Skunk HELP Please.

[firebirdgold]

Shouldn''t the d@#n things be asleep??? Ok, so the dog has been washed in Hydrogen Peroxide mixture, and I''ve washed the floors with pinsol and Baking Soda. All fabric items are on the front porch. It still smells dreadful in my house. Any other suggestions?
What can I use to wash wood surfaces with that won''t damage them?? I''m figuring I''m going to have to wash every single surface that might have gotten skunk oils on it, wood floors, walls, doors, doorknobs, the whole thing.
And I got in my brand new car and was half way to the drugstore before I realized I should have changed clothes. I''m not sure if the car is now skunky because of me, or because it was close to the epicenter of skunk?
Please how can I deskunk my precious car??

 

[Lorelei]

Oh dear Wren. I am in the UK so we don't have those stinky little fellas here so I can't really help!

Is there a brand of stuff you can get, maybe Nature's Miracle might get rid of skunk spray? I am sure you will get lots of sympathetic help as you have neen zapped by Peppy La Phew, I think they are cute! But I am sure I would change my tune if it was me!

ETA - maybe I dreamed this, but I remember reading that tomato juice can get rid of the smell, maybe someone else has heard of this? You wouln't be able to use it on all surfaces though.

 

[strmrdr]

from mythbusters:
The Results: The skunks did NOT want to spray! Finally, they harassed one of the skunks enough that he sprayed Adam’s shoe a bit, and the guys got doused with cold tomato sauce. After letting Scottie do the sniff test, they decided that tomato sauce does work (PLAUSIBLE).

They couldn’t get eh poor skunks to spray anymore, so they tried the synthetic stuff, only to find that the scent didn’t linger. They decided to test the rest of the products on the bathroom that the skunk was in. Beer didn’t work (BUSTED) and neither did douche (BUSTED). The mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Soda and liquid dish soap worked really well (PLAUSIBLE) and commercial skunk scent remover sort of worked, as well. (PLAUSIBLE)

 

[firebirdgold]

You are so lucky! I don''t think there is any unpleasant wild life in the UK. Or is that just a rumour?
They are cute, but I wish they were being cute at a distance. And it''s not like I''m rural here. I''m in the very center of the city.

I heard the tomato juice thing is a myth, which is why I spent an hour chasing my dog around the porch with a bucket of foaming liquid. He does smell much better, so the internet scores another win. In fact he''s now curled up on a rug at the far end of the house, the furthest away from the smell!

I have to admit, it was kinda funny. He just did not understand that the smell was coming from him, and he was desperate to get away from the smell.

I don''t think the Nature''s Miracle is as effective as it claims, I used it a few years ago without much impact on the problem.

 

[MiniMouse]

Oh Wren, how yukky. Being a Brit living in the Middle East, I don''t have experience with your skunky friends either, but it doesn''t sound like they have a very nice scent. I hope a few experts will chime in with a sure fire solution to your smelly problems. They may look cute, but it doesn''t sound like they have cute habits. I''m really sorry.

 

[strmrdr]

for the car hit a appliance repair shop and ask for a bottle of comercial smells begone

http://www.punati.com/

 

[AGBF]

I remember using tomato juice on my Golden and having it work once. (Previously I had just put it on, then rinsed it off.) Someone told me I had to let it DRY on the dog, so I did. I think that helped, but you know? Memory fades!!! I wouldn''t trust the account of someone else who didn''t make notes and then, years later, claimed something!!

You seem to have done a far more thorough job of it than I did. I don''t recall cleaning the house! The dog was so bad that she was all I thought about!

By the way, skunks, like raccoons, are nocturnal. Night is when you will see them out and about!!!

Deb

 

[firebirdgold]

Date: 3/12/2006 3:54:45 AM
Author: strmrdr
from mythbusters:

The Results: The skunks did NOT want to spray! Finally, they harassed one of the skunks enough that he sprayed Adam’s shoe a bit, and the guys got doused with cold tomato sauce. After letting Scottie do the sniff test, they decided that tomato sauce does work (PLAUSIBLE).

