Car sickness advice please
 

my friend Pat has a 7 month old maltese and the poor little pup, Liberty gets car sick just about every time she goes for a ride. She brings her over here to play and within two blocks of her home she has already thrown up. She threw up twice on the ride over today and I only live 15 min away.

Pat puts Liberty in a small carry bag that she loves to be in and puts it on her front or back seat. To me the bag is now to small for her so I was wondering if that had anything to do with it, but she has been doing this since they got her months ago. I leant her a car seat, I suggested she put in the back, crack the window open just a tad and have her husband drive them around while Pat sat next to Liberty to see how she was doing.

I was also wondering since she gets sick so fast could it be more from fear than motion sickness, but she does not act scared like shaking and panting, she just barfs:(

Have any of you had a dog that you were able to cure from getting car sick, I have been lucky with all mine, none of them had that problem so I don't really know what to suggest to her. Pat does not use a computer much and is new to the doggie world so I though I would try to help her. Thanks

Has she tried Dramamine? I don't know the dose.

I don't know if it works yet but I just ordered a thunder cap for teddy. They usually use ace pro to medicate or cerenia.

I would think a car seat that elevates her so that she can look out the window would help. I get terribly car sick, and I think it might make a difference. Katie has a Snoozer Luxury lookout that elevates her so that she can look out the window.

She should check with her vet though...

my dog suffers from car sickness. What I do when he has to go in the car, I DO NOT FEED HIM, NO FOOD, NO WATER, but we do early morning trips. My vet gave me Meclizine pills to be given on an empty stomach 30 min. before going in the car, she said he may vomit the first few times but would eventually stop. I have not used these pills yet, as all our trips are early morning ones and we are out appox. 3 hours, so it's not like he goes without food or water all day. I feed my dog 2 times a day, 1/2 his food in the morning and the other 1/2 at night... if she feeds her dog twice a day and these play trips are morning ones she can with hold the food & water, feed him & give water when she arrives. Or she can see her vet and get car sickness pills. Hope this helps

Scary... she looks human sitting there!

Katie is darling riding in her car seat!

I would start with a car seat to see if a view helps. Having a view helped Max stop crying. I blogged about a few other things to try before resorting to prescriptions like cerenia:

Dog Travel and Car Anxiety - Dog Life and Style

thanks for your feedback

Pat is trying to go the no feeding route before car rides, but she would like to take her with her off and on during the day, so no food or constant meds is not always practical for that. Personally I wonder how the empty stomach approach really feels to the pup, I know for me an empty stomach makes me feel nautious, so while Liberty might not have anything to throw up will no food make her feel better during a car ride? I also suggested Dramamine since I have used it in the past for airplane trips, however while I think meds are a good idea for long car rides, Pat is more concerned about the 15-30 min rides she would like to take Liberty on.

I guess I wonder what is car sickness really????? is it nervousness, is it something you can outgrow, is there a different way to ride in the car that will help overcome it, will a thunder shirt help. I really feel bad because Pat is retired and goes out and about to places that she can bring Liberty but because of how she feels in the car Liberty is now hiding when she thinks she is going to be put in the car. This car sickness problem is so sad, because while Pat wants to bring her with her, she does not want to have her feel sick so everybody looses:(:(

I am sorry you are going through this as well, you say "when he has to go in the car", does that mean now that you only take him when absolutely necessary?

The only thing that works for Joel is Cerenia. I love how it works but it's pretty pricey, 18$ for 4 pills and he takes 2 pills a trip!:eek:

surprised to hear Joel get's car sick, he seems like nothing would get to him. Do you leave him home more often because of the car sickness.

If she is that terrorized by the car maybe she should start small. Bring Liberty to the car. Give her a treat and then go back inside. Hour or two later do it again. Do it for a few days. Then bring her to the car and put her in the car. Give her a treat. Then get out of the car go back inside. And slowly work her way to feel comfortable about getting into the car.

I've found this works really well, also, open a window slightly where it can smell the area helps as well. I think it keeps their minds off of the motion.

Yes he stays home more:( But the other day we decided to drive him down to the gas station without any medicine, I was expecting him to get sick but he didn\'t.