Does seeing your scheduled vet visit on the calendar fill you with dread, anticipating the pursuit of your cat around the house with the carrier, your cat’s or dog’s car sickness and yowling or howling en route, and the trembling upon arrival? If so, you are not unlike many others, including several of my own relatives who confide in me from other states (“Ugh, Grace has her annual exam tomorrow! I can’t wait til it’s over!”). Our concerns are not unfounded; anxiety during travel has the potential to influence physical exam findings (causing higher body temperatures, heart rates, blood pressure, and respiratory rates, and sometimes even creating heart murmurs) and affect labwork results (eg, contributing to high glucose and calcium levels), may reduce our pet’s tolerance of the visit itself, and most importantly is unpleasant and therefore not something we wish for our beloved furry family members to experience. Reducing that anxiety starts at home. For our cats and small mammals (like rabbits and guinea pigs), making their travel enclosure something familiar to them, rather than something that only appears when travel is necessary, can help. Allowing small amounts of positive exposure to the enclosure every day, leaving it on the ground and open for safe exploration on their own terms, and even encouraging that exploration by dressing the inside of the enclosure with favorite treats and toys can create a positive association with that space. For dogs who have travel anxiety and even the sound of keys jingling or coats being donned can start to create fear; picking up and putting down your keys or wearing a jacket for a couple minutes in the house and then hanging it back up at times where you’re NOT intending actually to go out can reduce the number of cues a dog might be fearful of.
For all of these species, doing very short (3-5 minute) drives around the neighborhood on a semi-regular basis can further reduce anxiety for when that trip to the vet becomes necessary. Ensuring that the climate of the car matches the climate of your home (pre-cooling in the summer, pre-heating in the winter), leaving windows up to reduce exposure to scary road noises, moderating your speed to avoid quick stops and starts when possible, and allowing just one forward-facing view can be helpful. Specialists suggest that the most stable spot for a cat or small mammal carrier is on the floor behind the passenger seat. Lastly, the type of music you broadcast has been demonstrated to make a difference; studies have shown
that our furry companions are at their calmest when either classical music or reggae is played!
Calming supplements or medications may be helpful for some individuals as well, including our rabbit patients. Specifically, the Thundershirt swaddling vest for dogs, Feliway pheromone spray for cats or Thunderease pheromone spray for dogs, and gabapentin or trazodone for cats, dogs, and rabbits may be utilized, among many other options. Antinausea medications like Cerenia for motion sickness are necessary for some patients. The essence of lavender oil, which may be applied in small amounts to a blanket or towel and laid on the car seat or draped over a carrier, has also been demonstrated to reduce travel anxiety in cats, dogs, and rabbits.
In the end our goal is to offer the most pleasant experience for you and your pet, starting with the trip to the clinic. What works for one individual may not work for another, so we encourage you to reach out to us if we can help in any way!
By: Jennifer Gamble, DVM