Small Animal CPR Calculator
Calculate RECOVER-guideline CPR drug doses, compression depth, ventilation rate, and fluid bolus for dogs and cats.
About this calculator
In a veterinary CPR arrest, drug volumes need to be calculated and drawn up in seconds, not minutes — this calculator applies the RECOVER (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation) evidence-based guidelines directly to a patient's body weight so the team isn't doing bedside math under pressure. RECOVER first published its consensus CPR guidelines in 2012 and updated them in 2024 in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, and this calculator's fixed rates and per-kilogram doses are drawn directly from that published guideline set rather than from any single hospital's house protocol. Compression rate is fixed at 110/min, the mid-point of RECOVER's 100-120/min target range, and compression depth is derived as one-third to one-half of the entered chest width — Chest width defaults to 12 cm regardless of the Species/size you pick, so a direct caliper or visual measurement of the patient's actual chest width should always be entered rather than relying on the default. Ventilation is fixed at 10 breaths per minute.
Drug doses scale linearly off body weight: low-dose epinephrine at 0.01 mg/kg (the first-line dose, repeated every 3-5 minutes), high-dose epinephrine at 0.1 mg/kg (reserved for after low-dose has failed across a couple of cycles), atropine at 0.04 mg/kg against a fixed 0.54 mg/mL concentration, vasopressin at 0.8 U/kg against a 20 U/mL concentration as an epinephrine alternative, and a 20 mL/kg crystalloid fluid bolus. Critically, the epinephrine volume also depends on which concentration you have on hand — 1:10,000 (0.1 mg/mL, standard for IV push) versus 1:1,000 (1.0 mg/mL, used diluted or intratracheally) — and drawing up the wrong concentration's volume for the other is a well-documented tenfold dosing error, so always confirm the vial concentration selector matches what's actually on the crash cart before administering. This tool supports clinical decision-making; it does not replace real-time judgment from the attending veterinarian.
Inputs
Results
Epinephrine low dose (mL)
1
Figures current as of 2024. Source: RECOVER Initiative (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation), CPR Guidelines, Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Body weight (kg), Species/size, and Epinephrine concentration.
- Set Chest width (cm).
- Review the Epinephrine low dose (mL) result.
- Use Epinephrine high dose (mL) and Atropine volume (mL) to inform your decision.
How the result changes with Body weight (kg)
| Body weight (kg) | Epinephrine low dose (mL) |
|---|---|
| 5 | 0.5 |
| 7.5 | 0.75 |
| 15 | 1.5 |
| 25 | 2.5 |
What each input means
- Body weight (kg)
- Patient body weight in kilograms.
- Species/size
- 0 = Cat, 1 = Dog (small <10 kg), 2 = Dog (medium 10-25 kg), 3 = Dog (large >25 kg). Does not currently affect any calculated output — enter Chest width directly for compression depth.
- Epinephrine concentration
- 0 = 1:10,000 (0.1 mg/mL, standard for IV), 1 = 1:1,000 (1.0 mg/mL, for dilution or intratracheal).
- Chest width (cm)
- Lateral chest wall width in cm. Used to calculate compression depth (1/3 to 1/2 of width).
What each result means
- Epinephrine low dose (mL)
- Volume of epinephrine at 0.01 mg/kg. Give IV every 3-5 minutes.
- Epinephrine high dose (mL)
- Volume of epinephrine at 0.1 mg/kg. Use if low dose fails after 2 cycles.
- Atropine volume (mL)
- Volume of atropine at 0.04 mg/kg (0.54 mg/mL concentration) IV.
- Vasopressin volume (mL)
- Volume of vasopressin at 0.8 U/kg (20 U/mL concentration) IV.
- IV fluid bolus (mL)
- Crystalloid fluid bolus at 20 mL/kg.
- Compression rate (/min)
- Target compression rate: 100-120 per minute.
- Min compression depth (cm)
- Minimum compression depth (1/3 chest width).
- Max compression depth (cm)
- Maximum compression depth (1/2 chest width).
- Ventilation rate (/min)
- Ventilation rate: 10 breaths per minute (1 every 6 seconds).
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersBody weight (kg) = 10, Species/size = 1, Epinephrine concentration = 0, Chest width (cm) = 12 = 4 input(s) provided
- Calculate Epinephrine low doseEpinephrine low dose = epiLowDoseMg / epiConcentrationMgPerMl1 = 1
- Calculate Epinephrine high doseEpinephrine high dose = epiHighDoseMg / epiConcentrationMgPerMl10 = 10
- Calculate Atropine volumeAtropine volume = atropineDoseMg / 0.540.741 = 0.741
Figures and sources
- RECOVER evidence-based veterinary CPR guidelines (2012, updated 2024) (2024) — RECOVER Initiative (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation), CPR Guidelines, Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the epinephrine concentration selector change the volume so much?
The calculator first computes the dose in milligrams (0.01 mg/kg for low dose, 0.1 mg/kg for high dose) and then divides by the concentration you select to get a volume in mL — 0.1 mg/mL for 1:10,000, or 1.0 mg/mL for 1:1,000. Since the 1:1,000 concentration is ten times more concentrated, the same milligram dose comes out to one-tenth the volume, so drawing up the 1:10,000 volume from a 1:1,000 vial (or vice versa) produces a tenfold dosing error.
When should high-dose epinephrine be used instead of low-dose?
Low-dose epinephrine at 0.01 mg/kg is the first-line RECOVER dose, given IV every 3-5 minutes during the arrest. High-dose epinephrine at 0.1 mg/kg — exactly ten times the low dose — is reserved for after low-dose has failed across a couple of CPR cycles, per RECOVER guidance; the calculator computes both simultaneously so the team has the escalation dose ready without recalculating mid-arrest.
How is compression depth determined if I don't measure chest width directly?
Compression depth is reported as one-third to one-half of the Chest width value, per RECOVER guidelines. Chest width defaults to 12 cm and does not currently change based on the Species/size you select, so for a patient that isn't roughly small-dog sized, enter that patient's actual chest width directly — a direct caliper or visual measurement is always more accurate than the 12 cm default.
Why is the compression rate fixed at exactly 110 per minute rather than a range?
RECOVER guidelines specify a target range of 100-120 compressions per minute for all patient sizes, and the calculator reports 110 as the mid-point of that range to give the team a single concrete number to compress to rather than making them mentally average a range during an arrest.
Where do these CPR parameters actually come from?
Every rate and dose in this calculator is drawn from the RECOVER (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation) initiative's evidence-based CPR guidelines for dogs and cats — an initial 2012 consensus statement that was formally updated in 2024 and published in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. RECOVER is the closest thing veterinary CPR has to a single evidence-graded standard, similar in role to the American Heart Association's guidelines in human medicine.
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