Pet CPR follows the ABC protocol of Airway, Breathing, and Compressions. Lay the pet on their right side on a firm surface. Deliver 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute, depressing the chest by 1/3 to 1/2 of its width. For mouth-to-snout breathing, close the pet's muzzle completely and blow into their nose every 30 compressions, using a ratio of 30 to 2 breaths.
This guide covers the RECOVER Initiative steps for dogs and cats, the 10-second responsiveness check, how to check a dog pulse, chest compressions at the right rate, mouth-to-snout rescue breathing, and when to drive to the vet. It also corrects the outdated 60 to 80 compressions-per-minute advice in older guides, and it says plainly that CPR is best learned in a hands-on class, not for the first time on your own pet.
How Do You Perform CPR on a Dog or Cat
To perform CPR on a dog or cat, follow the ABC protocol in order, Airway, Breathing, then Compressions. First confirm the pet is truly unresponsive and not breathing, then lay them on their right side on a firm flat surface and gently straighten the neck to open the airway. Deliver chest compressions at 100 to 120 per minute, matching the beat of Stayin' Alive, pressing the chest down one-third to one-half of its width and letting it spring fully back between compressions. After every 30 compressions, give 2 rescue breaths by closing the mouth completely and blowing gently into the nose until the chest rises. Keep the cycles going without long pauses, and have someone call your vet or the nearest emergency animal hospital while you work. CPR rarely restarts a heartbeat, so its real job is keeping oxygen flowing to the brain until a veterinary team takes over.
The sequence for how to do CPR on a dog is the same one you use for cat CPR step by step. Only hand size, breath volume, and compression pressure change, so one rhythm and one ratio cover both species.
Honest numbers help here. According to the RECOVER Initiative, less than 6 percent of dogs and less than 20 percent of cats that experience cardiopulmonary arrest survive to hospital discharge. Nobody likes reading that, but it explains why your real goal is the fastest drive to the emergency clinic, not a bedside miracle.
How Do You Check Responsiveness in 10 Seconds
Before you touch the chest, you need to know whether the pet is actually in arrest. Call the pet's name loudly, tap or gently shake the body, and watch the chest and nose for any sign of breathing. If the eyes open, the pet moves, or the chest rises, the heart is almost certainly beating, so do not start compressions. If there is no reaction and no breathing, begin the ABC steps below. Keep the whole check under 10 seconds, since the RECOVER guidelines stress not delaying compressions more than 10 to 15 seconds. If you are alone, start CPR first, then call the vet.
How Do You Check a Dog Pulse Before CPR
To check a dog pulse, place two fingers flat against the inner thigh where the hind leg meets the body, over the femoral artery, and press gently for a few seconds. Use two fingers only, never your thumb, because your own thumb has a pulse that can fool you. You want to feel a steady beat, not press so hard that you block the blood flow. The same spot works for cats, though the pulse is smaller and faster. A missing or weak pulse combined with no breathing points to cardiac arrest, and the newer RECOVER guidance tells trained rescuers to start compressions without delaying for a pulse check, because the check wastes precious seconds. For an owner at home, the safer habit is to start CPR when the pet is unresponsive and not breathing, and let the emergency team check pulses when they take over.
How Do You Check Breathing Without Wasting Time
Watch the chest and belly for movement, and hold the back of your hand near the nose to feel air. Do not wait a full minute. A pet that is not breathing and not responding needs CPR now, not a waiting game.
CPR is only for pets whose heart and breathing have stopped. If the pet is still breathing but struggling, that is a different emergency, and our guide on Dog Choking covers blocked airways, while a pet that is unresponsive but still breathing may be in Dog Is in Shock, which needs urgent veterinary care rather than chest compressions.
Step 1 How Do You Perform Chest Compressions
Chest compressions are the core of pet CPR. Lay the pet on their right side on a firm, flat surface like a floor, never a soft bed that absorbs your pushes. Place your hands by the pet's size and chest shape, then press straight down at 100 to 120 compressions per minute, the dog cpr compression rate recommended by the RECOVER Initiative in its 2024 guidelines. Each compression should sink the chest one-third to one-half of its width, and you must let the chest recoil fully between compressions so the heart can refill with blood. Count out loud to keep your rhythm, and swap with another person every two minutes if you have one. Do not stop to check for a pulse between compressions. Keep going until the pet revives, you reach the clinic, or a veterinary professional tells you to stop.
