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.

Cici gets carsick but it's getting better. We stared with short rides around the block since she would last about 10 min we kept the rides under that mark. Then we built up from there going 10 min for a few days then 15 we now have her up to about 40-50min. We want to do an RV trip so we are working her up :) Good luck!

I feel the pain of the car sickness. Wallee is still not that good in the car either so doesn't get out as often as I would like. I did use gravol a few times and it seems the vomiting has stopped. (We have only been on short car rides). I also took everyone's advice and bought him a snoozer seat. I bought the medium so he had room to lay in it if necessary. Funny thing he loves to sleep in it at home. I find that when I have him in tbe snoozer he seems more stressed. I have tried it in the back seat and the front. The last 2 times I took him to the groomer I just tethered him to the seatbelt in the front seat beside me. He seems to be a bit better if he can lay on the seat and not look out the window and if I can touch him and reassure him.
Its amazing how many of these little ones get sick from the car.

Both of mine have car sickness problems. When I picked Sissy up at the rescue in PA., she was sick all the way to NJ. Bubba has always had a problem and we could not get 10 miles without wet wipes, paper towels and plastic bags. I finally got an elevated snoozer that they both fit in and we take frequent trips to the dog park.

The last couple of years we have traveled back and forth between NJ and SC. I don't know what works but between the car seat and giving them dramamine (1mg/1lb) about an hour before leaving and giving them a small amount of breakfast right before leaving things have been great. On the trip they settle down after about an hour and we then give them kibble treats left from breakfast. We stop about every 2-3 hours for a potty break and a little walk. Some times we get lucky and find a rest stop that has nice grassy areas and once found a dog park enclosure with a Starbucks next to it. We tried to find it again along 95 but last time we couldn't find it This is what has worked for us but from past experiences I still carry my bag with wet wipes and paper towels just in case.

I really believe it is stress because they got all slobbery and shakey before they got sick.

My littlest Rainbow Bridge baby got car sick, but she outgrew it. Our very first day after we picked her up as a 6.5 month old pup, she vomited all over me in the car. I took all three on many car rides, and it became something joyful for them. They usually stopped for a special treat every time we went out. My little Gracie outgrew her carsickness. I believe it was anxiety for Gracie because she never left the house with the breeder except for visits to the vet. My breeder also had me stop every time we went to the vet ( it's an hour round trip) at Carvel before we went home, so that they would associate the vet with happy times.

Thanks, Kathy and Kristin. It's not a very good photo of Katie, but it's the only one of her in the car seat that I have on my iPad. Katie went on lots of trips and rides to the park with her breeder before she came to live with me. She is so well-behaved and is amazing in the car, but fortunately Katie also has that feisty, inquisitive, confident, and loving personality that I adore.

Donna let us know how your friend fares with the tips. I have not had any dog with persistent car sickness.

thanks for all the replies, I am glad to hear that some of your babies have outgrown it and that you figured out ways to make them feel better. I will keep you posted, next week we plan to do a nursing home visit and will ride together so we will see what happens then

I have a maltese and he would get real sick riding in the car what my vet advice me was to give him a half of teaspoon of babies benadryle before going in the car and that worked for me until he got use to the car also i put him in the back he seems to feel more comfortable!!!

we went out on Saturday we first gave the pup a third of a pecid AC tablet, that helped my last pup with a sensitive tummy I sat in the back with her dog in the car seat, window half way down, we did not drive very far, but the put did not throw up. will try again next week, the pup seemed to like looking out the window, thanks for all the advise

well sounds like a bit of progress. Cedric used to get real car sick and we got his car seat and would leave the window cracked a bit. the more we went out in the car the better he did until one day it didnt bother him anymore. :) hope the pup continues to improve and gets to go for longer rides.

Gwenni is a car sick pup, she even gets sick if we carry her around in her carrier for too long. No cute bags for Gwenni :(

We bought a snoozer car seat to keep her elevated. She looks out the window straight ahead when we travel now and it helps alot. We also only travel on empty stomachs if possible. No food for 2 hours before a trip. For long trips my vet prescribed Cerenia.

Huey has to be in an elevated seat and see out the window or he gets sick, too.

Yumi got car sick really bad when she had an ear infection. I get car sick when my allergies are messed up. I'd check her ears out 1st they try benadryl.

Sorry I am just back to you on your question, I started to answer you the other day but just lost the entire thread and couldn’t find it again. To answer your question. The last few winter months, NO, I have not taken him in the car, he only goes in the car for vet visits. He HATES the car. I am like your friend, I like to take my dogs with me when ever I can, not to the vet only. When the weather gets warm I do a great deal of traveling and always took my dogs. Cody has some medical issues now and I do not want to add unnecessary stress if possible. When his health improves I will try some short trips.

What does car sickness feel like, On very RARE occasions I have been a passenger and sat in the back seat, I get car sick, not to the point that I vomit, but I get very nauseas. Seems you can feel more bounce in the back seat, like being on a boat in the ocean with big swells, taking turns, stopping and going, OMG, I am getting motion sickness as I am writing this remembering my experiences lol. Not feeding Cody just eliminates the vomit. I have started to put him in the front seat when he goes to the vet, he still barfed when I got home, my fault, I forgot to pick up his water bowl the morning we were going to the vet, he must have had water before I left the house. I was wondering myself if a car seat raised off the seat it’s self would cause less bounce. When his medical condition has been resolved I will get one. I had seen some on line I would like to try.

At wit ends
 

My little Tyler is a car sick boy too :( He is 11 mos and I have tried everything. Short trips always, no food no water. Tried Dramamine, elevated car seat, wire crate. The last few times I put my 2 labs in their crates and we all went out! No dice. We are all going to Maine next week for a few days...I feel bad that he will feel "green" the whole trip. I will be talking to the vet Monday to try what ever they prescribe...say a prayer for us ;)