NewsCat CPR: When Should You Start and What Comes Next?
When does your cat need CPR? Learn cat CPR steps, chest compressions, rescue breathing, common mistakes, and when to seek...
Emergency: if your dog or cat is unresponsive and not breathing normally, treat it as a life-threatening emergency. Make sure the scene is safe, call an emergency veterinarian right away, and follow their instructions along with the steps below. Do not wait to see whether your pet recovers on its own.
Pet CPR is a set of emergency steps that keep blood and oxygen moving when a dog's or cat's heart and breathing have stopped. Recognizing that moment quickly matters, because professional help is often minutes away.
This guide explains when pet CPR is needed, how to assess an unresponsive pet, how the technique differs for dogs and cats, what to do about suspected choking, and how to get your pet to emergency care. It draws on the RECOVER 2026 First Aid Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, along with public first-aid teaching from the American Red Cross and the Virginia Tech veterinary teaching hospital.
What Is Pet CPR and When Is It Needed?
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, combines chest compressions with rescue breaths. Compressions push blood around the body, and breaths supply oxygen. The RECOVER guidelines describe this as basic life support for animals that have no pulse and are not breathing, and they note that trained people can perform it outside a clinic.
CPR is for one situation: a pet that is unresponsive and not breathing regularly. The same guidelines strongly recommend immediate bystander basic life support for a dog or cat in cardiopulmonary arrest outside a clinic, as long as the risk to the rescuer is low.
Not every collapse calls for compressions. The Virginia Tech veterinary teaching hospital advises that a pet that is unresponsive but still breathing needs immediate veterinary care, not CPR. The same is true of a conscious pet that is struggling to breathe, vomiting, or weak. These pets need an emergency veterinarian quickly, but not chest compressions.
CPR also does not replace veterinary care. Even a pet that seems to recover needs to be examined as soon as possible.
How to Assess an Unresponsive Dog or Cat
1. Check Scene Safety and Responsiveness
A hurt, frightened, or just-collapsed pet can bite or scratch, and RECOVER recommends bystander first aid only when the risk to the rescuer is low. Look first for hazards such as traffic, water, electrical sources, or fumes.
If the scene is safe, call your pet's name loudly and gently shake it, as Virginia Tech suggests. A pet that is alert and able to bite does not need CPR, as the American Kennel Club also points out.
2. Check Breathing
Watch the chest for a regular rise and fall. Look for only a few seconds, because time matters.
Occasional gasping is not normal breathing. RECOVER's first-aid guidance groups unresponsive animals that are agonal, gasping, or not breathing together as needing basic life support. Slow, irregular gasps are a warning sign, not reassurance.
3. Decide Whether CPR Is Needed
If your pet is unresponsive and is not breathing regularly, including when it is only gasping, treat it as cardiac arrest and begin CPR. Do not stop to search for a pulse first.
If your pet is breathing regularly, do not start compressions. Keep it warm and calm if it is safe to do so, and get it to a veterinarian immediately.
4. Contact Emergency Veterinary Help
Call the nearest open emergency veterinary clinic. If another person is with you, ask them to call while you start CPR. If you are alone, use speakerphone so your hands stay free, and follow the instructions you are given. The clinic can also help you plan your route and prepare for your arrival.
How to Perform CPR on a Dog
Use these steps only for a dog that is unresponsive and not breathing regularly, and only when it is safe for you to help. Have someone call an emergency veterinarian while you begin.
1. Position the Dog Safely
Lay the dog on a firm, flat surface. Dogs vary a great deal in chest shape, so positioning depends on anatomy. Virginia Tech lays narrow-chested and round-chested dogs on their right sides, and places wide, flat-chested breeds such as bulldogs and pugs on their backs. The American Red Cross likewise places barrel-chested dogs on their backs.
2. Position Your Hands Correctly
Kneel beside the dog with your shoulders directly above your hands and your elbows locked, as the Red Cross teaches. Then place your hands according to chest shape, with one hand on top of the other:
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Small dogs, under about 10 pounds: heel of one hand directly over the heart. Virginia Tech suggests using one hand.
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Narrow, deep-chested dogs, such as Greyhounds and Boxers: directly over the heart.
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Round-chested dogs, such as Labradors and Golden Retrievers: over the widest part of the chest.
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Barrel-chested or flat-chested dogs lying on their backs: over the breastbone, at its widest part.
3. Perform Chest Compressions
Push hard and fast at 100 to 120 compressions per minute. That is the rate RECOVER specifies for its choking sequence and the rate the Red Cross teaches for pet CPR. Let the chest spring fully back before each push.
For depth, the Red Cross teaches compressing one-third to one-half the width of the chest. Virginia Tech is more specific: about one-third for medium and large dogs, up to one-half for small dogs, and no more than one-quarter for a dog lying on its back.
4. Provide Rescue Breaths When Appropriate
After 30 compressions, give 2 breaths. Close the dog's mouth, extend the neck so the head and nose line up with the spine, cover the dog's nose with your mouth, and breathe out until the chest rises. RECOVER's choking sequence uses mouth-to-nose breaths, with two breaths given in under 5 seconds. Then resume compressions right away.
Do not take risks to give breaths. RECOVER's recommendation to help applies only when the risk to the rescuer is low. If you cannot give breaths safely, tell the veterinary dispatcher and follow their advice.
