Pet car sickness

[Rasmo]

Hello from S.E. Texas.
We are moving to Montana this summer and will be RVing with our Shih Tzu. When we drive anywheres in the car she gets really car sick. We give her a prescription drug that knocks her out, but we only go 1 1/2 hours.
I do not want to keep her drugged the whole trip. Any alternative solutions. Thanks

[historyljc]

Welcome Rasmo. That question is a little off the beaten path. However, with our many canine experts on board someone may - may - be able to help you.

[demoon]

There is a "traveling with pets" thread where you might post this too.

[BonesBarth]

There is a product called a Thunder Shirt used for calming dogs who are afraid of thunder storms. I've heard a few reports that it can also help with car sick dogs.

I can't vouch for it personally so you'll have to do some research.

[sc3283]

alter the pill size....try to use just enough pill to calm and not put the dog completely out.

Your vet should be able to help with dosage

We have a little loudmouth that travels great but us hiper once we arrive anywhere...she gets a half pill every morning....that mellows her all day..then by evening it has worn off and shes fine while we both are inside with her

[sdennislee]

Has she ever traveled by RV before?

Our dogs are much better in the MH than the car. They hate the car, love the RV, could be that the RV has never taken them to the Vet.

Find the are with least amount of movement (typically towards the front of the RV) and let her travel there. Hopefully she will be less susceptible to motion sickness in the RV.

We keep the vents open to keep the air moving and keep the MH cooler, seems to help.

To reduce the stress with traveling, I have the dogs in the RV at home when I am cleaning or working on it. This allows them to adjust to hit before it's trip time. Stress will aggravate motion sickness. They are use to it now so we no longer need to go through introducing them to the new ride.

Here is a good link on the topic.

Dog Car Sickness and Motion Sickness: Causes and Treatment

[puddintang]

Buy a Thundershirt! This thing works and is great for our toy poodle. No drugs but what a wonderful peace she has.

[golden]

If she has something that she is used to, a blanket, towel, toy, whatever, take her and it on short trips of less than five miles in your car (better would be in your RV) and increase the time and distance gradually. After that, make sure she has those things in the RV when you go on longer trips. This has worked for us 100% over the years and we have never had a problem with any of our dogs over that time.

You might also think of giving her a SMALL Benadryl. I would use this only if the above doesn't work.

[Rasmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rasmo Hello from S.E. Texas. We are moving to Montana this summer and will be RVing with our Shih Tzu. When we drive anywheres in the car she gets really car sick. We give her a prescription drug that knocks her out, but we only go 1 1/2 hours. I do not want to keep her drugged the whole trip. Any alternative solutions. Thanks

Thanks every one for some excellent responses. I will sure try the non drug tips.
I will let you all know what works.
Rasmo

[Mageksl]

When our golden's were small they would get car sick on a some what irregular basis. Our vet said to give them a dramamine. We did that one time and it worked a miracle. They've never been sick in the car again. I guess they learned they didn't have to be sick in the car.

[greezykid]

We use a product called rescue remedy,thunder shirt helped a little but rescue remedy does the job.Google it and you'll see the many reccomendations.

[Steve N Sal]

My wife normally give the pups dramamine about 30-45 minutes before we leave. Seems to take care of any issues.

[MaverickBBD]

There are several "organic" remedies, you just have to find the correct one for your pet. We have found with the cats it is best not to feed them the morning of travel days.

[jMorales]

I'd like to leave my positive review of dramamine, I give it to my dog and she feels perfectly fine in my car. Another important thing is that you shouldn't feed your dog before the ride, you need to wait for an hour or two.