Carsickness in dogs

warpedpink

warpedpink

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My 4 months old puppy gets car sick when there's alot of action. ie: stopping and going during traffic, curves, etc... Per my vet's advice, I gave her a quarter of dramamine but it didn't work. I drove up to the lake yesterday and bleh!...... All over the seat. I increased the dosage to half a pill today and the results were the same. I can't give her any more because she's only 12 lbs.

I need a quick fix because I'm driving home in a couple days and it will be hell for her. It was awful on the drive up here. She was ralphing every 10 minutes. I felt horrible. :( And it was completely unexpected. She never got carsick before. No time to go to a vet and get a prescription. And even if I had time, no vet will give me medicine without first examining her and I don't want to put her through another 40 minutes of hell.


To pull at your heartstrings and coax answers/advice out of you, here is a series of pictures of my Abby falling asleep.
abby.jpg


:) Thanks in advance!
 
That's adorable. Try to not feed her or give her too much water before the trip. She can eat and drink when she gets there and it won't hurt her.

You can also give one Benedryl tab and that has anti emetic as well as calming effects.

That said, we once had a German Shepherd/Border Collie that managed to throw up in the car every time no matter what we did. It was unbelievable. Some dogs are just that way.

You could crate her and then you only have to bathe the dog and clean the crate instead of ruining your car interior.
 
And then after you've done what Botti suggests, maybe change your driving habits? Yanno, drive like a Grandma!? :lol:
 
Tousi said:
And then after you've done what Botti suggests, maybe change your driving habits? Yanno, drive like a Grandma!? :lol:
Click to expand...

lol I had to today.. Methinks I'm a pretty good driver but no matter how slowly and carefully I drive, she empties the contents of her stomach and then some.
 
Bottesini said:
That's adorable. Try to not feed her or give her too much water before the trip. She can eat and drink when she gets there and it won't hurt her.

You can also give one Benedryl tab and that has anti emetic as well as calming effects.

That said, we once had a German Shepherd/Border Collie that managed to throw up in the car every time no matter what we did. It was unbelievable. Some dogs are just that way.

You could crate her and then you only have to bathe the dog and clean the crate instead of ruining your car interior.
Click to expand...

Benedryl? Really? Vet approved? And how many mg per lb?
 
Bottesini said:
That's adorable. Try to not feed her or give her too much water before the trip. She can eat and drink when she gets there and it won't hurt her.

You can also give one Benedryl tab and that has anti emetic as well as calming effects.

That said, we once had a German Shepherd/Border Collie that managed to throw up in the car every time no matter what we did. It was unbelievable. Some dogs are just that way.

You could crate her and then you only have to bathe the dog and clean the crate instead of ruining your car interior.
Click to expand...

My dog, Sky is like that too. She is a German Shepherd/Lab cross. She drools enough to fill a bucket every time she rides with us and yes, she threw up every single time in the first few years. Now, she doesn't throw up so much but she still drools and whine.
 
warpedpink said:
Benedryl? Really? Vet approved? And how many mg per lb?
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Our 20 lb miniature Poodle was given one 25 mg tab. And yes on vets advice.

You might want to ask your vet how much would be safe for the puppy.
 
My deceased Dachound hyphilated (slobbered and drooled) everytime we took a car ride....the Vet gave me a tranqualizer when we took a car trip of about 700 miles....it didn't help!....And when we arrived at our destination, she promptly threw up!..."Slobber" was all over our car and Her "panting" drove me insane!...

So we borded her everytime we took a vacation after that one instance....It was "unforgetable"!
 
I had a german shepherd once that got carsick like that. My mom said it sounded like a cement mixer in the back seat when she got going. lol She would throw up about every 10 minutes in the car.

Medicine didn't work for her either. The only thing that worked was no food or water, only ice cubes, for 12 to 24 hours before the car ride. She still heaved, but it was only dry heaving or just very little drool/bile, which was easier for us as far as cleanup and less traumatic for her because that way she didn't accidentally sit or stand in her own vomit - we also noticed the heaving was less violent and didn't last as long.

If you decide to go this route, be sure you keep a close eye on her for signs of dehydration if the car trip is very long. Buy some pedialyte, NOT gatorade, at the store before you start out. Give her about a teaspoon of pedialyte before you start driving. Make frequent stops to give her either 2 or 3 ice cubes or a teaspoon of pedialyte, at least every hour, to prevent dehydration and low blood sugar. If she starts to get lethargic pull over immediately and give her the pedialyte, a teaspoon at a time with 10 minutes between teaspoons until she perks up. She may throw up the pedialyte and if she does it will be very sticky, but it's better than solids and it will keep her from crashing.
 
Also, I noticed a lot of the carsick dogs that have been mentioned in this thread were german shepherds, or german shepherd mixes... Hmmmm lol
 
My dachshund used to be carsick. I don't think she got carsick since I put her in the back, letting her run from window to window. My ex-husband gets carsick and he told me that he had to sit up front looking out so he doesn't get sick. Maybe that is why my dog didn't get sick when she looked out of the window.
 
Lily7 said:
Also, I noticed a lot of the carsick dogs that have been mentioned in this thread were german shepherds, or german shepherd mixes... Hmmmm lol
Click to expand...

I noticed that also. The only dog I owned that has gotten car sick, was a Gerrman Shepherd. She only got car sick for about 6 months then she gotten used to riding.
 
rockin'robin said:
My deceased Dachound hyphilated (slobbered and drooled) everytime we took a car ride....the Vet gave me a tranqualizer when we took a car trip of about 700 miles....it didn't help!....And when we arrived at our destination, she promptly threw up!..."Slobber" was all over our car and Her "panting" drove me insane!...

So we borded her everytime we took a vacation after that one instance....It was "unforgetable"!
Click to expand...

Thank "you" lol ":)"
 
Lily7 said:
I had a german shepherd once that got carsick like that. My mom said it sounded like a cement mixer in the back seat when she got going. lol She would throw up about every 10 minutes in the car.

Medicine didn't work for her either. The only thing that worked was no food or water, only ice cubes, for 12 to 24 hours before the car ride. She still heaved, but it was only dry heaving or just very little drool/bile, which was easier for us as far as cleanup and less traumatic for her because that way she didn't accidentally sit or stand in her own vomit - we also noticed the heaving was less violent and didn't last as long.

If you decide to go this route, be sure you keep a close eye on her for signs of dehydration if the car trip is very long. Buy some pedialyte, NOT gatorade, at the store before you start out. Give her about a teaspoon of pedialyte before you start driving. Make frequent stops to give her either 2 or 3 ice cubes or a teaspoon of pedialyte, at least every hour, to prevent dehydration and low blood sugar. If she starts to get lethargic pull over immediately and give her the pedialyte, a teaspoon at a time with 10 minutes between teaspoons until she perks up. She may throw up the pedialyte and if she does it will be very sticky, but it's better than solids and it will keep her from crashing.
Click to expand...

None of the websites I looked at suggested Pedialyte. Thanks :) I'll check that out.
 
My Chihuahua gets carsick too and I will look into these meds/pedialyte when I take Javier to the vet for his shots.
 
Bottesini said:
Our 20 lb miniature Poodle was given one 25 mg tab. And yes on vets advice.

You might want to ask your vet how much would be safe for the puppy.
Click to expand...

Marty is part miniature Poodle and weight 18 lbs. The vet said he should weight about 15 1bs.
 
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