Keep the rhythm with Stayin' Alive. The Bee Gees song Stayin' Alive runs at about 103 beats per minute, right inside the 100 to 120 range that RECOVER recommends for dogs and cats. Hum it in your head and your compressions will not drift too slow.
Why Is the Compression Rate 100 to 120 per Minute
Many older first aid guides still tell owners to compress at 60 to 80 times per minute, and that advice is now outdated. The RECOVER Initiative reviewed the veterinary resuscitation evidence and published updated guidelines in 2024, settling on 100 to 120 compressions per minute for dogs and cats. Faster compressions keep blood moving to the brain and heart while the chest still has time to refill, so slow and shallow compressions do almost nothing.
How Deep Should Compressions Be
For a pet lying on its side, the recommended depth is one-third to one-half of the chest width at the compression point, per modern RECOVER guidance. That sounds vague until you picture it, a medium dog needs noticeably deeper presses than a kitten. Push straight down over the heart, not at an angle, and keep your elbows locked on bigger dogs. If you hear a rib crack, and you sometimes will, do not stop. A cracked rib heals, but a stopped heart does not wait.
Full Chest Recoil Between Compressions
Letting the chest spring back fully after each press is half the technique. If you lean and never release, the heart cannot refill. Let your hands rise fully between presses.
Compressions carry real risks, and training matters.
- Never practice CPR on a healthy pet. Compressions can crack ribs, and rescue breaths done wrong can push air into the stomach. Practice on mannequins in a certified class, not on your dog.
- Never start CPR on a pet that is breathing. Compressing a beating heart can trigger a dangerous rhythm, so confirm the pet is unresponsive and not breathing first.
- CPR is a skill that needs hands-on training. Reading an article is not the same as muscle memory, so take a pet first aid class through the American Red Cross or a RECOVER-certified course before an emergency finds you.
Where Do You Place Your Hands by Body Shape and Species
Hand placement depends on chest shape more than breed name, because a greyhound, a bulldog, and a kitten have three different ribcages. Match the technique below to your pet, then check the table for the numbers at a glance.
Large and Deep-Chested Dogs
For medium and large dogs, kneel beside the pet and place the heel of one hand over the widest part of the ribcage, clasp the other hand on top, and lock your elbows. Compress straight down over the heart, keeping your shoulders above your hands so your body weight does the work. This two-handed clasped grip gives a large chest the force it needs without wobbling side to side.
Barrel-Chested Dogs Like Bulldogs
Deep, round-chested breeds like bulldogs, pugs, and French bulldogs are the exception to the side-lying rule. For these dogs, the RECOVER guidelines recommend rolling the pet onto their back and compressing directly on the breastbone, the sternum, at about one-third of the chest depth. A wide barrel chest makes side compressions less effective, so the on-the-back position puts pressure where the heart sits. A short hands-on class beats guessing, because the wrong grip on a bulldog wastes the minutes you cannot spare.
Cats and Small Dogs Under 15 Pounds
For cats, puppies, and small dogs under about 15 pounds, one hand is enough. Wrap the thumb on one side of the chest and the fingers on the other, just behind the elbows, and squeeze gently at the same 100 to 120 rate while your other hand braces the back. The squeeze compresses the heart between thumb and fingers, which is why this one-handed wrap is the standard for small patients. Use gentle pressure, because a tiny ribcage needs far less force than a retriever's.
The table below sums up the compression technique, depth, and rate for every pet size so you can find your match in seconds.
