HELP! Toto met a skunk this morning

[Toto'smom]

Let Toto out this morning as usual & went about getting ready for work. A few minutes later my son came & told me that he thought that Toto had been sprayed by a skunk. Heard him barking & then smelled that wonderful odor that skunks have. Sure enough Toto has been sprayed. Any ideas what to use on him to get that odor out. I am panicking because of all of his hair. Will I ever get it out???

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks...Belinda

[wheezie23]

Oh no!! I've never had any personal experience with skunks, but I've often heard that tomato juice helps to minimize the odor. Can you bathe him in some of that?

I googled it and found a few websites that had recommendations. So far the tomato juice seems to be the most recommended. Let him sit in it for 20 minutes then rinse. Here's the link to the website:

http://www.furlongspetsupply.com/getting_s...l_off_a_dog.htm

Good luck!!

Thela

[kerry]

I heard dawn dish detergent works because it cuts the oil. I think you can get something from your vet also.

[HappyCairn]

Oh, I feel for you!

Tomato juice really is the best. It'll probably take more than one bath. I hate to tell you, but you're going to get whiffs of it for awhile no matter what you do.

[kayharley]

I remembered seeing Natures Miracle Skunk Odor Remover at Petco once. You might want to check it out. Natures Miracle is wonderful for pet stains..I'm sure their "skunk" product is good too.

Good Luck....

http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?web=...=ff&oi=froogler

[CallisMom]

Oh no!! You are living out one of my fears!!! MY MIL worked with a woman with quite the story. It was summer so she was sleeping with the window open . . . her cat was outside and met a skunk . . . well the skunk sprayed the cat - but apparently due to the placement and angle of the skunk ALSO sprayed this woman and the inside of her house. She was SUPPOSED to get on an airplane the next day to go on vacation . . . but the airport wouldn't let her in the building, the hospital kicked her out . . . I forget what she ended up doing. But she actually had to have someone come in and rebuild part of her house because apparently the skunk oil had seeped into parts of the house and there was nothing that could be done but to actually tear it out and replace it!

Good luck to you and Toto!!! I have always heard tomato juice as well!!!

[bradl]

Oh my goodness. You all have my sympathies. I've no personal skunk stories to share (fingers crossed that it will be ever thus). My favorite (if you can call it that?) skunk story is our Lakeland Terrier friends who decided to celebrate their anniversary with a tent-camping/rock-hounding trip to the wilderness. They brought along just one of their several terriers. She got skunked. They were enough in the sticks that the combination gas/station grocery store did not have any tomato juice or sauce - so they bought three bottles of ketchup and used that to shampoo their Lakie. Can you imagine sharing a tent with that dog? (I think they made her sleep in the car - even that would be a tough choice!). Their comment on using ketchup was that it worked better than they had expected, but still ...

[Scully'sMom]

I'm sorry that happened!

Now there's one thing I don't have to worry about in the city. I didn't think anything could be worse than the Cairn "gas", but I see I was wrong.

Hope you can fix it!

[Guest webstar]

I have three skunk stories. The first was while my dh was baling hey and came upon a baby skunk they are real cute, he told his friend to pick him up he was to young to spray wrong. Wrong. The next was when a skunk sprayed under the living room window, dh got up and against my wishes shut the living room windows the smell stayed in the house for a month. Skunk smells often drift in our windows and if left open goes away. The smell is so strong it wakes us up. The last story was when the cat got skunked not having any tomato juice dh thawed some frozen tomatoes to wash her with. The seeds got stuck in he fur until she dried and could be brushed out what a sight. She was not a happy cat about it. The tomatoes did help but she was left outside for a week. Good luck. MG

[Toto'smom]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Tried the tomato juice & it worked a little. Went to Petsmart to get the Natures miracle skunk odor remover & they were out. My MIL said in Hints from Helouise they recommended mixing 3% peroxide, baking soda & dishwashing soap. I'm not sure about this. I am afraid of what it will do to his skin. Have any of you ever used peroxide on your baby? I may just have to learn to live with the smell until Petsmart gets more in. I guess i'm not the only one around here having this problem.

Thanks! Belinda

[bubba]

I have used hydrogen peroxide on our cairn, Pluto, who is no longer w/us. No, he died of old age, not that! Anyway, he got an ugly infection on his forehead once, which the vet said was cat scratch fever. They had to removed the diseased flesh and skin and stitch it loosely so it could get air to it. On that we had to put hydrogen peroxide as a way to clean it daily. Never seemed to bother him. It's never bothered me and I pour it freely on any cut I get. All it does is bubble/fix, does not hurt like rubbing alcohol does. And I think the baking soda would make it only fizz more.

Good luck!

pat.

[Toto'smom]

Well, Toto went round 2 with the skunk yesterday when I got home. He had been outside for a while but when I got home he ran to the back of the fence & was pitching a fit. Next thing I knew he was running to me sneezing & gagging. Then THE SMELL. I guess he thought that he needed to let me know that something out of the ordinary was there.

Sent my son out to skunk hunt & he says that it's under the house. I am going to have to figure out a way to get rid of it. I'm afraid of rabies since he seems to want to hang around the house.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I will be trying all of the other pet stores for the Natures Miracle. I think I will probably be needing it more than once.

Belinda

[Guest posting as: Pat]

Both dogs (Apollo & Maxx) were sprayed about two years ago. I was suggested by a vet was douche (yes the female product). I dumped two bottles each on them and it cut most of the smell. I know it sounds funny but it worked.

[prandaj]

Many years ago when I was vacationing with my parents our dog got skunked the night before we were to drive home. My father said if the smell wasn't gone, the dog was staying! We had nothing but Bacardi Rum around, so I washed the dog with it and it worked. I'm sure my father didn't appreciated the wasted rum, but he never said a word, God rest his soul. Good luck.

Also leave the skunk removal to the professionals. In New York we have Animal Control, part of the police department, you will probably have something similar. There are also people who specialize in pest removal. The skunk could be sick or rabid.

[Eliz222]

Wow, we have never had a problem with a skunk, and I hope we never do! I have giggled through all of your solutions...from using a douche to rum....who would have thunk?