First Aid

Nobody wants to think about their cat having an emergency. But the owners who are most able to help their cat in a crisis are the ones who've thought about it in advance — calmly, before they needed to. Cat first aid isn't about replacing your vet. It's about staying calm, keeping your cat safe, and doing the right things in the minutes before professional help takes over. Those minutes can matter enormously.

The Golden Rules

Before anything else, three principles apply to every cat emergency:

1. Keep yourself safe. An injured or frightened cat — even the most gentle one — may scratch or bite. Wrap your cat in a thick towel if you need to handle them. An injury to you helps no one.

2. Call your vet first. In almost every emergency situation, your first action should be to phone your vet or emergency vet. They can talk you through exactly what to do while you're on your way, prepare for your arrival, and make sure you're heading to the right place — out of hours, your usual practice may direct you elsewhere.

3. Keep your cat calm. Darken the room, reduce noise, speak quietly and move slowly. Cats are acutely sensitive to our stress — the calmer you are, the calmer they're more likely to be. Minimise handling unless absolutely necessary.

Save your vet's number and your nearest out-of-hours emergency vet in your phone now — before you ever need them. Finding a number in a panic costs precious time.

Signs That Your Cat Needs Emergency Care

Some situations are urgent enough that you shouldn't wait — call your vet or head straight to an emergency practice if your cat:

Is unconscious or unresponsive
Has stopped breathing or is breathing with obvious difficulty
Is bleeding heavily and the bleeding won't stop
Has been hit by a vehicle or fallen from a significant height
Is having a seizure
Is showing signs of severe pain — crying out, unable to move, rigid
Is choking or pawing desperately at their mouth
Has collapsed or cannot stand
Has ingested a known toxin
Has a distended or very painful abdomen
Has been in a fight and has a wound that is swelling, warm, or discharging

When in doubt, call. Your vet would always rather hear from you and tell you everything is fine than have you wait too long.

Common Emergencies — What To Do

Bleeding Apply gentle, firm pressure using a clean cloth or gauze. Do not lift the dressing to check if bleeding has stopped — this can disturb the clot. Keep applying pressure and head to your vet. Do not use a tourniquet.

Burns or scalds Run cool (not cold or icy) water over the area for a minimum of ten minutes. Do not apply butter, cream, toothpaste, or any other substance. Do not cover the burn with anything fluffy that might stick. Keep your cat warm and calm and get to your vet promptly.

Suspected poisoning Do not try to make your cat vomit — this can cause additional harm. Note what your cat may have been exposed to and take the packaging with you. Call your vet immediately. Time is critical with many toxins.

Road traffic accident or fall from height Even if your cat appears to be walking and seemingly uninjured, always seek veterinary assessment. Internal injuries may not be visible. Support your cat by gently sliding them onto a flat, firm surface or into a carrier lined with a blanket. Move them as little as possible if a spinal injury is possible.

Heatstroke Signs include heavy panting, drooling, weakness, vomiting, and collapse. Move your cat to a cool area immediately. Apply cool — not cold or icy — wet towels to the neck, armpits, and groin. Do not use ice, which can cause the blood vessels to constrict. Head to your vet as soon as possible even if your cat seems to recover — internal damage may not be immediately apparent.

Choking If your cat is distressed and pawing at their mouth, look inside carefully — if you can see an object and safely reach it without pushing it further in, gently remove it. If you cannot, take your cat to your vet immediately. Do not attempt to remove something you can't see clearly.

Seizures Stay calm. Do not try to restrain your cat or put anything in their mouth. Clear the area of anything they could hurt themselves on. Keep the room dark and quiet. Time the seizure — most last under two minutes. If a seizure lasts longer than five minutes, or your cat has multiple seizures in quick succession, treat it as an emergency. Afterwards, keep your cat calm and warm, and contact your vet even if they seem to recover quickly.

What To Do If Your Cat Is Unconscious

If your cat is unconscious but breathing, lay them on their right side, keep their airway clear by gently extending the neck, and get to a vet immediately. Keep them warm but do not leave them unattended.

If your cat is unconscious and not breathing, CPR may be needed. This is a last resort in a genuine emergency — not something to attempt in a cat that is simply deeply asleep or sedated.

Basic cat CPR — emergency use only:

Lay your cat on their right side on a firm surface
Check the airway — gently open the mouth, pull the tongue forward, and clear any visible obstruction
If not breathing, close the mouth and breathe gently into the nostrils — short, gentle breaths once every three to four seconds
If there is no heartbeat, place one hand around the chest just behind the front legs and compress gently but firmly — around 100 compressions per minute
Continue rescue breaths and compressions and get to an emergency vet as fast as possible

CPR on cats requires a gentle touch — their chests are small and fragile. If you have the opportunity, a pet first aid course is well worth taking so that this feels more familiar should you ever need it.

Your Cat First Aid Kit

Keeping a basic first aid kit at home — and a smaller one in the car — means you're not searching for things in a moment of stress. A simple cat first aid kit should include:

Your vet's number and your nearest out-of-hours emergency vet number, written down
Sterile gauze pads and rolled gauze bandage
A self-adhesive bandage (such as cohesive bandage — never use elastic bandage on a cat)
Blunt-ended scissors
Sterile saline solution for cleaning wounds or rinsing eyes
Disposable gloves
A digital thermometer (a cat's normal temperature is 38–39.2°C / 100.4–102.5°F)
A tick removal tool
A spare towel for wrapping and safe handling
A torch

Do not include human medications of any kind — paracetamol, ibuprofen, and aspirin are all toxic to cats.

Be Prepared Before You Need To Be

The best time to think about cat first aid is now — not at 2am when your cat is in distress. A few things worth doing today:

Save your vet's number and the nearest out-of-hours emergency vet in your phone
Know where your cat carrier is and keep it accessible — in an emergency, searching for a carrier costs time and causes stress
Consider making your carrier familiar to your cat by leaving it out with a blanket inside, so they don't associate it only with stressful trips
Think about whether a pet first aid course would be useful — many are available online and in person, and they cover scenarios like CPR, choking, and wound care in a hands-on way that builds real confidence

Knowledge is the most valuable thing you can have in an emergency. The more prepared you feel, the more able you'll be to act calmly and effectively when it matters most.

Want To Go Deeper?

This is the part people most often overlook. A microchip is only as effective as the contact details registered against it. There are around 20 national databases in the UK — your chip will be registered with one of them, and you must keep your details current. If you move house or change your phone number, update your record straight away. It takes minutes and could make all the difference if your cat ever goes missing.

If you're not sure which database your cat is registered with, check the documentation you received when they were chipped, or ask your vet to scan the chip and help you trace it.