begin chest compressions, it's important that you're in the correct position. You'll want your pet on his side and either is fine. And you'll be positioned directly over him.
Pro Tip #1: When you give chest compressions, it's important to lock your elbows and allow the weight of your body to assist you. If you're too close to your pet and are unable to lock your elbows, you'll tire much more quickly, and those compressions will likely be less effective.
Your hand position is determined by the size of your pet. For dogs that are 25 pounds or larger, put your hands over the widest part of the chest and back a little, closer to the spine in the middle of the chest.
For cats and smaller dogs, you're going to want to put your hands directly over the heart. To find the heart, bend your pet's top leg in and find the point on the elbow. Where that point meets the chest is roughly where your pet's heart is located.
For really small animals, you can also put your thumb and fingers on the sides of the chest, where the heart is located, and squeeze that area with just one hand.
Regardless of which location you compress, you'll want to put one hand on top of the other, just like Dr. Bobbi demonstrated in the video, unless compressing with one hand.
Now that you know where to put your hands and how to put your hands, let's focus on some specifics regarding those compressions.
Each compression should be performed at a depth of 1/3 to 1/2 the depth of the chest. They should also be performed evenly and at the same rate – 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute.
Pro Tip #2: Make sure to allow for full recoil after each compression. What does this mean? You'll want to compress the full depth and then allow the chest to fully rise, before performing another compression. One time down and one time up equals one full compression.
The rate of chest compressions can be tricky at first. One way to think about it is that you'll be delivering around 2 full compressions every second. And if you require a little trick, you can perform compressions to a couple of different songs (in your head). Staying Alive by the Bee Gees or Another One Bites the Dust by Queen are excellent choices and not bad as far as 70s songs go either.
Ideally, you'll have help, but this may not always be the case. If it's just you, you'll want to do the following:
If you do not detect a pulse, go immediately back into performing 30 more chest compressions.
If you do have help, you'll be able to provide better quality CPR with fewer interruptions and alternate roles to limit fatigue, as chest compressions can be exhausting.
Pro Tip #3: One vital key to providing high-quality CPR is to limit interruptions. This cannot be overstated!
Again, if you do not find a pulse, continue with 2 more minutes of CPR, following the same instructions as above. However, if you do detect a pulse, get your pet to the veterinarian as soon as possible for further care.
In a nutshell, the cat and dog CPR technique is as follows: