When we decide to take care of a dog it is important that we inform ourselves about its care and this includes knowing what to do in the event of an emergency. That is why in this article on our site we are going to explain how we should act if our dog drowns, a situation that will require immediate intervention, since the lack of oxygen can produce fatal consequences. In addition, we will list the most common causes responsible for drowning in dogs so that we can avoid them. Read on and find out what happens to a dog when it looks like he's drowning
Why is my dog choking?
If our dog drowns it is because he is not receiving enough oxygen This deficiency is known ashypoxia and the most common causes are drowning due to immersion, suffocation in a closed space or that produced by inhalation of toxic substances such as smoke or carbon monoxide, the presence of a body strange in the throat or, also, a chest trauma.
Drowning can occur in dogs that swim too far from shore and become fatigued, in those that fall into freezing water, or simply can't get out of a pool. Dogs can be poisoned in a fire, in the trunk of a car, in a closed space without ventilation, etc. If the dog is he althy and suddenly begins to pant and make efforts to breathe, we can think of the presence of a foreign body
How do I know if my dog is drowning?
To know if our dog is drowning we must pay attention to signs such as very marked anxiety, obvious respiratory distress andconsiderable panting , often with neck and head stretched out. The dog may lose consciousness. In addition, he will presentcyanosis , which we can appreciate by the bluish coloration of his mucous membranes, except if the hypoxia is due to carbon monoxide, since this gas turns them red
What to do if my dog drowns? - Rescue breath
If a dog drowns, the priority is the immediate re-establishment of the air flow. To do this, we must go urgently to the nearest veterinary center and, while we arrive, we can try to help our dog by starting rescue or artificial respiration, always if the dog already he is unconscious. If there is no heartbeat, the heart massage is recommended; the combination of both techniques is known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, which can be done by one or two people.
If the cause of drowning is an open wound that has caused a pneumothorax, we should try to close skin over the wound and keep it pressed until you reach the vet. If the dog has swallowed waterwe must place its head below its body in order to eliminate as much water as possible. With the dog lying on his right side, with his head lower than his chest, we can initiate mouth-nose breathingwith the following steps:
- Open your mouth and pull your tongue forward as far as possible, always carefully.
- Wipe if we find secretions on it with a clean cloth.
- Observe in case we locate a foreign body, such as a bone. If this is the case, we would perform the Heimlich maneuver that we will explain in another section.
- Close the mouth.
- Put our mouth on the dog's nose and blow gently. We should notice that the chest expands. If it doesn't we'll have to blow a little harder. In dogs of more than 15 kg we will pass our hand around the snout to keep it closed and that the air does not escape.
- The guideline will be 20-30 breaths per minute, ie approximately one breath every 2-3 seconds.
- We must continue until the dog recovers its breath, its heart beats or we get to the vet so that it is he who continues with assisted breathing.
Rescue breathing or cardiac massage?
When the dog drowns we must determine which resuscitation technique to apply. For this, we have to observe if he breathes or not. If he does we will open his mouth and pull on his tongue to open the airway. If he is not breathing we should find if he has a pulse, for which we will palpate the inside of the thigh trying to feel the femoral artery. If there is a pulse we will start rescue breathing. Otherwise we will choose CPR.
How to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation in dogs?
If a dog chokes and does not breathe or have a heartbeat we will start CPR following the following steps:
- Place the dog on a flat surface and on its right side. If the dog is big we will stand behind his back
- Place your hands on each side of your chest and over your heart, just below the point of your elbow. In large dogs we will put one hand on the thorax, at the peak of the elbow, and the other on it.
- Compress the chest about 25-35 mm while counting one and releasing, also counting one.
- The rate is 80-100 compressions per minute.
- The rescue breath must be done every 5 compressions or every 2-3 if the maneuver is performed by a couple of people.
- We will continue with the maneuver until the dog is breathing on its own and its pulse is stable.
- Finally, CPR can lead to broken ribs or pneumothorax. We must make sure that the animal needs it, since, in a he althy dog, we could cause injuries.
What to do if your dog chokes on a foreign body?
When our dog chokes due to the presence of a foreign body and we can't easily remove it, we shouldn't try to wrap our fingers around itbecause we could produce the opposite effect and introduce it more in the throat. That way, if your dog chokes on a bone, don't try to pull it out. In these cases we will proceed to perform the Heimlich maneuver, taking into account the following steps:
- The execution will depend on the size of the dog. If he is small we can hold him in our lap face down, with his back against our chest. In any case we must wrap around his waist from behind
- We will make a fist with one hand and hold it with the other. Our fist will be at the apex of the V that forms the ribcage.
- We will compress the abdomen with our fist upwards and inwards 4 times in a row, quickly.
- We will open the mouth in case the object is already in it.
- If we continue without expelling it, we proceed to mouth-nose breathing that we have already explained.
- We will give a sharp blow with the heel of the hand on the dog's back, between the scapulae, and check the mouth again.
- If the object still does not come out we repeat the maneuver.
- Once we have eliminated it we have to check that the dog is breathing well and has a heartbeat. Otherwise we can resort to rescue breathing or CPR.
- In any case we must go to our vet.