They should have used a dog, that certainly does the trick!
Mythbusters is my favorite show of all time! But I missed that episode, thank you strmrdr!

They couldn’t get eh poor skunks to spray anymore, so they tried the synthetic stuff, only to find that the scent didn’t linger. They decided to test the rest of the products on the bathroom that the skunk was in. Beer didn’t work (BUSTED) and neither did douche (BUSTED). The mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Soda and liquid dish soap worked really well (PLAUSIBLE) and commercial skunk scent remover sort of worked, as well. (PLAUSIBLE)

What a waste of Beer!
the hydrogen mix did seem to work really well on Beau-monster, I''m just not sure about using it on walls or floors. And I gotta say, if I had to choose between chasing an unhappy 80lb very furry dog with clear foaming liquid or with tomato juice, the tomato juice is not going to be my top choice.

I wish the natural stuff didn''t linger.

 

[firebirdgold]

Date: 3/12/2006 4:05:46 AM
Author: AGBF
You seem to have done a far more thorough job of it than I did. I don''t recall cleaning the house! The dog was so bad that she was all I thought about!


By the way, skunks, like raccoons, are nocturnal. Night is when you will see them out and about!!!

Well the last time I didn''t notice right away (don''t ask) and it got on the walls, and just spread everywhere I touched. It''s because it''s oil based I think.

I was more referring to the fact that it''s 28F out and March. I thought the dratted things hibernated.

And I have heard that once you de-skunk a skunk, they make great pets! As tempting as trapping and deskunking my neighborhood skunk is.... I saw a coyote trot down my street a few nights ago with something large and furry in it''s mouth. Plus I''ve been hearing them at night. And, yes, I am in the middle of the city. I have no idea what''s going on this year.

And thank you again stormy for the car suggestion. I''ll do that first thing in the morning. My precious doesn''t even have plates on it yet!

 

[Lorelei]

I do think skunks are rather cute! Regarding unusual smelly wildlife in the UK we do have stoats around. A friend''s cat caught one a few years ago. She was upstairs cleaning when she noticed her nostrils twitching and a horrible smell she couldn''t quite place. Anyway, she went downstairs and the stench grew stronger, then she heard her cat making that warning sound that cats do when they have prey. She groaned as she knew what she would find. There he was in her lounge with a dead stoat at his feet! He absolutely stunk to high heaven as when the stoat died, he evacuated his scent glands and the cat was covered with it! Into the bath he went and even after several shampoos, he still reeked. Plus he had tracked the scent all over the downstairs. It took ages for the cat and the house to smell respectable again!

The cat was lucky he wasn''t hurt as stoats are vicious little devils. I am sure you must have them in the States, also foxes don''t smell too pleasant either I am told!

 

[MissGotRocks]

I too have always heard that tomato juice works to take the smell out. Granted, tomato juice is probably nasty to work with too but that odor is unbearable!

Maybe you could get the dog in a tub and douse him with the tomato juice and then bathe him real good - or if that''s not possible maybe you should contact a pet groomer. I am sure they have had to help solve this problem before. Good luck!

 

[blodthecat]

I''m from the UK too, so don''t have any experience of these creatures!

But, if they are nocturnal, how did it get in your house in the first place?

I wonder if it''s just one of those smells that will fade with time?

 

[pricescope]

Wren, before my friend's dog was sprayed on i thought tomato juice was a joke too. But really it's the only substance that worked on their boxer, and they worked at research department of a huge hospital and had an access to every possible de-stinker. I think it worth a try at least for the non-harming properties of tomato.
BTW, that boxer had it coming, she deserved the spray and she did not care...but you know boxers

 

[Blenheim]

Wren,

If you''re still trying to figure out how to clean wood surfaces, I hear that Murphy''s Oil Soap is great. It should be in your local grocery store with the cleaning supplies. If not, there should at least be other wood cleaners at the grocery store if you look around.

