Travelling with your pets

Have you ever taken your pet travelling and thought 'Wow! Never again!'

Travelling can be stressful for pets. They can be stressed about the travel, new places and people, and then there is the motion sickness!

Here are a few tips to make travelling with you pet much easier, and better for them.

Travelling with your pets can be a really fun time. Its nice to take them for a little walk as you stop the car, and to have them with you when you reach your destination. Generally dogs do better with the holiday that cats. The whole experience can be a major stress for cats, and will often fare better at home with a home visiting pet sitter.

Most dogs get super excited to be part of the whole experience. Usually they love travelling, but there can be a few problems we often find.

Some dogs enjoy the car, but for some its highly stressful

Some pets get sick when travelling

This is no fun for anyone. Dog vomit is gross at the best of times, but much, much worse when smeared all over your cars interior.

And the smell will stay with you for the entire trip and beyond.

There are two main causes for dogs travel sickness.

Anxiety and stress, which can trigger nausea and vomiting,

Motion sickness- where they get sick from the movement of the car.

Cats can also get sick in the car, and it can be more difficult to get them to look out the window as they are in the carrier.

There are a few things we can do to reduce the anxiety and stress.

Make it fun. If you are stressed about the kids playing up in the back seat, or you are running late, or have loud heavy metal music playing your pet is going to freak out!

They have far superior hearing than ours, and in the confines of a car, they cannot escape the noise.

They will feel stressed from the noise, and will also pick up on your stress. If you are yelling at the kids, they might think they are being yelled at.

Best thing to do here is to stop.

Take a few deep breaths and centre yourself.

Take a few drops of Vibrant rescue drops which contains rescue remedy®, and when you are feeling calm, take a moment to give your dog a few slow pats, and you can drop some rescue remedy® on their tongue, or offer it in some water. Cats can also benefit from this dripped onto their paws, are put on your hand and gently stroke it over their coat. As they groom they will ingest this.

This can be given every two hours, or as needed.

There are some herbs that also work well for anxiety. Passion flower and skull cap are two of my favorites, but there are many more to choose from. Ginger is great for nausea and vomiting, and reducing motion sickness.

Motion sickness can also be eased by allowing your dog to see out the window. I dont mean head hanging out the window. That is dangerous (and scary for the person that drives past and your dog barks). By seeing out the window, it can help their sense of balance, which is often involved.

This is more difficult with cats, as they will be in their carrier and this will be straped in.

Cats generally dont love a holiday

Fasting your dog while travelling can help. Just keeping in mind if its a long trip, and your dog is a puppy it may not be ideal to fast too long. But please dont withold water. We dont want our dogs to go without water, especially a dog fed on dry food, that have a requirement for a higher water intake to be able to efficiently hydrate, and then digest their food. If they get dehydrated it can have consequences for their kidneys. So always allow them water. Most dogs should be able to hold their bladder for at least two hours- even puppies. Then they can do a wee when you stop – revive- survive.

Also remember to tke some old towels, in case of vomit…..

Cats usually travel ok, but they really need to be restrained in a cat carrier, for their safety, and the safety of the driver. Recue remedy works well for them too. Travelling is usually much more stressful for cats. They dont tend to enjoy a trip away like a dog does.

Again we need to allow for water breaks, and opportunities to use the litter tray. Cats also prefer to travel in the dark, so chuck an old towel, or blanket over them. It also helps to muffle the sound of wailing. If your lucky they will sleep the trip away. Just make sure you dont over cover them, so they dont get overheated, or suffocate.

Another thing to consider is what is happening at the end of the trip. If you are travelling to a new house, your pet is going to be even more stressed, and you will need to address the ongoing stress that will cause. Try to have a plan in place, to make this transition from the car to the next accomodation as easy as possible.

Try keeping your dog contained in the car

What are your experiences with travelling with your pets? Be sure to leave a comment to share your experiences- good or bad. My worse experience was when I took my dog for a drive to town, but hadnt realised he was down the paddock beforehad, eating something gross and dead. I learnt first hand how gross dog vomit was, on the carpet in the hatchback. But more gross because it wasnt just dog food, it was also the most disgusting dead creature. I turned out also vomiting!

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give your dog a pat for me

Kerrie x