Remedies For Motion Sickness

[Bellatrix]

Hi :D

On the weekend we are travelling to a coastal town which is approx a 90 min drive. One of my girls gets car sickness, even on a 10-15 in journey. I make sure I dont feed her before the ride, but she still has a small liquidy type vomit. The only time she doesnt vomit is if someone holds her.

I have heard there are rescue remedies you can get for motion sickness but was wondering if there were any other alternatives? I read that ginger was ok to be used in dogs, but how would you give it and how long before the trip?

Thanks for your help

[Pawfect]

Ginger is def supposed to help - try feeding a ginger biscuit before the ride, and perahps a few drops of rescue remedy.

In severe cases my vet said to use a very small dose of phenergan (sp?) from chemist.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Pawfect

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Have you tried blocking her view out?

I've heard some people have success by putting the dog in a box in the footwell.

My dog was chronically car sick but if she stretched out across the back seat and kept her eyes firmly shut she would be ok. Fortunately for me, she figured this out on her own.

I have read about dogs on rescue remedy and ginger still throwing up. Ginger tablets for motion sickness you can get from the chemist. Myth busters did a thing about motion sickness and the ginger tablets were better than nothing but not 100%. I'd follow the directions on the pack, if you want to try and give a child dose to the dog. Neither rescue remedy or ginger work for me. I use something from the chemist containing dimenhydrinate and take at least an hour before travelling (boats sometimes get me). But I wouldn't give it to a dog without talking to a vet first. Some things that are ok for humans are deadly to dogs.

I'd try blocking her view first. Ie putting her in the footwell (check it doesn't get too hot) or in a dog igloo or similar so she can't see out.

[Bellatrix]

Thanks Pawfect :D

I just dont want to give her anything thats going to make her feel drowsy/dopey.

[Bellatrix]

Have you tried blocking her view out?

I've heard some people have success by putting the dog in a box in the footwell.

My dog was chronically car sick but if she stretched out across the back seat and kept her eyes firmly shut she would be ok. Fortunately for me, she figured this out on her own.

I have read about dogs on rescue remedy and ginger still throwing up. Ginger tablets for motion sickness you can get from the chemist. Myth busters did a thing about motion sickness and the ginger tablets were better than nothing but not 100%. I'd follow the directions on the pack, if you want to try and give a child dose to the dog. Neither rescue remedy or ginger work for me. I use something from the chemist containing dimenhydrinate and take at least an hour before travelling (boats sometimes get me). But I wouldn't give it to a dog without talking to a vet first. Some things that are ok for humans are deadly to dogs.

I'd try blocking her view first. Ie putting her in the footwell (check it doesn't get too hot) or in a dog igloo or similar so she can't see out.

Thanks for your reply.

She is pretty small so she probably doesnt get much of a view from the back seat. I have read that raising them up so they can see helps. Then again, who knows. I guess its just a matter of trial and error.

[Eliteview Aussies]

Try lying newspaper down.

We had a dog that got car sick but when she was on newspaper she seemed to be fine.

[kirst_goldens]

Hey,

My JRT X is horrible for car sickness, we inherited him from my nanna and pop. They brought him to be their travel companion on their camping trips... needless to say it didnt work so they left him with the cats at home :D

They tried literally EVERYTHING and i mean everything lol. We have just accepted that he is never going to be ok in the car...

I took him to the last day of my tafe course - we r doing COmpanion animals cert 4 and our last day was a BBQ at a dog park

Now i had him on the front seat with air blowing in his face as this seems to help, i had the seat covered in towels and the floor so i was covered for a tummy upset!

He went in the car for a good hr there and 20 minutes around town then again an other hr on the way home and didnt vomit once!!! this is the fiorst time since he was born that he has madeit in the car without being sick... he is 15 this yr... so he just took his sweet time getting used to it!

I was so proud! for some ideas, the vet had given him a tranquiliser for one trip when he was about 4, he had rescue remedy - made him fall over didnt like it really but works treats for others, umm... ginger he tried no results there and we tried a few mixes that a natropath made up for him... no results there either lol

[tdierikx]

A drop of peppermint oil on the collar can work quite well - just make sure that you don't get it directly on the dog's skin until it's dried...

T.

[Mystiqview]

Can you get her to travel some short distances with a dog that LOVES to travel. She may be stressed and if there is another dog who is hanging its head out the window, it may give her confidence too and not think the car is such a bad place.

Do not make a fuss over her. Try and divert her from lying down and stressing. Also, when you are not going anywhere, play with her in the car. Do not start the car. Feed her in the car and make the car enviornment a happy place. Once she is comfortable with that, do the same but start the car. Don't drive anywhere. Once she is happy with that, drive down the driveway and back. Keep taking one small step at a time until you can drive without her stressing and getting motion sickness.

Some dogs like humans just suffer motion sickness, other dogs find the car stressful. Their first car trip may be from leaving all that is familar to them to go to the new owners. They may have done a couple of vet trips while with the breeder, but they had mum and litter mates for support.

[Trisven13]

I would love a solution to this as Daphne gets carsick on the smallest of journeys. Because she gets carsick she now hates the car. She has spent loads of her life travelling and is either crated on a backseat, in the rear of a station-wagon or in a harness on a backseat.

[Mystiqview]

Trisven,

Unfortunatelly there is no set "cure" to it. It depends greatly on what is causing your dog to be car sick. IE Stress, bad experience, just motion sickness.

Another thing often forgotten with the invent of air conditioners in vehicles is not giving the dog enough fresh air. Windows wound up and the air conditioning on low. Nice and cool, but not a great deal of air flow through the interior of the vehicle.

It is a common issue that comes up on DOL, with much the same responses given.

