Are you willing to do mouth to mouth on Fido?

Would you risk the horrors or stinky pet breathe to save your four legged friend’s life? That is the slightly silly question being answered in a poll conducted by the associated press. Nationwide, 1,166 pet owners were asked this question (among a few others): Would you be at least somewhat likely to perform CPR on your pet in the event of a medical emergency? For me the answer would be of course I would! Given that I had the proper CPR training, why wouldn’t I do everything in my power to save my pet’s life? Even though of all the people polled the majority would administer mouth to mouth, I was surprised that it was only 58%… only a little over half. That doesn’t give me much faith in most pet owners! Here is a snippet of the article on Yahoo News:

LOS ANGELES – Most pet owners would leap into action for an injured pet, even if it meant risking dog breath by going mouth-to-snout.

Fifty-eight percent of pet owners — 63 percent of dog owners and 53 percent of cat owners — would be at least somewhat likely to perform CPR on their pet in the event of a medical emergency, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll.

Tammy Parks, 52, of Amherst, Mass., has taken a pet first aid class and wouldn’t hesitate to help her 15-year-old mixed breed terriers, Lucy and Julia, or her white fronted Amazon parrot Koko.

“It’s not rocket science. The mechanics are the same as humans,” said Parks, who was an American Red Cross first aid trainer. “Size is the biggest difference.”

In general, though, the poll found few pet owners are prepared to handle pet emergencies. Just 20 percent of pet owners have a pet first aid kit in their home, and 54 percent do not have a fire evacuation plan for their pets.

And the survey revealed frequent reporting of dangerous practices that can lead to accidents and injuries. For example, a quarter of pet owners, including 30 percent of dog owners and 22 percent of cat owners, give their pets bones from table scraps, at least sometimes.

Sixty-two percent of dog owners and a third of cat owners let their pets ride in their cars unrestrained, rather than placing them in a special pet carrier. And 11 percent of pet owners sometimes leave their pets unattended in a car or truck.

Still, most pet owners said they would go the extra mile to rescue their pets. Women were more likely to say they would perform CPR on their pets than men, 65 percent to 50 percent, the poll showed.

Nearly every decision made at the Parks house is made with the safety of the animals in mind.

“We don’t use pesticide on the lawn. We don’t buy food with pesticide on it. No sugar, no salt, just natural nuts and fruits. No Teflon in the house, no smoking, no air fresheners, no aerosol products,” she said, explaining that any one of those things could kill their 7-year-old bird.

Barbara Klingman of Houma, La., said she changed things after her Chihuahua, Honeychild, ate something that forced an emergency trip to the vet.

“I make sure she doesn’t have anything she shouldn’t have,” Klingman said of the 7-pound, 4-year-old dog.