I have no advice on getting rid of skunk smell, but I hope it goes away soon.

 

[Lorelei]

Wren, I do feel for you as my stray tomcat loves to spray my car tyres! I hope you can find something that will remove your stinky little friend''s calling card. It is embarrassing when nostrils twitch as you approach or get out of your car. Hubby has said that if a skunk gets hit by a car you can smell it for miles!

 

[partgypsy]

It reminds me of a funny story of my Dad and brother getting sprayed by a skunk. This was in high school. My Dad and brother were cutting across a park to go to a restaurant to have diwhen I was in highschool. My brother hears my Dad going "here kitty, here cat" and looks over, and my Dad is approaching a skunk! My Dad is from Greece and apparently never seen a skunk.
My brother''s trying to warn Dad, going Dad -Dad that''s a skunk!
They continue on to the restaurant. Anways for some reason they didn''t realize at first they had been sprayed, but when they entered the restaurant it became obvious. Needless to say they were asked to leave.
When they got home my Mom wouldn''t let them in the house, they had to take off their clothes and wash themselves with soap and water in the garage. We had heard about the tomato juice, guess we didn''t have any on hand!

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks Gypsy, enjoyed that story! I would be oohing and aahing over them too, I just love ''em! I guess skunky liked your Dad enough to baptise him then?

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/12/2006 7:09:24 AM
Author: MissGotRocks
Maybe you could get the dog in a tub and douse him with the tomato juice and then bathe him real good

I did it both ways with my former dog (the Golden) who, for whatever reason, had more skunk encounters than Biscuit has had. I remember putting her in the tub; using tomato juice; then bathing her. The time it worked best, however, was when I covered her with tomato juice then left her outside to dry!!! I bathed her many hours later, after the tomato juice had dried completely on her.

Deb

 

[bstraszheim]

We have a pet skunk Molly, and she is a doll : ) She is obviously descented and I have never dealt with a "whole" skunk before so I cannot give advice. I am not a native American so the only dealing I have had is with pets so my opinion of them is super favourable! They will only spray if absolutely necessary, it takes a few days for them to produce more scent and being their only defence (they certainly are not fast or agile!) they will only use it if necessary as once it is gone, they are defenseless until they produce it again. They will also give little warning squirts and if that is not enough, then spray. They can also be accurate up to 20 feet : )

Molly is captive bred and has never been in the wild. She was descented as a baby skunk and I am not sure about her mother, but I would assume that the whole farm is descented. We went on a trip and Molly is usually a very good traveller and this trip she was just very aggitated, scratching and moving and just not settling in. I live in south Florida and it''s so built up here that we never see or smell them. So we were travelling in central Florida (which is not so built up) with this aggitated skunk and we come to an area and we can smell skunk! Molly immediately stills, her nose sniffs a million sniffs a minute and she just calms down. It was pretty interesting that she had this memory and recognised the scent as something familiar/ interesting!

I wish you well,

Bridget

 

[firebirdgold]

Well, 99.9% of the dog''s surface area is now skunk free! The pads on his feet are still stinky, and his face is also stinky. The peroxide mix was a bit harsh so I was careful with his face and his muzzle is still a bit skunky. Although that could all be coming from his mouth, my dog had skunk breath! Explains why he was drooling everywhere, he must have had his mouth open when he got sprayed!

Parts of my house are still skunky, and in some areas I''ve tracked down a specific source like a patch on the wall I must have touched after touching the dog. In some areas it''s just generalized skunk, and I''m wishing that I could just detach the mudroom as it smells dreadful. Naturally one of the stronger smelling areas is my bedroom!

Deb, did you use the tomato juice on your golden''s face? Beau''s the same size with lots of fur so I have a very good idea of the amount of effort it took to drench your dog in tomato juice.