I had a dog once that did not like car travel. The only car travel the pup at 12 weeks was given was the delivery from the breeder to me. The breeder's vet did house calls for vaccinations etc, so the pup never experienced a car until an hour drive by the breeder to meet me. This from a registered breeder as well.

It took WEEKS doing the above method to get Kaila used to the car and be happy in to go into the car, let alone travel in it.

Ginger tablets/biscuits, Rescue Remedy and a process of desensitising like I mentioned above are the ones that keep coming back. They work for some and not others.

Maybe talk to your vet or a animal natrapath?

[SwaY]

Junket tablets

Dry ginger biscuits

[SpikesPuppy]

We have used ginger snap biscuits on Nessa when she was a pup (going around roundabouts/tight corners seemed to set her off... fortunately she grew out of it!!).

A scoop of plain vanilla ice cream about 30 minutes before travel can also help settle the stomach.

[wagsalot]

Rileys been car sick since he was a pup.

The only thing that worked for him is Maxolon tablets from the vet. So glad we have them, as he loves the car, and I love being able to take him everywhere.

We use them quite a bit for trips to to the beach etc. We even took him on a 8 hour drive to Ballina. He had half a tablet 7am in the morning, and when we went out for dinner 10pm that night he was still fine.

They work on the boat as well.

Without the tablets, Riley vomits within 20 minutes of being in the car.

Edited February 9, 2010 by wagsalot

[Paulp]

Have you tried blocking her view out?

I've heard some people have success by putting the dog in a box in the footwell.

My dog was chronically car sick but if she stretched out across the back seat and kept her eyes firmly shut she would be ok. Fortunately for me, she figured this out on her own.

I'd try blocking her view first. Ie putting her in the footwell (check it doesn't get too hot) or in a dog igloo or similar so she can't see out.

I find this a bit surprising. In humans motion sickness is caused by a mismatch of information coming from your different senses, your inner ear is saying that you are moving around as the car manuevres but your eyes are saying that the car around you is still, this is why people who get car sick can't read whilst travelling in a car, if you look down at a book the only thing in your field of view is something stationary relative to yourself. It is also why the driver rarely gets sick, even if they suffer when they are a passenger, they know and see all the movements the car is making.

For this reason I would have thought that it would be better to get the dog up higher where it can see out properly, that is how I manage sea sickness. Maybe a dog that improves down in a footwelll is is suffering anxiety about being in the car?

[iffykharma]

My aunt was told by her vet last year about a new product available which contains no sedation and acts on the vomit reflex in the brain. It's Called Cerenia. At the time it was via injection, and my aunt was told tablets would be available very soon.

Ok, just found this on the Pfizer Animal Health site. Looks like tablets are now available.

[SmoothieGirl]

Bronte was a shocking traveller and nothing really worked for her. The vet did prescribe an anti nausea tablet - no drowziness resulting, but this was a bit hit and miss for her. It was a low dose of Metomide.

She eventually stopped throwing up of her own accord, but then drooled and drooled and drooled until I changed my car about three weeks ago. She is now a brilliant traveller, happily hops into a car and loves going on trips. 100% turn around. I think it was the engine/roadnoise of my last car and the movement of a manual car. She LOVES the new one, its smoother, bigger, quieter, an auto and she sleeps in her bed in the wagon section.

Edit - Updated with the name of the drug.

Edited February 9, 2010 by SmoothieGirl

[corvus]

Kivi used to get car sick as a pup. It persisted for months. He really hated the car. We found that feeding him chicken wings before a long trip was better than giving him nothing and far better than giving him mince and vegies. He seemed to do better with something substantial in his belly. He improved greatly when we put a soft bed with sides in the back for him to lie in. It just really cut down on his movement. To this day he is reluctant to get in the car if his bed isn't there, and he barely fits in it anymore. T Touch also really helped to relax him before a trip. Sometimes I think the anticipation of feeling sick gets them all stressed and then they inevitably feel sick, so some relaxation work maybe derails that feedback loop. We got the bed in and started T Touch for 5 minutes before leaving at the same time and that was the end of our car sickness problems. These days Kivi sits up and looks out the window. Never thought I'd see the day.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

paulp

You think a better view of the horizon would help but how do you tell a dog that? I have found in my personal experience of motion sickness, I was fine if I kept looking at the bottom of the boat (fixed point of reference) or I was fine if I looked at the horizon. But I could be wish-I-was-dead sick if I mixed between the two. I would be fine lying down inside a boat with my eyes shut, but not if I was helping on deck (mixing between horizon and boat fittings).

I'm wondering if maybe the little dog is getting an unpleasant mix of visual references, not being quite big enough to keep a fixed view of the horizon unless it's sitting on someone's lap. Hence the raised sitting position might help as well as blocking the view altogether. Just as long as it is one or the other, ie the dog doesn't try to sit down when it should be looking out the front. A road with lots of bends will mess with the horizon too, so if the road to the coast is through some hills, I predict trouble.

I think the car travel problem - dog in a closed view box - was also on one of Victoria Stillwell's It's me or the dog episodes. Our OP can try one method then the other if the first doesn't work for her dog.

I also take Frosty on a daily ride to our local dog walking oval. It's not more than five minutes by car, and maybe 10 minutes if we walk. But I'd drive her because she needed to associate the car with good things. She now views it a bit like her personal crate/kennel. But she still is a bit reluctant about actually getting in. Once in, not real keen on getting out - unless we are at the beach or the oval. Sigh. She takes treats and water in the car now but when I first got her, she was way too stressed to accept a treat in the car.

[crazywhips]

We have had numerous pups that weren't crash hot in our dog trailer. We tried lots of things but someone then recommended HONEY. Simple honey. A finger full in the mouth when leaving. (or in the water if needed)

We had to take 12 x 6 week old pups to Brisbane for their hearing tests and it worked wonders.