MacGreggor Gets Car Sick

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maddiesmom

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MacGreggor is now 11 weeks old and still gets car sick everytime we take him in the car. Even the shortest trip makes him throw up and drool so much it looks like he has rabies. We went about 25 miles today and he threw up 3 times! Will he outgrow this? Is there anything we can give him? We will be moving to Oklahoma and I can't think what the trip will be like with him getting sick evey few minutes.

Sherri and Clay
Miss Maddie, Miss Saddie
MacGreggor
Our Forever Girl Miss Ellie
 
I feel your pain. Our Forrest gets so car sick, he was sick 7 times in what is normally a 5 hr car trip. We were all miserable :ick. We tried desensitizing him by going on short rides to fun places, he got a bit better. But he still barfs even on 10-15 minute rides.

Now when we go on vacation, he gets a Dramamine & no food the night before. But I suspect he has a hollow leg, he can barf when I'm sure there is no way he has any food in his belly!

Meanwhile, Roxie can't wait to go for a ride. The world is her oyster & the car is her ticket to tour it. Strangers are just friends she hasn't met yet :biggrin2:
 
I was amazed how much a little puppy could barf! Our girls love riding in the car, in fact Maddie has logged over a million miles traveling back and forth across our beautiful country; we were long haul truck drivers when we got her.

Sherri and Clay
Miss Maddie, Miss Saddie
MacGreggor
Our Forever Girl Miss Ellie
 
Lexi got car sick when she was little. Even on a 1 mile trip to the store, she'd throw up going and coming back. I put her in her crate in the car with a towel. Everytime we got where we were going, I'd roll up the soiled towel and put in another for the way home. I also carried a roll of paper towels (a practice I still follow). At about 18 months, she finally stopped throwing up on car rides. Never got sick in the car again!!

When I got Pyper, she never got car sick as a puppy. As she got older, she started getting sick occationally. She was never as bad as Lexi and the problem seems to be tappering off.

Good luck! At 11 weeks you may have a ways to go, but there's definitely hope!!
 
My Angel Pavi got horribly car sick as a puppy. Strings of thick drool would hang from his mouth to the floor, and then came the barf :ick As we have a cabin 200 miles from home, something had to be done. We went to the vet, who told us how to break human Dramamine tablets into a size appropriate for his weight, and after that, no carsickness. I understand there is a made for dogs prescription version now that you can get at your vet. I would go for it. After three years, Pavi no longer required the medication to avoid carsickness, so it isn't necessarily a permanent situation.

Poor MacGregor!
 
Bailey used to get car sick because she was nervous in the car.

Things that helped my dog:
1) No food at least an hour before the trip
2) 15 minutes before a trip, I gave her a ginger snap cookie.
3) Take her in the car and feed her treats without going anywhere.
4) Go for a short trip and have a passenger occasionally give her treats.

Thankfully, she grew out of vomiting in the car.
 
maddiesmom said:
MacGreggor is now 11 weeks old and still gets car sick everytime we take him in the car. Even the shortest trip makes him throw up and drool so much it looks like he has rabies. We went about 25 miles today and he threw up 3 times! Will he outgrow this? Is there anything we can give him? We will be moving to Oklahoma and I can't think what the trip will be like with him getting sick evey few minutes.

Sherri and Clay
Miss Maddie, Miss Saddie
MacGreggor
Our Forever Girl Miss Ellie
Click to expand...

I feel your pain!
Our Jasper was the same way,and now going on 3 (nov) we are down to only drool.
What we did,and what everyone suggested partly worked. We did everything from ginger snaps,calming drops,blankets,filled kongs....

We could not even get out of the driveway,and he was heaving. Not a pretty sight,and it was always preluded to some pretty nasty gas...don't know from what end,but it was nasty.

So we did steps:
1-sit in vehicle
2-sit in vehicle with radio on
3-sit in vehicle and barely move,still radio on...
4-do all the above,but move farther with vehicle.

5-(at this point you want to be prepared,cause if he is gonna heave its usually between this step & previous)
6-Clean up mess...continue to try to get on road.
7-If mess is to much go back in house clean up pup,and do again next day...Well you get my humor,but really it is a slow slow process. Of which none of this worked...SORRY!

So Toffee's mom suggested this magical little pill! Cerenia. So one visit to the vet,and yes I was covered in puke from Jasper,and he looked totally miserable,our vet popped one in Jasper's mouth for the ride home. Voila'...MAGIC!!

I still have the original prescription,with 3 pills left. He no longer gets a Cerenia for rides,I do however keep a towel handy becuase he drools just slightly now.

As they age,they learn to control the saliva. You notice that when you are sick,there is an abundance of saliva..well dogs will do the same.

We do use soft crates or travel,and they rest comfortably. Jasper does so much better in a crate.

I would not even think to use his seat belt & harness,cause if he sees anything whizzing by the window,the drool comes.

He is not totally cured.He can now make it to town,have a great time. He will often loose it when we drive in the carport.. I do not medicate him any longer.
 
Yes
Like Magic... Cerennia, did cure Mr T... basically he has had one pill, if I was going on a LONG road trip for example... didn't make him sick or drowsy. Just didn't barf!!
With Toffee it was true motion sickness... not nervous etc He loves to go in the car because it means fun stuff... although he hated it if I left the car so that part took some more training.
But he used to not be able to make it two blocks when he was younger and he would vomit a lot... and then be fine for a little while til he had to go again...
I have not given him Cerennia for going on two years now, because after those initial roadtrips it's like he has learned how to not be sick or something?
So yeah I still have two of my original prescription left over, too. I am so glad he got over being carsick now as I love driving around and go on little trips on the weekend to go hiking or to agility trials, etc...
 
Thank you everyone for your responses and suggestions. We will give them a try and let you know how he does.

Sherri and Clay
Miss Maddie, Miss Saddie
MacGreggor
Our Forever Girl Miss Ellie
 
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