Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

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JMcGHome
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Joined: 10 Jun 2015, 15:05
First Name: John

Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by JMcGHome »

Hello all,
This is my first post on this forum, and I'm hoping to get some advice about our 12 year old miniature schnauzer, Molly.

Until recently, Molly has loved travelling in the car, whether for 5 minute journeys to the park for her walk, or for 3 hour journeys when we go on holiday. She usually just went to sleep on the back seat (harnessed in), or would look out of the window, barking occasionally if we passed a dog or horse!. However, in the last couple of months Molly has gone almost completely deaf. The vet says this is just natural ageing as it is in both ears, so we just accepted it. We have now become aware that Molly is increasingly distressed when travelling in the car, and it applies to short and long journeys. We're thinking that this has something to do with her recent deafness, perhaps either seeing the car movement but not hearing the engine or road noise, or even perhaps a pressure in her ears. Either way, it is distressing her and us, as she cries constantly, and even though harnessed in, she can't keep still all the time the car is in motion. We have just come back from a few days away, only an hour from home, yet the short distance we travelled down the M1 (through the narrow lane 50 mph section in Derbyshire) was very worrying, with Molly causing distraction to the driver.

Can anyone recommend anything we can try? We don't want to resort to sedatives from the vet unless we have to, but Molly is getting so upset.

JMcG
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Gina
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by Gina »

Have you tried traveling in the back with her strapped in on your lap? She may well be comforted and feel safer if she is close to you perhaps.


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Eddie
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by Eddie »

That sounds a bit odd. Have you changed cars or where she sits?
Our lot travel really well but on the rare occasion we have had problems we put them on Judie's lap (don't yell at me, I know it's wrong). We clip their harness to Judie's seat belt and they always settle down and sleep.
If she has travelled for many years without problems I would be reluctant to go the sedative route. Better to try and find out what the problem is.
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annie_a
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by annie_a »

I have nothing to base this theory on other than my own childhood travel sickness, but I wonder what would happen if she were to sit in the front passenger seat instead? It would mean she might be able to see out of the windows more easily and therefore could possibly help with any balance/motion issues she's having. (As a child I found that watching the horizon rather than something within the car helped my travel sickness). Is there any rule against having a dog in the front seat?
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Morgana99
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by Morgana99 »

I have no real idea if this would be possible, maybe a vet could say, but is it possible the deafness could be linked to Molly's middle ear? I know infections of the inner ear can cause balance issues & perhaps this could cause motion sickness?? It's probably a long shot but it might be worth checking out, especially if nothing else has changed like the vehicle or her position while travelling .... :-s

I do hope you find out the cause, it sounds very distressing for her and you, poor love :ymhug:

Perhaps there is some medication for motion sickness other than sedatives. We tried this with one of our dogs once with disastrous results.
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sue+lex
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by sue+lex »

In 2010 we had an accident whilst Lexi was in the back of the car a bin Lorry ran into us wrote the car off but all escaped without injury but after Lexi was very nervous of travelling which is understandable she used to pant excessively and generally wasn't happy we tried rescue remedy for pets and it helped a lot she is now as good in the car as before I also used to sit with her for part of the journey shortening the time every trip till she was confident again hope this may help you and Molly enjoy your outings again ...Sue :)
JMcGHome
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Joined: 10 Jun 2015, 15:05
First Name: John

Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by JMcGHome »

Thanks to all for the quick replies.

Nothing has changed as far as the car or journeys is concerned, and there haven't been any incidents which may have scared Molly.

We have tried sitting in the back with her, including on our laps, but she is just so agitated. We also tried her on the front passenger seat (harnessed in of course), but that made no difference.

She is developing some arthritis in her rear legs, but that has been coming on for over a year now, and she is fine apart from in the car.

Has anyone tried one of those "hammock" style rear seat dog carriers that hooks between the front and rear headrests? I don't think you use a harness with those and am wondering if some freedom of movement may help, although if this distress is inner ear / motion related it could make it worse.

JMcG
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Teaeee
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Re: Distressed Mini whilst travelling.

Post by Teaeee »

Hi - I do have a hammock which Pebble is very happy on. I attach Pebble's normal harness to a tether which plugs into the rear seatbelt socket.
This allows Pebble to move around the back seat but she cannot quite reach the doors. She sleeps on the seat but also likes lying stretched out full length on the hammock sort of hanging down in the gap between front and back seats!
It has been a great success.


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