If your pet chokes on a piece of food or a toy, do you know how to best help them? Here’s our team’s top first-aid advice for choking pets.

What to do if you think your pet is choking

If you think your pet is choking, try to keep calm. If you can do so without getting bitten, carefully open your pet’s mouth to look for any visible object at the back of its throat. If there is something visible, you can try using pliers or tweezers to remove it. We do not recommend sticking your fingers down your pet’s throat.

If there is nothing visible or you can’t get a hold of the object, try holding your pet with their bottom elevated and their head pointing downwards, and either striking firmly on their ribcage (with the flat of your hand) or pushing firmly on or just below their ribcage to try to force air (and hopefully the object) out of their airways.

Watch this video for a demonstration of these techniques.

If you can’t dislodge the object, we’d advise seeking urgent veterinary care.

How can owners help to prevent choking episodes?

Whilst an unfortunate choking episode can happen to any pet, it is more likely to occur when pets are fed tough chews or given access to inappropriately sized toys, or when they gulp food (although many dogs are actually remarkably adept at swallowing large objects such as stolen corn cobs!). We’d therefore recommend:

• For pets who gulp their food, try using a slow feeder bowl
• For older pets with few remaining teeth, offer either a small-sized kibble (preferably soaked with water) or small chunks of moist, cooked food (approx. 1-2cm diameter, depending on the pet’s size)
• Avoiding raw-hide treats (and similar), as these commonly remain very fibrous and tough even after the pet chews them
• Not giving your pet access to toys or balls small enough to fit completely within their mouth

For more pet first aid advice, consult our experienced team.