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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2006Gave my cat the Heimlich today.
I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind of gasping almost. I waited about 2 seconds and thought, okay, that's enough. So I pushed on her extended tummy which was quite hard and big from exertions. And that stopped the heaves but nothing, as usual popped out. I pushed near her rear legs since that is where her tummy is and kind of where I would push for a human. I think she is used to this because she came to me to get some pushes. > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I think she is used to this because she came to me to get some pushes. You're going to hurt your cat. Cut that out. > > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she > > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > You're going to hurt your cat. Cut that out. really? a gentle push on the tummy? if you're serious, then do you have any anecdotes or references for your comment? this is not cpr, this is the heimlich method, modified, since it's probably not an emergency but it's good to know how to stop a cat from choking. don't you think? > > > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she > > > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > the heimlich method, modified, since it's probably not an emergency but > it's good to know how to stop a cat from choking. don't you think? Are you confident enough about feline anatomy that you know you cannot hurt her that way? She wasn't choking to death, she was upping a hairball. Yes, I am serious. As for the rest, ask your vet if you should be doing this to your cat when she is trying to throw up. References? Are you serious? According to the American Red Cross Animal First Aid course the correct way to deal with choking in an animal is to: 1/ Sweep the mouth using caution not to get bitten 2/Turn the animal upside-down by lifting by rear legs 3/ If object does not come out, apply abdominal thrusts, and attempt to give 5 breaths of air 4/ If not successful, administer "sharp blow" between shoulder blades, then repeat abdominal thrusts. They say that it's more important to get air in than the object out in an emergency situation. I would recommend taking the course to learn the proper technique for the abdominal thrusts and how to properly give the breaths of air before trying this. W >> > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she >> > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > the heimlich method, modified, since it's probably not an emergency but > it's good to know how to stop a cat from choking. don't you think? > According to the American Red Cross Animal First Aid course the correct way > to deal with choking in an animal is to: [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > W I am really skeptical of anything the American Red Cross does, having dealt with them in one emergency. From the courses I have taken with them, they are usually about 10 to 20 years behind the times. But they are a start and it's good to formalize routines and methods. It's better than nothing and you have to start somewhere. Again, just my personal experience is that they are one inept and grotesquely over-rated organization. Do you have any idea how many people died until the American Red Cross decided that tainted blood with HIV will kill you so it's better to self-donate? It was discussed in 1985 and not implemented until the 1990's. For hemophiliacs, this was in the tens of thousands. Deaths. USA. Thanks for supplying a reference. It makes sense - maybe - [I'll check with the vets since that method may have some problems with it] - for an emergency where the cat is in danger of dying. In this case, I was not doing "abdominal thrusts" but gentle tummy pushing. If she wants to upchuck a hairball, fine. But when she comes to me then she likes for me to give her a little tummy push. It's gentle. I am quite familiar with my particular feline. I often play with her tummy just to familiarize myself and to get her used to my feeling her tummy for anything irregular so to spot problems and to make vet examinations not so scary. What I am still trying to figure out is where the hairball goes if it does not come flying out. In this case, since I am brushing her, I suspect it's those blades of grass that are not of high caliber. Thanks again for the reference. I have some doubts that this is the "correct" way to deal with all cases. It would appear that the method you described above is more likely to damage a living creature than my gentle tummy thrusts. In extreme cases, it's good to know these techniques. For example, in CPR, it's better to break a rib than to let someone die. In any event, the point about getting air in is very important, for cats and for people. No air, no brain. No brain, life ain't worth living. So the air in CPR is more important than the chest compressions. But rest assured, I have been doing this for years and my cat appreciates it, so there :) Your long-suffering cat deserves some hair-ball treatment, often available in a tube, like toothpaste, and think about some cat food designed with hairballs in mind. Your cat might even thank you. > > According to the American Red Cross Animal First Aid course the correct way > > to deal with choking in an animal is to: [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] > But rest assured, I have been doing this for years and my cat > appreciates it, so there :) > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > popped out. I pushed near her rear legs since that is where her tummy > is and kind of where I would push for a human. This sounds exactly like my cat when he is working on a hairball. Her tongue hangs out, and she looks pathetic. Usually nothing comes out. She just stops after awhile. Rather than making things worse and possibly hurting her, I just watch and wait. If she were to actually stop breathing, I would go ahead and interfere, but really, it usually just looks and sounds worse than it is. If she hacks something up, I clean it up. If not, I give her some hairball remedy when she is done hacking. I would not interfere unless she stops breathing or you saw her ingest something. It's too much of a risk to injure her for something as minor as a hairball. Also, keep in mind, that when CPR is done on a human, ribs are often broken. Yes, cpr is more intensive than the heimlich. But then again, people are a lot bigger than cats, and we the average person knows more about people anatomy than kitty anatomy. It would be much easier to hurt the cat. > > I wake up to hear my cat doing the dry heaves thing. Hairball? But she > > looked so pathetic, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and kind [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > about people anatomy than kitty anatomy. It would be much easier to > hurt the cat. CPR is pushing on the rib cage to jump start the heart. Not the same. In any case, I've done this on occasion over the years. A gentle push is okay. More like a gentle massage than any "push." I don't push-push, just massage the tummy and she stops immediately. And I don't do this all the time. Just when I can't get a piece of paper under her mouth :) I have bought hairball remedies and what not and more fiber. These are not hairballs but occasional an indigestible salad, that is, a piece of green something or other. I'll think about what you said. But I suspect a gentle massage on the tummy is better for the cat than her hacking away at something. Maybe it's not good to talk about this since many people might injure their cats and not have the familiarity with the cat and medicine that I have. By the way, I had some quack tell me the same thing about humans and lungs damaged by emphysema. But he was wrong there too. A gentle push on the tummy of someone suffering from emphysema can be good and I found that in the medical literature. It's a valid procedure. But even though he was a lung quack, he had never read about that. Interesting. Like with the cat, it's more for emotional support than anything else. I guess I'll have to search vet med articles for tummy massages for the felines. Thanks for all your comments. I'll think about them. |
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