Dog motion sickness

CA POPPY wrote:
Our Darcy (min-pin) Does not get motion sickness, but is greatly upset by roads that are "noisy" or bumpy. Ridged pavement that rumbles or concrete streets that cause a singing effect get her almost apoplectic. She is not a nervous dog, otherwise. Her harness is tethered back on a sofa bed, I don't want her up in the cab with us as it might not be as safe. She really does not enjoy riding in our class B like our previous dogs did. Any suggestions?

If she's fearful, careful driving (avoid those rumble strips as much as possible) and probably something to calm her for a long trip, would help? I found some tabs called "Comforting" or something like that, that really help Ben get through the 4th of July - the trick is to give it a couple of hours before the anticipated "stress" happens? Jimmy would get bug-eyed over rumble strips - once so badly I simply had to pull over and walk him until he settled. But a few days later I made a game of it - I would imitate the sound (as best I could) and then laugh. A few days later I'd just barely clip a rumble strip for a second - and laugh. (No - I was NOT doing this on a busy road!) By making rumbles "funny" - it seems to have de-escalated his reaction to them to a momentary look of dislike crossing his face - no more bugged eyes and hyper-panting.

I have had 2 dogs that wanted to "bite" oncoming cars as they passed. One was my daughter's Bernie-doodle - she had warned me that he was an idiot in the car when she asked me to pick him up from the groomers one day. All I did was slip a choke collar/leash over his head, gave him a yank when he tried to bite a car, told him "down" and enforced it. Problem solved - at least for ME. The other was my old Aussie Nick, who somehow got buzzed up by the whoosh of passing cars. Keeping the window on the left side closed; and putting him in a down-stay kept our trips enjoyable.

And regarding motion sickness - Jimmy was my first puppy to have that. I took lots of short trips (and never after he had recently eaten); didn't make a big deal if he DID vomit..... and he simply grew out of it by 6 months. Thank goodness. It DID somehow, transfer a fear of the floorboards to him - I'm assuming because he got set on the floor to barf on the rubber mat, he has associated that spot with being sick to his stomach?? :-) Now, as a wise old dog, he will absolutely NOT touch the floorboard with his paws.....LOL!

sue.t wrote:
When we first adopted Kodi, he stressed so much when in a vehicle that he would throw up. I tried various things to help with what I thought was car sickness, but it turned out to be just stress. After a few months of travel, he had no further issues. Now he is so relaxed, he sleeps when we travel.

It is really difficult to distinguish between fear and motion sickness. I don't think she fears the vehicle itselt, since she had been in and out for a week. Maybe it's different to her when we move to the front seats and all of the slides are in. I don't even know if the cause is relevant. We have to, somehow, get her relaxed when we start moving. We plan to start taking her on short car trips and hope the conditioning will carry over to the motorhome.

When we first adopted Kodi, he stressed so much when in a vehicle that he would throw up. I tried various things to help with what I thought was car sickness, but it turned out to be just stress. After a few months of travel, he had no further issues. Now he is so relaxed, he sleeps when we travel.

I have tried the individual Bach Remedy Scleranthus and had it work for motion sickness in the car. I was looking on line for a link and saw that you can use Rescue Remedy also. I went and found the book I have that has a dog section in it. I just wanted to double check that it was Scleranthus for sure.

I have two books that are invaluable regarding the Bach Remedies.
Practical Uses and Applications of the Bach Flower Emotional Remedies by Jessica Bear.
Bach Flower Remedies for Animals by Helen Graham and Gregory Vlamis

Travel Calm, Quiet Moments, or any other "natural" product works best if given at least 30-60 minutes before the event happens (starting a trip, fireworks, etc). Waiting until you are loading the dog in the car seems to be too late.

Our next planned trip in the RV is about 240 miles and, as I stated originally, my wife purchasrd "Travel Calm".

Once we commit to this remedy and hit the road I would not want to add any other drug into her system. If this doesn't work, we will have to look for the next option on the return trip.

For trip we made yesterday of about 135 miles we gave her half of a Pepcid. It was a mizerable trip for her. We made two 15 minute stops during the 2-1/2 hour trip, but nothing helped her.

Penny would get sick about a mile into the ride. She can now go about 5 miles no problem, but when we go for longer rides, she gets a Cerenia pill. Agnes

There are several medications that are excellent for motion sickness. Depending on severity the OTC calming agents mentioned and dramamine can work for many. Some of the more severe cases may need a stronger prescription medication, Cerenia, Zofran or metoclopramide.

If anxiety is the major issue, there are also prescription meds specifically for that, benzodiazepines (valium, ativan, alprazolam), clomipramine, prozac. As a last resort acepromazine (I've found most meds work better with less sedation).

The training or desensitization mentioned will help also.

Doug, DVM

mikestock wrote:
Wejust adopted two young adult female Havanese. One gets severe motion sickness. Only took three blocks on the first trip in the motorhome. Return trip today was a nightmare. Tried everything we could think of, even up to letting her ride on the dash. My wife bought some Travel Calm, to try next outing.

Looking for any help or suggestions.

We have a jack russel that almost hyperventilates when going anywhere in a car, let alone taking in RV. Tried everything from putting his pen in bathroom and covering pen, to wife holding him on lap. Just won't settle down. Makes so much noise I even had tried muzzling him. Only humane thing now is put pen back in bathroom, give him a zquil a hour b4 we leave and keep a radio on high. Sounds terrible but only way to head down road!! We cannot leave him cause he has issues! We purchased Rv so we can take and go. We knew it was going to be a challenge.

Our Sam was a 2 year old Shi-poo when we got him a year ago in January. He got sick in the truck on the way home from his hell hole!, We tried to get him accustomed to the riding.
We tried the Travel capsules but they did make him more relaxed but did not stop the motion sickness! I asked the vet and he gave me 2 Dramamine pills and told us to give him half and see how he handles it and if he gets sick, give him the other half.
Well we gave him the half and took him about 35 miles to the dog groomer. Made it all the way to the groomer, until we pulled into the parking lot and he lost it!
We gave him the other half for the trip home, he got sick again.
We were patient, I read about just taking short rides, like around the block. We did this and before we started out,we just put him in the vehicle and sat with him and talked calmly with him. We would stretch those rides out and within 2 weeks he was riding, no pills and kept the rides as short as possible and in fact he rides on the console next to me in the truck see he can see where he is going. He still had an occasion or two that he got sick but we were making headway! He wont sit in the back seat unless we have a grandkid or 2 with us. Now he enjoys the rides and when we are going through towns at lower speeds, he will get in the passenger seat and want to stick his head out the window!
One thing I read that I think really got the job done for him was keep your dog facing the front!
One of his last events was when I took him on a random 5 mile trial and we did good until I did the big U-turn to return home and he got sick just as I turned. There is too much motion all at once when he would sit on my wife's lap facing the side window.
All total, about 5 weeks or less and he rides 2 and 300 mile trips and never gets sick and like I said, he enjoys the view from the console!
I would advise to be patient and don't scold him! I bet he wants to ride. As we drove while working with Sam, we made sure he did not turn to look out the side windows. I think that confidence builder for him! Good luck! Just an aside, the vet didn't want me car train him on Dramamine and suggested using it only 50% of the time if he was to get to a point where he could go a little!
The grand kids get a kick out of seeing him on that console, when I turn a corner or go around a sharp curve I say "lean into it Sammy", and darned if he doesn't lean the way he is supposed to so he doesn't slide off his perch!