Cats tend to be very calm creatures. They will like to keep to themselves and not get involved in anything that might cause discomfort. They are very easy to recognize what events or acts may lead to any sort of instability for them and they will most likely stay away from them. Cats do not like threats and company. You will have to let a cat get used to you, even, before you can keep it in your house. Without that, your cat might even see you as a threat and it may end up hurting you, it might feel that you are attacking it.
This is why it is very important to make sure that you do not put the cat in a position that the cat does not want to be in. If a cat is left in any sort of alarming position, the cat will likely act on instinct and end up harming, whatever it thought was going to harm it. keeping your cat in an environment where it feels safe and comfortable is very important and not putting it in dangerous situations is even more important.
Motion sickness is a feeling that is often felt by humans when they travel in a car or by any other vehicle that commutes by road. When they travel in a road vehicle, they might come across brakes and speed bumps. All of this can lead to an upset stomach or an unwell feeling within your stomach which may lead to you upsetting your stomach and in turn, you will end up vomiting. This is obviously not a welcome feeling. This may also happen in airplanes. When the plan happens to come across turbulence, you may feel discomfort within your stomach.
All of these are reasons why you might be experiencing motion sickness. When it comes to cats, the ideal situation would be to not take them out of their comfort zone very often and let it be. Cats often survive much longer when they are left alone and not hoarded on, unnecessarily. But, if the circumstance arises, where you are forced to take your cat out of said comfort zone, it may likely experience discomfort as well.
Can Cats Die From Motion Sickness?
To answer the question, yes, cats can experience motion sickness if taken on trips. It is very likely that if you feed your cat and take it out for joyriding, it may throw up all over your nice car seats because you put the cat in a position of uneasiness. Adult cats may become used to car rides to an extent, but kittens are not used to that at all and they will act adversely if exposed to this situation on a regular. Motion sickness will affect cats regardless of breed or size, much like the case would be with humans. Many things may provoke the cat and cause motion sickness.
For starters, the noise that the engine makes can be very troubling for the cat. It may experience a certain level of distress during this period and it might act very negatively during this period of time. It might scratch surfaces and will act as an emotionally distressed person who would act in a situation like that. No, car sickness or motion sickness is not a fatal situation for the cat. It will not die because you put it in a car and ran over a few bumps in the road, but it will feel a significant amount of stress.
Symptoms of motion sickness in cats
The cat may be able to show very prominent signs that it is under stress and it needs some sort of relief from the circumstances soon.
The very common sign that your cat is in distress is that the cat will be trembling and such. it will be vibrating from head to toe because of the sheer fear that the cat may be feeling because of the motion sickness. Might be, that it is a new feeling for the cat and it is not quite used to the speed at which the human owner may be driving the car.
Apart from scratching, it might also start vomiting. Much like humans, cats also get upset stomachs when they are traveling at speeds that are higher than usual. They might not appreciate the feeling of going so fast. Vomiting all over your car will be its way of showing that it is feeling extreme discomfort and agony and it needs to be relieved quite quickly.
Another sign of distress can be when the cat is licking. If the cat is licking around its mouth, this is a very common sign that it is feeling stress because it may be experiencing a certain level of dehydration.
Dehydration can happen to humans as well if they are under stress or agony. Their mouth might dry up and their throat might dry up as well. This can easily happen to cats and their reason for licking might exactly be this.
If a cat is moving too much or acting restlessly, there is a very high chance that a cat is distressed because of the speed at which the car is moving.
Remedies for curing motion sickness
There are some ways in which you might be able to remedy this situation.
For starters, easing your cat into the whole process can be an extremely important step. When you are traveling by car with your cat, go at a slower pace than what you will usually go to allow the cat to get used to it.
Another way is to wait a few hours after you feed the cat before taking it joyriding. Even if your cat is not under stress it might throw up. Be sure to provide maximum comfort for your cat in a situation like this.
Conclusion
The important thing to understand is that the whole thing is new for your cat and you will have to take measures to make sure your cat is comfortable.