# Car Sickness?!



## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi everybody  So I have a questio for puppy and adult owners alike...

Wick gets car sick if we drive longer than 10-20 minutes...every time... he pukes, then once once on solid ground he is fine again! Did anyones puppies go through this? Does anyones adult dogs do this? I am just curious if this could be a phase or if I should look into giving him something before long rides. We will be driving across country soon (within the next month), so we are just hoping to make a decision before then on how to handle it. ANY hints/tips/ideas/experience would be helpful...we prefer to do things naturally, but obviously Wicks happiness comes first so if need be we will do whatever it takes to make him comfortable, so any ideas are welcome. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and help!

Oh yeah and he is 4 months old and doesn't puke otherwise, he does (did?) have giardia so it is possible this stomache bug could be influencing it some.. but that was not one of his symptoms and it only happens when we drive.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I used Cerena for Seger. He grew out of the motion sickness but that Cerena was a life saver.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Jax08 said:


> I used Cerena for Seger. He grew out of the motion sickness but that Cerena was a life saver.


Oh that is so good to hear that he grew out of it!! I am so happy for you  Thank you so much for the reply, did you have to special order it or anything?


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

I was going to write about Cerenia, too. Jax08 beat me to it! We don't have issues with car sickness, but we've used Cerenia with Roxy in conjuction with her cancer meds in the past and it definitely stopped the nausea she was experiencing. Ask your vet about it... I believe you need a prescription for it. Good luck!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

You need the vet to prescribe it. 

And put a solid crate in the back. Don't let him see out the front or sides.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

GypsyGhost said:


> I was going to write about Cerenia, too. Jax08 beat me to it! We don't have issues with car sickness, but we've used Cerenia with Roxy in conjuction with her cancer meds in the past and it definitely stopped the nausea she was experiencing. Ask your vet about it... I believe you need a prescription for it. Good luck!


Aw poor Roxy! I am so glad it helped her, she has it rough! Between the storms, Bash, and cancer she is quite the trooper!


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Jax08 said:


> You need the vet to prescribe it.
> 
> And put a solid crate in the back. Don't let him see out the front or sides.


Thanks so much, looked it up! We will talk to the vet when we go next week  Really appreciate it!!


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## J-Boo (Mar 5, 2015)

THANK YOU for this thread! I am in the exact same boat with Maya, and didn't realize there was an option such as this Cerenia. She pukes multiple times almost every single car ride, even if it's only 10 minutes long.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

J-Boo said:


> THANK YOU for this thread! I am in the exact same boat with Maya, and didn't realize there was an option such as this Cerenia. She pukes multiple times almost every single car ride, even if it's only 10 minutes long.


Aw poor girl! I am glad we are not alone in this :/ Hopefully they both grow out of it!


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## Apoolutz (Jan 19, 2013)

Gunner gets car sick too, we were hoping he would grow out of it but it hasn't happened yet he's ok on short rides but when we go more than 30 minutes he has to take Dramamine, it works great and you get it over the counter.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Apollo had car sickness up until about 5 months. He puked and drooled every time. I asked the vet about that Cerenia, but he told me to try dramamine first. I used that one time and then one day he just didn't puke. I didn't want to jinx i, so I kept taking him for car rides. Now he sits staring out the window enjoying the view without any issues.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

haha maybe we will just get the medicine drive him around everyday until then (without using it starting at no puke time limit and work up!) then if he does still puke at all we will use it for the trip... Or a couple days before to check for bad reactions. Was there a specific reason they said to try Dramamine first?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

wick said:


> haha maybe we will just get the medicine drive him around everyday until then (without using it starting at no puke time limit and work up!) then if he does still puke at all we will use it for the trip... Or a couple days before to check for bad reactions. Was there a specific reason they said to try Dramamine first?


Not sure, I think it was the drooling part.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

The youngster here decided to make up for the fact that no other dog I have had ever had car sickness! She did a good job of it. Now at 18 months she can still drool a bit on our 3 hour drive. Interestingly, she would get sick on the way out but the 3 hours coming back she was fine. Always.


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

middleofnowhere said:


> The youngster here decided to make up for the fact that no other dog I have had ever had car sickness! She did a good job of it. Now at 18 months she can still drool a bit on our 3 hour drive. Interestingly, she would get sick on the way out but the 3 hours coming back she was fine. Always.


Poor girl! Did you ever do anything for it? These pups are troopers! I am glad I posted this, I didn't realize it was sorta common!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Seger always did fine on the ride home. He was exhausted from training, and I'm sure being sick on the way tired him out, so he slept the whole way home.

BTW...Cerenia lasts all day.


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## tcass (Sep 26, 2014)

J-Boo said:


> THANK YOU for this thread! I am in the exact same boat with Maya, and didn't realize there was an option such as this Cerenia. She pukes multiple times almost every single car ride, even if it's only 10 minutes long.


yup, there too....cant hardly make it to the end of the driveway before my 10 mo old vomits. 7 mile trip to the vet and back and he vomited 6 times. hope he grows out of it.


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Wow; once again-- I'm SO glad my dogs don't have these problems.


