Last week we heard about Sugar, a four-year-old Boxer who gained nationwide attention as his life was saved on video.
Sugar
Sugar, who had been running exercises with his owner at the Canyon Crest K-9 Training Center in Washington, experienced a seizure and fell to the ground motionless.
Ron Pace, trainer at the center, ran to the rescue and immediately started performing CPR, with one problem in mind…he didn’t know how to administer pet CPR!
Pace performed a series of compressions on the dog along with breathing techniques, saving Sugar’s life, who was back on his paws within minutes and now told to take it easy.
Without knowing proper pet CPR, Pace was lucky he was able to rescue Sugar. But do you know what to do if something should happen to your dog?
The following are the basic steps of Pet CPR you should learn in the unfortunate event that your dog becomes unconscious. (The following is provided by http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/PetCareArticle.aspx?art_key=abfea8ed-02a9-4c9f-80bc-6fb8936db98f)
Step 1: Check for responsiveness
Before you begin doing anything to your pet, make sure he is truly unresponsive.
- Check his breathing by placing your hand in front of his nose and mouth. (Be sure not to cover them and block his airway!)
- Check for his heartbeat by placing your ear against area where your pet’s left elbow touches the chest.
Step 2: Secure an airway
If you don’t see or feel your pet breathing, you immediately need to make sure his airway is clear.
- Carefully pull his tongue forward out of his mouth. (Even an unresponsive animal can bite by instinct.)
- Look into the throat for a foreign object. If you find one, remove it carefully. (See Pet First Aid for instructions on responding to choking in pets.)
- Move the head until the neck is straight. (Don’t move the neck if you suspect it is injured.)
Step 3: Rescue breathing
- Close your pet’s mouth and breathe directly into his nose not his mouth until his chest expands.
- If the chest doesn’t expand, check again for a foreign object in the throat and reposition the airway so it is straight.
- Once you’ve gotten the chest to expand, continue the rescue breathing, repeating the breaths 12 to 15 times per minute (once every four to five seconds).
Step 4: Chest compressions
Do not begin chest compressions until you’ve secured an airway and started rescue breathing.
- Gently lay your pet on his right side.
- The heart is located in the lower half of the chest on the left side, behind the elbow of the front left leg. Place one hand below the heart to support the chest; place the other hand over the heart.
- Press down gently on your pet’s heart. Press down about one inch for medium-sized dogs; press harder for larger animals and with less force for smaller animals. To massage the hearts of cats and other tiny pets, compress the chest with the thumb and forefingers of one hand.
- Press down 80-120 times per minute for larger animals and 100-150 times per minute for smaller ones.
- Alternate the chest compressions with the rescue breaths.
Continue the heart massage compressions and the rescue breathing until you can hear a heartbeat and feel regular breathing. Once your pet is breathing and his heart is beating, call your veterinarian immediately.
Road Scholar Transport cares about our pets, which is why we are spreading awareness in an effort to help keep our furry loved ones safe from danger. As part of our 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign, we are dedicating an 80,000 pound tractor trailer to pet awareness. Keep checking www.roadscholarawareness.org to learn how your dog can be featured on our nationwide trailer!
That’s how much our pets mean to us. How much does your pet mean to you?
