Car Sickness

[poodleruleme]

Hi fellow dog lovers, have a toy poodle five months old, he is a tiny guy & traveled well in the car till his second vaccination, now he starts to salivate & brings up all his food.We have tried the back seat, no food, a tablet from the vet, now the vet has given us ACE tablets...not happy to use them on such a small poodle..1.5.kgs

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as he was brought for a traveling companion & it is very distressing for the puppy & owner!

[Dory the Doted One]

Have you tried him on the floor? I've heard ginger can be good for nausea. Is he crated in the car?

My other ' I wonder' is if this is now a behavioural issue. Which would require desensitisation.

I'd personally not use ACP, I'd just take loads of towels. It leaves them too dopey and the results vary hugely from dog to dog and even from one useage to the next. It's just not predictable or consistent.

*touch wood* I've been lucky and haven't had sickie dogs. Piddling pups. But not sick. So someone else might have better ideas.

[moosmum]

A lot of pups seem to go through this as a stage,so you can hope thats it and the pup grows out of it. In the meantime,short trips to good things might help.

There are a lot of more natural remedies you can try,I've heard of good results just by putting a sprig of apple scented geranium in the car.

[W Sibs]

My little girl went through a stage of car sickness and now she has outgrown it now.

We found out that crating her in crate really helps and also having the window down. We had a booster chair for her that she feels safe in and also she get to look out of the window.

[Rosetta]

I am with the others I wouldn't use ACE at all - if it is behavioural it may make him more anxious about the car. It is usually trial and error with car sickness. A crate is a good idea or an enclosed bed with familiar blankets to make him feel secure. Has he had nice outings in the car? Just wondering if he is associating the car with the vet.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Rosetta

[littlesev]

Have you tried using a booster car seat? It helps mine with car sickness. The only way he rides without an incident is if he gets to look out the window.

[ellz]

The only successes that I have had in treating car sickness were when the dog/puppy was prevented from seeing out of the window. A covered crate or as I used to do with one of my adults, a snood over his eyes. If you forgot the snood, you got a dribbling drool-puppy out of the car at your destination and there is only SO much you can achieve with potato flour! :laugh:

[temperamentfirst]

I found glucose tablets really helped. If you don't want to use ACE tablets, but think it is anxiety related, use Schuesslers Tissue salts - Nerve Tonic Combination 5. THey are available at Health Food shops.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

My dog was chronically car sick until she learned to lie flat on the back seat with her face on the seat and her eyes firmly shut. She's better now, she can sit up for short spells and look out the window and even get excited about where we are going (beach/park/friends places).

So putting a small dog in a box or igloo thing in the front footwell which is lined with newspaper (for quick cleanup is good). Not feeding until after you get where you're going.

I found her not being able to see out worked best for us. And not feeding on the day of travel until evening and sticking to stuff that was easy and quick to digest eg home made casserole or mince and veges, not kibble. Last night's kibble would come back to haunt us on any car trip up till the next evening.

For a while she travelled on the front car seat, but if she sat up, I knew I had seconds to pull over or shove newspaper under her mouth. Not easy on some narrow windy roads. I'd line where she was with lots of newspaper and then just roll that up with the regurgitated kibble inside and put that in the nearest bin.

[poodleruleme]

Thank you for all the suggestions my doggie friends....he does travel in a soft crate, is never anxious or nervous! I have decided against the Ace..it has been returned to the vet. He is not fed on the morning of travel...& short trips have the same outcome! So guess it is fingers crossed that he grows out of it in time.

[aussielover]

How about cerenia? It's an anti nausea tablet specifically for car sickness in dogs

Edited April 25, 2013 by aussielover

[pebbles]

A friends show dog would dribble then throw up every time. Had some ginger nut biscuits so friend gave the dog a couple before leaving to go home and then kept giving her a half one each time she dribbled. Might have just been a fluke but the dog never had a problem after that. Worth a try for a packet of ginger nuts.