| Pet Category | Compression Technique | Compression Depth | Target Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cats and small dogs under 15 lb | One-handed wrap, thumb and fingers around the chest behind the elbow | 1/3 to 1/2 of chest width | 100 to 120 per minute |
| Medium to large dogs | Two-handed clasped hands over the widest rib area | 1/3 to 1/2 of chest width | 100 to 120 per minute |
| Barrel-chested dogs like bulldogs | Dog on the back, compress directly on the sternum | About 1/3 of chest depth | 100 to 120 per minute |
| Rescue breathing ratio | 2 breaths into the nose after every 30 compressions | Gentle breath until the chest rises | About 1 second per breath |
Step 2 How Do You Give Mouth-to-Snout Rescue Breaths
Rescue breathing delivers oxygen when the pet's own breathing has stopped, and the technique is called mouth-to-snout because you blow into the nose, not the mouth. The ratio is 30 compressions to 2 breaths, which the RECOVER guidelines recommend for pets that are not intubated, meaning most pets at home. Here is the step owners get wrong most often, you must close the pet's mouth completely, with both hands wrapped over the muzzle and the lips sealed, then blow gently into both nostrils until the chest rises. If air puffs out around the muzzle, the mouth was not sealed, and you are wasting breaths. Give each breath over about one second, watch the chest rise, then go straight back to compressions. These numbers come from the RECOVER Initiative's 2024 guidelines and are best learned in a hands-on class.
If you are rescuing a cat or a toy-breed dog, your lungs hold far more air than their tiny airway needs, so blow softly and stop the moment the chest rises. Overinflating a small chest can damage the lungs, and if you feel unsafe, the RECOVER guidance supports chest-compression-only CPR as a backup.
Dog vs Cat Rescue Breathing What Is Different
For cat CPR step by step, the order is identical to a dog's, check, compress, breathe, repeat, but the details shrink. A cat's lungs are tiny, so each rescue breath is a gentle puff that stops as soon as the chest lifts, with a one-handed wrap. A dog's breath is stronger and longer, though a small dog still needs a softer puff than a lab. The ratio stays 30 to 2 and the rate stays 100 to 120 for both species.
Always transport to the vet, even after a revival. CPR at home is a bridge, not the finish line. A pet who wakes up can still have heart rhythm problems, oxygen damage, or internal injuries, so keep compressions going while someone drives. This guide is first aid only, and the American Veterinary Medical Association stresses that first aid never replaces veterinary care, so follow up with your vet after any arrest event.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Survival Rate of CPR in Pets
Less than 6 percent of dogs and less than 20 percent of cats survive cardiopulmonary arrest to hospital discharge, according to the RECOVER Initiative. The point of home CPR is keeping oxygen flowing to the brain until the emergency team can take over.
Can Doing CPR on a Breathing Dog Stop Their Heart
Yes, it can. Compressions on a beating heart can trigger a dangerous rhythm, so never start CPR unless the pet is unresponsive and not breathing. When in doubt, check for 10 seconds, then decide.
Should I Give Rescue Breaths If I Am Alone
Yes. The 30 to 2 ratio is designed for a single rescuer, 30 compressions, then 2 breaths, then back to compressions. If you feel unsafe giving breaths, chest-compression-only CPR is the RECOVER-backed fallback.
How Long Should I Keep Doing CPR
Keep going until the pet revives, a veterinary team takes over, or someone physically cannot continue. Swap rescuers every two minutes when possible, and keep compressions steady the whole drive.
The Bottom Line
Every pet owner should know one set of numbers, 100 to 120 compressions per minute, one-third to one-half chest depth, and 30 compressions to 2 breaths. The right grip depends on the body in front of you, the two-handed clasp for large and deep-chested dogs, the on-the-back sternum press for barrel-chested breeds, and the one-handed wrap for cats and small dogs. For the smallest patients, lighter hands, for the biggest, locked elbows, and for every size, full recoil and no long pauses.
Here is what you can do this week. Book a pet first aid class before you need it, print the compression numbers and tape them to the fridge, and save your nearest 24-hour emergency vet in your phone. The owner who practiced on a mannequin will act while the owner who only read an article hesitates, and in a cardiac arrest, that is the whole difference.
Clinical Care Notice: This article is written for educational and awareness purposes only and does NOT constitute clinical veterinary diagnosis, medical prognosis, or a personalized treatment plan. In all circumstances, if your dog or cat displays signs of illness, pain, or distress, a physical in-person examination by a licensed veterinarian at a veterinary clinic is strictly essential. Never delay professional medical evaluation based on information found online.
Our guides are compiled using evidence-based data from globally recognized veterinary institutions:
- Merck Veterinary Manual — Clinical guidelines on companion animal medicine.
- VCA Animal Hospitals — Expert-reviewed pet symptom and wellness library.
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) — Public health, vaccination schedules, and animal safety protocols.
