The invention relates to application of an integral type electrothermal wire mesh catalyst in catalytic combustion of volatile organic waste gas. The catalyst is prepared by the following steps: (1) placing a wire mesh material in acetone, removing oil in an ultrasonic manner, washing the wire mesh material thoroughly with distilled water, placing a wire mesh in a NaOH solution, carrying out ultrasonic treatment on the wire mesh, washing the wire mesh thoroughly with the distilled water, finally, placing the wire mesh in an HNO3 solution, carrying out ultrasonic treatment on the wire mesh to remove oxide on the surface of the wire mesh, washing the wire mesh thoroughly with the distilled water, and then drying the wire mesh; (2) calcining the pretreated wire mesh in pure oxygen; and (3) spraying Pt or Pd nano-particle sol dispersion liquid to the calcined wire mesh, then drying the wire mesh, and calcining the wire mesh to obtain the Pt or Pd nano-particle-loaded integral type electrothermal wire mesh catalyst. The active components of the catalyst are dispersed highly, and cannot be agglomerated easily, the ability of the catalyst which is combined to a carrier is high, the catalyst has the characteristics of small use amount of precious metal, high activity, and capability of spontaneously heating after the catalyst is electrified, and therefore, the application has the characteristics of energy conservation, high efficiency and rapid reaction.