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## Studleys mum (May 30, 2015)

Hey guys, we have the same problem with studley he is now 12 months old and has been this was since a baby we have worked tirelessly to help him, even getting a trainer to come to our house and many afternoons driving up and down the driveway while giving treats and praise, I have pretty much tried everything but still within 10 mins of being in the car on the move his is vominting and doesn't stop until we are out of the car, it's sad because he is such a social dog and loves the beach but it's 50 mins away and even our closest dog park is a 15 min drive, he has daily walks though but would love for him to come everywhere with us, the vet has said there is a tablet available but it's $90 a tablet and only lasts 12 hours, does anyone have any other suggestions or things they have found that work? Thanks


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

Studleys mum said:


> Hey guys, we have the same problem with studley he is now 12 months old and has been this was since a baby we have worked tirelessly to help him, even getting a trainer to come to our house and many afternoons driving up and down the driveway while giving treats and praise, I have pretty much tried everything but still within 10 mins of being in the car on the move his is vominting and doesn't stop until we are out of the car, it's sad because he is such a social dog and loves the beach but it's 50 mins away and even our closest dog park is a 15 min drive, he has daily walks though but would love for him to come everywhere with us, the vet has said there is a tablet available but it's $90 a tablet and only lasts 12 hours, does anyone have any other suggestions or things they have found that work? Thanks


Hi







Wow that's really strange, we got the cerenia at the vet and I don't think it was $90 also our vet told us to try Dramamine before using the cerenia. Have you tried this yet? I'm sorry you are going through this. Also does it happen when the pup lays down the whole drive? Is the pup in a crate? Do you feed him before or during the drives? Does he seem completely fine once on solid ground?


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Jax08 said:


> You need the vet to prescribe it.
> 
> And put a solid crate in the back. Don't let him see out the front or sides.


Best piece of advice in the thread. Motion sickness is caused by a descrepency in information between what the eyes are seeing and percieved motion from the inner ear. If the dog can't see outside the car the dog probably won't get motion sickness. 

The problem is a dog can classically condition to motion sickness if it happens in the car too many times and then you need meds sometimes to break that cycle.

Duke had a study with people one time with a VR driving simulator and nobody could spend more than 15 minutes in it without puking. The fun thing was even if you lasted 15 minutes and they pulled you out gave you a break then out you back in youd immediately get nausea again.


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## Kane's World (Mar 24, 2015)

I can relate. Kane would be sick after 5 minutes, drooling and whining the whole time. We took a 4 hour trip to visit a sick family member, vet recommended Gravol (Dramamine). Gave him a 50 MG adult tablet, orange flavor (he gobbled it like it was a treat, lol). He was 35 pounds at the time. 

We had him in a hard crate that faced forward...best we could do with luggage, etc. On the way, he drooled so much we thought he urinated; soaked! The vet said not to feed him for 12 hours before the ride, but all that accomplished was watery vomit that was hard to clean up. For the first 30 minutes he whined, but did calm down even though he was clearly not happy.

The Gravol did not make him sleepy & he was fine on our frequent rest stops.

For the 4 hour trip home, again gave him Gravol but this time he feasted on self-serve kibble that was left out by a relative.He was absolutely perfect the whole trip; no stress or sickness & has been great in the car ever since....I think a lot was mental & he broke through that barrier. The short 'training drives' were not helping, it took a long one for him to finally figure out he was safe.

Best advice I heard was to just relax and not worry about it. Bring LOTS of clean-up stuff and clean clothes for you too. Expect he won't be happy but will be okay & will be a much better life for all if you can break through.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

The June issue of The Whole Dog Journal has a good article on car sickness


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

My blind dog suffered from severe motion sickness when we first got him (as an adult). He drooled excessively and nearly always vomited. We took lots and lots of short trips, and over about a six month period it got better and better. We also tried to make many of the short trips to somewhere with fun at the end so that there was a "payoff." He started to think of car rides as "going somewhere good." He rides great now--he seems to actually enjoy it and is happy to load up. He even does long road trips now. 

Keep working on it slowly (even just a trip around the block)--it will get better.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Magwart said:


> My blind dog suffered from severe motion sickness when we first got him (as an adult). He drooled excessively and nearly always vomited. We took lots and lots of short trips, and over about a six month period it got better and better. We also tried to make many of the short trips to somewhere with fun at the end so that there was a "payoff." He started to think of car rides as "going somewhere good." He rides great now--he seems to actually enjoy it and is happy to load up. He even does long road trips now.
> 
> Keep working on it slowly (even just a trip around the block)--it will get better.


Well I guess this rules out this...Motion sickness is caused by a descrepency in information between what the eyes are seeing and percieved motion from the inner ear. If the dog can't see outside the car the dog probably won't get motion sickness......


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

We use to drive 35 minutes to obedience class every week, and rare was the time when he didn't spew even if he hadn't eaten in the 6 hours prior to us leaving. This went on until he was about 6 1/2 months old, the last Time he puked we were LITERALLY turning into our parking spot...so frustrating. Since that time we have not had a single incident. Rolling down the windows helped Lobo tremendously because it distracted him from his stomach and I think the fresh air settled him.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

llombardo said:


> Well I guess this rules out this...Motion sickness is caused by a descrepency in information between what the eyes are seeing and percieved motion from the inner ear. If the dog can't see outside the car the dog probably won't get motion sickness......


I think it depends on the dog. Legend got carsick as a wee puppy but when I started covering his crate with a large towel, it stopped and then he eventually grew out of it. Making it so he couldn't see definitely helped. I think there was also some anxiety. Not fear, but just being over-excited. Even when he was still getting carsick for every ride, he always *wanted* to get in the van and go and had a great time at training or wherever we were going. He never showed any hesitation loading into his crate and he's always been very settled in the van (he actually has better crate behavior in the van than in the house!). Nikon (Legend's father) has never once in his life been carsick, but I believe Legend's dam has so it probably came from that side. Thankfully after I started covering his crate, it stopped and he hasn't been carsick since he was 6 or 7 months. He usually comes with me to work so between that at training classes, he rides in the van 5-6 times a week.


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