Anxiety and the Car - Going to the Vet

11.7.25

Lately, I've been having Koha hop up into my car in the mornings before I bring him back inside and go to work. Recently, I shut the door with him in the back seat for the first time since the ride to the vet. He didn't immediately freak out. He was able to eat cheese and kibbles and he was even willing to hop back in again after I let him out. So, that's progress, I would say. 

He tricked me at first. The day after he came to us, he hopped right up in the car, settled on the blanket in the backseat, and rode quietly most of the way to the vet clinic where I work. Toward the end of the 25min trip, he barked a couple of times and got a little restless, but that was it. He walked into the clinic; he let people pet him, scan him for a chip, look at his teeth, and run a flea comb through his fur. He looked a bit worried, but he ate cheese and whipped cream and didn't snap at anyone.

That evening Kavir and I took him along to the pet store to pick up some stuff for him. He stayed in the car with Kavir while I ran in to get him a collar, some treats, and the topical flea treatment. He was a little whiny and worried when I left, but other than that, once again, he was great.

I thought, "He must have experience riding in a car. He was so good!"

The next time I took him in the car, it was another story altogether. After we decided his name was Koha and he was staying, I took him back to the vet to get his vaccines, bloodwork, and heartworm test. 

He hopped in, but panicked when I tried to shut the door. I had to block him in with my body. I told myself this was important. We had to get him a rabies vaccine at the very least, so on we went. On the way, he paced back and forth in the back seat and could not settle. He started to rip up the blanket I had laid over the seat. I repeatedly cracked open and then closed windows trying distract him without giving him the option of jumping out. I'm sure he would have, given the opportunity. I had not buckled him in since I still only had a collar for him. His harness had not yet been delivered. He probably would have chewed through a seatbelt anyway if I had tried to confine him. 

We made it there. Koha snapped at the technician as she was feeding him treats. He gives very little warning before he snaps so we ended up putting a muzzle on him for everyone's safety. Thankfully, I had already done a little bit of training with a muzzle at home (a part of me expected it might come to this). He was happy to put his nose in for some whipped cream, though he was less thrilled when I buckled it around his head (we hadn't gotten that far yet). Earlier, before he snapped, we had gotten lidocaine cream on his vaccine sites. So once he was muzzled and tied in to the scale with me at his head talking to him, petting him, and making sure he didn't bring his feet up to pry his muzzle off, and his doctor opening and closing the door to distract him, we got the two vaccines that were most important to me without him freaking out. Then we all decided to call it so as not to stress him out further. When I had to bring him back for his DHLPP booster in 3 weeks, we would try for the bloodwork and heartworm test. Oh yeah, all of this was also him on anti-anxiety meds. Next time, we were upping his dosages as well.

On the ride home, he barked in my ear and tried to climb into the front seat. I put on some music (more to calm myself) and drove with my arm up blocking him from his attempts to climb across the center console.

We went back in three weeks on higher doses of medication. Kavir drove this time so I could turn around and monitor, interrupt, and feed treats to Koha in the back seat of my car. He did better with this. I did have to interrupt him from trying to rip up the blanket on numerous occasions. He barked only minimally. I was able to get him to lay down and eat cheese treats at least some of the time.

I was nervous, but the visit went much better. He was more affected by his meds and his bucket wasn't as full. I had a much better idea of what we needed to do this time. We weren't flying quite as blind. He still wore a muzzle out of caution, because he has shown us that he doesn't give very many signals before resorting to a snap. We got his vaccines done and we got blood drawn. Whew! What a relief!

He was even willing to put his nose back in the muzzle after I removed it, so I took that as a major win.

The ride home was about the same as the ride there - obvious car anxiety but manageable with Kavir driving and me free to turn my attention to Koha.

So that was our starting point. We took a break from the car after that to focus on other things and let him get some distance from those experiences.

The first time I had him hop back in the car after this, he was frantic. He jumped in, but immediately jumped out and would not eat any of the treats inside. We were able to do two paws up on the edge of the door though and he ate a treat with his paws up. Then we moved away to recover some confidence - I had him do some spins and twists, and chase some treats back and forth to get him moving. After only a couple sessions of this, he was jumping in and laying down, visibly much more comfortable and able to take treats while inside the car. 

Now these last few frosty mornings, I've been starting my car first and then having him hop in. Again, the first time we did this, he was worried. His arousal was higher and behavior just a bit more frantic and spastic once more. He noticed every beep and engine sound, but he was still willing to jump in and eat. After only a couple of sessions of this, he was happily jumping in, sitting, and lying down on cue. 

Then more recently, I closed the door and hopped in the front seat, turning around to feed him cheese. I don't know when we'll be ready to take a ride, but I'm happy with the progress so far and I am happy to take our time. "The short way is the long way." as they say. 

We'll get there in good time.