Last week Sam returned from her travels. Sam is a six-year-old female ginger cat who spends the summer months sailing around the Mediterranean on a 50-foot yacht.
Apart from her owners, her on-board companion is Thomas, a petite grey tabby who is two years younger. Both Sam and Thomas were rescued as tiny kittens from the breakwater rocks of Ta’ Xbiex, so you could say that their life at sea was predestined. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing.
Abandoned by their mother before they had been weaned, both cats have suffered myriad health-related problems.
Sam, in particular, who was found starving, with swollen gummy eyes, riddled with ringworm and infested with fleas to the extent that she had no fur left on her little tail, has remained very much the weaker of the two.
Recurring eye infections and gum problems are the reasons for which I have most often attended to Sam and, sure enough, the purpose of my visit last week was once again to carry out more dental work.
Despite their various ailments, Sam and Thomas have taken to living on the high seas very much in their stride. The irony is that Sam, despite being generally weaker, is the better sailor, while Thomas has not yet been able to find his sea legs. Whatever the weather, Sam just curls up and sleeps off much of the journey, waking only to eat, drink and socialise.
Thomas doesn’t like the rough weather at all and as soon as the yacht starts to roll about, he begins foaming at the mouth. If it’s very bad, he will actually throw up. Thomas suffers from motion sickness.
Whether it happens in a car, plane or on a boat, motion sickness is caused by the messages transmitted by the eyes to the brain which conflict with the messages registered by the balance sensors located within the ear.
Just as with humans, in cats and dogs, the balance sensors are located in the inner ear, which is known as the vestibular system. The workings of this system are pretty amazing.
To get your pet accustomed to motion, it is a good idea to start off by taking them on short, frequent trips
Small bones float in a viscous fluid called endolymph. These bones brush against microscopic hairs which transmit to the brain information regarding orientation and movement of the head. Coupled with this, but just as important, the Eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear to the back of the mouth cavity, serves to equalise the pressure inside the ear to the atmospheric pressure outside. This contributes towards a better functioning of the entire ear apparatus.
If we take a very simple example: suppose you are a passenger in a car travelling down a bumpy road and you are trying to read a book. As you read, your eyes are scanning linear text. Your eyes are therefore communicating to your brain that you are on a steady plane. At the same time, your inner ear is telling your brain that you are being jolted about. Such conflicting messages result in motion sickness.
Motion sickness is generally very common in puppies and quickly outgrown. But some dogs simply never outgrow the condition. For both cats and dogs, the symptoms are the same. Typical signs are vomiting, salivating, shivering and drooling. Some pets suffer from motion sickness so badly that they become fearful and reluctant to get into a car or venture on board.
Although it is not generally a serious condition, for the pet owner it is understandable that it rapidly turns any outing into a disappointment. And yet, my experience to date has been that owners rarely raise the subject as they tend to assume very little can be done about the problem.
But, just as there are methods to get children gradually used to the motion of cars and boats, and medication when all else fails, so it is with cats and dogs.
To get your pet accustomed to motion, it is a good idea to start off by taking them on short, frequent trips, preferably when they are still puppies or kittens. You might need to take it a bit more gently if your pet is already an adult.
If we’re talking cars, depending on the type of car, you would need to consider, whether they should be placed on the passenger seats or the back of a car. If your pet suffers from motion sickness, their ailment will be aggravated if they face backward because their inner ear will be registering a backward motion, while their eyes are staring ahead at everything zooming forward.
Ideally, always place your pet facing forward, so that there are no conflicting messages in the brain. Other practical ways of mitigating your pet’s tendency to suffer motion sickness is to take corners gently and ensure that the car is well-ventilated for the duration of the trip. It is a good idea to invest in a special pet seat belt, but I would discourage the use of closed travel boxes with no view slots.
If you’re planning to travel with your pet by air, or sending them abroad, make sure you discuss with your veterinarian the preparation of your pet for the voyage. I prefer to administer some glucose and electrolytes in the drinking water before and on arrival at the destination. Depending on the length of the trip and how well your pet takes to travel, various solutions are possible.
Either way, you should discuss your pet’s condition with your veterinarian if there are early signs of a tendency to feel sick when travelling. Your vet can prescribe medication to help them get over the condition. There are also natural remedies that can be useful if the problem persists.
Sam and Thomas have come a long way since being rescued from the breakwater. Like most rescued animals, they sense that they have been given something special and you can see this in the rapport they have with their owners.
Sam’s dental work has finally been completed, but Thomas’s problem with motion sickness is rather more established and will need to be treated as and when needed.
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com
Dr Martin Debattista is a veterinary surgeon.