Dog gets car sick - any remedies/preventions?

[mireasunta]

We're taking our pair with us to visit family for Easter. It's a few hours in the car, we allow for a break every hour or so to stretch the legs, toilet etc.

One dog loves the car. Happy to be in it all day. Will snooze or look out the window. Not a bother.

The other one hates it, and she has been sick on short journeys before. She pants the entire time and while she doesn't whine or bark, she is clearly not happy.

Is there anything we can buy to help her relax or ease her nausea?

I'd love to make it easier for her. Also I'd love to get her used to car journeys, at the moment we don't take her many places because of this.

Cheers.

(also posted in The Doghouse but got no replies)

Bumping and following with interest

I remember someone mentioning benylin years ago but I wouldn’t risk it. See your vet for anti-sickness/anti-anxiety tablets. With two of mine, it took weeks of short ten minute journeys and really helped that they could eventually see out of the boot. They puked every time for ages. Ginger biscuits may help if she’ll eat. Could you not leave them at home instead with a dog sitter?

Our dog sitters aren't available over Easter, normally we don't take her very far.

She is getting better on shorter hops now, and she'll get into the car without protesting, so she has improved.

It's not going to be a regular trip with her, but when we do want to take her, I'd love for her to be less put out by the journey.

I'll ring the vet later, I wouldn't try giving her something like Benylin, but was hoping for some suggestions I might be able to pick up in pet shop.

Ginger biscuits is a good shout, thanks!

The only thing that worked for my very car sick terrier was lots and lots of short trips. It took a couple of months but he turned into an excellent traveller. Not much help short term I'm afraid, so kitchen roll, wet wipes and not feeding her the morning you travel are all I can suggest.

Thanks! Yeah, she is getting better at small trips, and to be fair we've not tried a longer one in ages, so maybe she'll be happier this time anyway. I'll be bringing the bucket and rubber gloves in any case!

She's a lock down addition to the house, so she missed out on a couple of years of us driving long distances to visit family monthly, and now we're just out of the habit.

Agree lots of practice and fun trips to the park etc helped with getting her into the car willingly.

BUT having her blanket she sleeps with and a soft toy helps settle mine too. She doesn’t really like the car, but she’s no longer sick.

Mine’s the same, I cover the back seat in puppy pads under an old towel, the seats are covered wIth a waterproof dog ‘sling’ attached to the front and back headrests. There’s a waterproof dog mattress where she sits under the puppy pads and towels (old fleece blankets are useful too).
I don’t feed her that morning, she’s tethered to a headrest so she is secure. I take plenty of replacements and bin bags. Keep the car well ventilated and cool. I crack open the back windows.
She has a good walk before we leave and a break every hour or so. I keep up the local trips so at least she’s comfortable with those.
We’ve just come back from weeks holiday, 2-3 hours each way; she was sick on the way down but not on the way back so maybe things are improving. It must be horrible for them, I’m car sick so I empathise.

Oh tough one. Have you tried different places in the car? A friends dog vomits if its in the nice roomy uncovered boot but is fine on the back seat. Another is much happier in one of those pop up carriers than out.

The other one is in the (uncovered) boot space, but we've never tried her in it.
We think it's better to keep them separate - they're like a pair of kids sharing the sofa, sticking their paws and snouts into each other, just to annoy them. It might be worth swapping them over though, see if the boot suits her better. I hadn't thought of that, thanks.

The plan is up early, no breakfast, big walk around the park beside us (no driving needed to get there), into car and away. Stop every hour max for a stretch, sniff, wee, and water. Have her blanket and toys in back beside her, and let plenty of cool air into car. And hope for the best!

I’m a vet, there are medications that can help with this, so phone your own vet to enquire. You might need a consultation if you haven’t been for a while.

Thanks @Wotrewelookinat
I didn't get a chance to call them yesterday but I'll try to give them a buzz this afternoon. She was in for her annual check not long ago, so we'll see what they say.

Just to close this off - the pet store recommended we try these tablets. We gave her a dose with a tiny bit of food on Friday morning - she was fine for the 6 hour journey (with 4 or 5 pee stops). On Sunday we were travelling later in the day, so she'd had more food leading up to the trip, but again she took the tablets and was fine. She was much more relaxed on Sunday's trip too.

So overall a success, will definitely take her more places now to get her used to being in the car more often.

Thanks for all the tips