Can a cat choke?/Did you ever need to give your cat a Heimlich-type maneuver?

On one ocassion a few months ago, Daisy appeared to be choking. I don't know if it was choking but something was obviously going on. I was borderline panicking because my instinct said "This is no hairball situation or something to pupu" , so I grabbed her and started some fast hand movements over her chest area, under her arms. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. The whole situation was very scary as you can imagine, but eventually it stopped. I think it went on for about 15 seconds - but it felt like the longest 15 seconds ever. Did anything like this ever happen to your kitty?

It's good you were there to help your cat!

I never had to do the Heimlich on a cat before. I did see Midnight choke on dry food, when we first got him. After that we watered down his dry food, and then gave him can food. He was 3 weeks old then, not sure he should have been eating dry food in the first place, we didn't know his real age until a few weeks later. Also at the time he only had his 4 baby fangs, his other baby teeth hadn't grown in yet.

Originally Posted by My4LLMA

It's good you were there to help your cat!

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Totally. As for what I did, well, I seriously doubt it was true Heimlich (which is for humans anyway, someone correct me if I'm wrong) ... I just started moving my hands kinda fast and praying praying praying. I had no clue what I was doing. It was scary but everything turned out okay.

Glad everything "choked" out alright . It is just awful when our babies scare us like that. Who knows what it was... There was one time Presley was playing with a puff ball and started choking and chewing. The little fuzz pieces on the puff ball were coming out, and too easily I might add. I threw the toy out. Opened up Presley's mouth and saw some of the tiny short threads in his mouth and pulled them out. He was fine after that, he was trying to get them out of his mouth!!! Smart Boy

Do you know those tiny cute little fur mice everyone loves to give their cats? I had a cat choke on one when I was 10-11 years old. Thankfully I was in the room and grabbed her. The mouse toy was stuck behind her tongue but at the top of her throat - I still do not know how I managed to grab that slimy thing out of her mouth/throat but I did. (gained plenty of scratches in the process)
I didn't have to do the heimlich maneuver for that, it wouldn't have worked.

This is why I tell people those things are dangerous. They're too tiny for an adult cat.

Originally Posted by c1atsite

Totally. As for what I did, well, I seriously doubt it was true Heimlich (which is for humans anyway, someone correct me if I'm wrong) ... I just started moving my hands kinda fast and praying praying praying. I had no clue what I was doing. It was scary

but everything turned out okay.

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Does your vet offer any cpr classes or things like that? I know some vets do, my current one doesn't, my old one didn't.

I'm terrible in an emergency situation. My father isn't. My father doesn't panic and seems to know what to do. I guess it's probably because he had always had a cat as a kid, and before he married my mother.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Do you know those tiny cute little fur mice everyone loves to give their cats?

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We never gave those to our cats. You can tell just by looking at them, that they aren't safe. A lot of the toys they have out there for cats, especially kittens, I wouldn't trust Luna and Midnight with.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

This is why I tell people those things are dangerous. They're too tiny for an adult cat.

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Petsmart sells ones that are about 4x bigger, but the same fuzzy/furry style. My cats love those. A favorite in our house. The only thing I don't like is that they have little plastic eyes and noses that they can choke on, so I pull those out right away. I found some fabric mice at Walmart, they are really neat. Everything is sewn on well, no eyes and noses to chew off. Each mouse comes with a soft round toy that has a tiny mouse sewn on it. The orange mouse and the red round toy in the picture are Walters two favorite toys. He's always playing with them. I couldn't find the third round toy. lol Each mouse is a different texture, as well as the balls/mice are all different textures also. Each mouse/ball toy is $1! I thought it was a good deal.

I would love to know about a class. I have a cat with mega e and she's always spitting things back up. That is seriously something I HAVE to learn.

I watch Jack like a hawk, because like a 2 year old child he'll sometimes put things in his mouth that he shouldn't, so i'm careful what i leave lying around

1h ago my cat chocked on a piece of meat.i was there feeding her the meat because she was weak after an accidental poisoning with permethrin.What a IDIOT i am to use permethrin on my cat.Anyway i used a drop of permethin on her about 8h ago.2h after that she started shivering and having muscle spasms.It is saturday, so there was no way of getting her to a vet where i am.I got lucky and she got better after 6-7h.But not completly recovered.After she stoped shaking, she asked me for food, and i was so relieved she got better i rushed to the kitchen and gave her some chicken.She chocked on a piece of skin.After she made a motion with her paw on her face a few times she fell on her side, went unconcious and started convulsing violently.I grabbed her with both hands under her front legs, around her chest and i sqeezed fast a few times...i don't know how long it took, i panicked and i opened her mouth with my index fingers(IDIOT, ofc i got bit).After that she stped convulsing, opened her eyes wide, she was not moving , just staring blankly with pupils wide dilated.I heard a slight miew after.5 min later she got up. Anyway my cat lost a few lives today because of my reclesness.NEVER EVER EVER use antiparasites that have permethrin on a cat.And i have staines of blood on the keyboard now from my fingers.The cat is not shaking anymore(i think the permethrin was metabolised by now) and she is sleeping under a chair near me now.

That is
terrifying!!
I only know how to do CPR on animals. Do they have Heimlich for animals? I'm sure there is some modified version of it. I would probably do what you did though. What a scarey thing to go through!!
I never let Turtle play with those little mice, or those balls that have the little bells inside. The ones I always step on and break in the middle of the night on my way to the potty!