5. Continue CPR and Coordinate Help
Repeat cycles of 30 compressions and 2 breaths. Keep pauses short, because every interruption stops blood flow. If a second person is present, one of you can call the clinic and get the car ready while the other continues CPR. If rescuers swap, make the change quickly and ask the dispatcher how often to switch.
Continue until the dog starts breathing on its own or a veterinary team takes over. Do not stop based on a pulse check you are unsure about.
How to Perform CPR on a Cat
The same rule applies to cats: begin only if the cat is unresponsive, is not breathing regularly, and it is safe for you to help. A cat that starts to revive can bite or scratch, so be careful once it moves. Have someone call an emergency veterinarian right away.
1. Position the Cat
Place the cat on a firm, flat surface so compressions are not absorbed by a soft bed or your lap. Keep the head and neck in a straight line so the airway stays open.
2. Use the Correct Compression Technique
A cat's chest is small, so the Red Cross's cat CPR guide describes a one-handed method: wrap your hand around the chest at heart level, with your thumb on one side and your fingers on the other. It also describes a two-handed method, with the heel of one hand over the heart and the other hand on top. Virginia Tech likewise recommends compressing directly over the heart with one hand for cats and small dogs.
Compress at 100 to 120 per minute. Press about one-third to one-half the width of the chest, and allow the chest to recoil fully before the next compression. Virginia Tech advises no more than one-half the chest width for cats and small dogs.
3. Provide Rescue Breaths
After 30 compressions, give 2 breaths. Gently close the cat's mouth, extend the neck, cover the cat's nose with your mouth, and breathe out until you see the chest rise. The Red Cross advises about one second per breath, then resuming compressions at once. Do not give breaths if doing so puts you at risk. If you cannot, tell the veterinary dispatcher and follow their advice.
4. Continue CPR While Arranging Veterinary Care
Repeat cycles of 30 compressions and 2 breaths, and keep pauses short. If another person is with you, one of you can call the clinic and prepare the car while the other continues CPR. Continue until the cat starts breathing on its own or a veterinary team takes over.
Dog CPR vs. Cat CPR: Key Differences
|
Factor |
Dogs |
Cats |
|
Body size and chest shape |
Toy breeds to giant breeds, with narrow, round, or barrel-shaped chests |
Small, narrow chest of fairly similar shape |
|
Hand placement and technique |
Depends on size and chest shape; small dogs may use one hand |
One-handed wrap around the chest, or two hands over the heart |
|
Rescue breathing |
Close the mouth, extend the neck, breathe into the nose until the chest rises |
Same principle, gently, until the chest rises |
|
Emergency response |
Call an emergency veterinarian, keep pauses short, transport as soon as possible |
Same |
Common Pet CPR Mistakes to Avoid
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Delaying compressions to find a pulse. In an unresponsive pet that is not breathing regularly, a hunt for a pulse costs time and is easy to get wrong.
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Mistaking gasping for normal breathing. Slow, irregular gasps do not mean the pet is breathing well.
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Using the wrong hand placement or technique. A cat or small dog needs a different hold than a large dog.
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Interrupting compressions without need. Keep pauses short and plan any swap of rescuers.
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Taking avoidable risks during rescue breaths. If you cannot give breaths safely, tell the veterinary dispatcher.
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Performing a blind finger sweep. RECOVER recommends against it.
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Assuming CPR replaces veterinary care. It does not.
Suspected Choking: An Important Emergency Distinction
Choking is handled differently depending on whether the animal is awake.
For a conscious animal, RECOVER recommends up to 5 back blows over the back part of the rib cage, on either side of the spine, if the risk to you is low. If back blows fail, other techniques exist, but abdominal thrusts can injure dogs and cats, so follow a veterinary professional's guidance. Do not reach into a conscious animal's mouth.
If the animal becomes unconscious, start chest compressions immediately: 30 compressions at 100 to 120 per minute. Then look in the mouth for under 10 seconds and remove an object only if you can see it. Give 2 mouth-to-nose breaths in under 5 seconds, and repeat until the object comes out or help arrives. Any animal that needed help clearing its airway should see a veterinarian right away.
What to Do While Getting Emergency Veterinary Help
A pet that seems to recover after CPR still needs to be examined as soon as possible. Call ahead so the clinic can prepare, and follow the dispatcher's instructions.
RECOVER recommends transport to the nearest open veterinary clinic as soon as possible, and continuing basic life support during transport with a primary emphasis on rescuer safety. The Red Cross also advises continuing CPR until you reach a veterinary hospital.
The driver must never perform CPR while driving. Compressions in a moving vehicle are possible only when a second person can do them safely. That depends on the animal's size, the space in the vehicle, whether the rescuer can be positioned and belted safely, and local laws. If it is not feasible, prioritize a safe, fast drive.
Know the Basics of Pet CPR Before an Emergency
Pet CPR starts with recognizing that an unresponsive pet is not breathing regularly. From there, the priorities are your safety, calling an emergency veterinarian, starting compressions without delay, and getting your pet to professional care. Reading a guide helps, but practice builds confidence. Consider taking a pet first-aid class now, and save your nearest 24-hour emergency clinic's number in your phone.
