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What age are dogs more likely to suffer from travel sickness?

75% of dogs usually first suffer from motion sickness when they are puppies

(source: Pfizer Market Research June 06 and Feb 08)

My dog gets really nervous when I pick up my car keys, who can I comfort him?

There are both short and long term solutions that can be considered. The first is to be aware of motion sickness at an early stage. Help puppies associate the car with pleasant experiences, keeping in mind that their first journeys tend to be to the vets for vaccinations! With older dogs too, these pleasant associations matter. Try just sitting in the car with your dog with the door open. Offer treats and praise and don’t move the car at this stage. You can even move up to feeding your dog in the car to create some positive associations. Then repeat all of that with the engine running. Keep sessions short initially and gradually increase the time in the car.  At any time you may have to go back a few steps if your dog starts to show fearful responses. Eventually you can progress to moving the car a few yards, perhaps to the end of the drive. Ultimately you will want to work your way up to a longer journey, arriving somewhere  that your pet likes, such as a park where he can be walked.

What medical options are available for my dog who suffers from motions sickness?

In the past a traditional way of treating motion sickness was for the vet to dispense a sedative, which may have appeared to be a good ‘quick fix’. It is now believed that using sedatives in this way can be anything but beneficial. This is because a sedative largely incapacitates the dog, removing its ability to do anything to cope with the situation through normal ‘fight or flight’ responses. As sedatives don’t block memories of what has happened this can make the situation even worse for the dog the next time, exacerbating stress and so making the motion sickness even more severe. On a practical level this is not ideal either as your dog cannot go for a walk, or do anything other than ‘sleep it off’ when you get to your destination. So much for fun in the sun!

Tranquilisers, such as diazepam (commonly called Valium) can calm or relieve anxiety and can be useful in that they tend to block memories of a bad situation. Like sedatives, tranquilisers don’t treat the underlying problem, which is motion sickness; they just address the stress that contributes to the condition. A tranquiliser can sometimes cause some degree of sedation or sleepiness too and although it is very useful in certain situations, some dog owners will baulk at giving their pet a tranquiliser.

In the last year or so a new medication has become available that treats motion sickness directly. It is only available by prescription from a vet and comes in tablet form. The appropriate dose is given from one hour or even up to 10 hours before travel, so can be given the night before, if you intend to leave early in the morning.  It acts on the emetic centre in the brain to prevent vomiting and has no sedative effect at all. As the medication prevents the dog from being sick or feeling sick, the journey becomes much less stressful. During future journeys you could expect the stress level to go down even further because there is no longer that anticipation of feeling sick based on previous experiences.