I''m going to a mix of Ivory dishsoap and baking soda on my walls and other bits that smell skunky and see if that has any effect. Fortunately we''ve had our first snow of the year so that should take care the outside.

Lorelei, I don''t think we have stoats but I''m guessing they are related to minks, weasels, and ferrets. I know that ferrets need to have their scent glands removed to be good pets.

They do look cute kitties, which is probably why dogs can''t help themselves.

 

[firebirdgold]

Ok, So now I''m really not a skunk fan. I''m sure your Molly is cute, but it''s hard to have warm feelings for anything that is the root cause of blood dripping down your back.
On the plus side I found out why my bedroom smells worse than anywhere else in the house. Because my Beau loves his kitty. Obviously somewhere between the back door and the front door, when I stuck beau on the front porch to wash him, he must have licked the kitty and Oscar must have rubbed against him. Because my indoor-only cat reeked! And he spent the rest of the night on the foot of the bed. Yes you would think I''d have noticed this before.

Oscar does not appreciate baths, and I now have the battle wounds to prove it! Oy! I think I got most of the solution rinsed off the cat, but you guys don''t think hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and Ivory dishsoap are toxic, do you?

 

[websailor]

Just for the record since you''ve probably done as much as you can....

From our favorite columnist, Gary Bogue, who writes about wildlife here in the SF Bay Area...

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/cctimes/living/columnists/gary_bogue/13772804.htm

SKUNK OFF!

I''ve had six requests for this formula this week, so you better stick it on your refrigerator door, just in case.

Take 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (from a pharmacy); 1/4 cup baking soda; 1 teaspoon liquid soap (I use Dawn). Mix together and wash the sprayed animal, keeping the mixture out of its eyes, nose and mouth. Rinse with tap water.

Based on feedback from users, this recipe, as listed, is a suitable quantity for a small dog. Double it for medium dogs; triple it for large dogs.

It''s amazingly effective.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/12/2006 12:31:57 PM
Author: Wren
Deb, did you use the tomato juice on your golden's face? Beau's the same size with lots of fur so I have a very good idea of the amount of effort it took to drench your dog in tomato juice.

I'm sorry, Wren, but I don't remember if I needed to do anything with her face. I think that Beau was far more drenched than my Golden and that your experience has required more effort than mine. I certainly do not remember her being sprayed in the mouth! I am sure how close the skunk was to the dog when s/he sprayed the dog factors into how bad the situation ended up! I never saw my dog get sprayed. She would just come in from the back yard already delightfully scented!

Deb

 

[Mara]

my parents have a neighborhood skunk that comes out, they have had it for years!! it comes out at night and has gotten the dog i think twice in almost 10 years....

my mom uses lemon juice for bathing the dog in, but she didn''t feel like it worked SUPER well.

 

[firebirdgold]

Welp, poor Beau still has horrible skunk breath. I thinkI know how this went down. Given the location of outside reek this happened at the big fence/gate from my driveway to my yard. At the far corner it''s been dug out a little so the local cats can squeeze under. My cat (before lock-down) used to do it and he''d always get a little stuck midway through. Skunks are a little bigger than cats are right?
I have this mental image of the poor skunk trying to get out of my yard and getting wedged halfway out. Since Beau only chases things that run, and carefully investigates things that don''t, he probably trotted over to see if the strange furry animal could be a toy. (he really wants a pet ferret or guinea pig). So there''s this poor skunk with his rear sticking out in the yard with an 80lb behmoth bearing down on him panting with excitment. It does explain how he got hit in the mouth.

And parts of my house still have lingering skunk on the walls.

I''m going to wash down the more persistant bits with the nature''s miracle stuff. I also still have not compeltely cured my car. It''s on the steering wheel. bleh.

The last time I had skunk problems, Beau had just gone through a bush that had been sprayed so it wasn''t too bad. Having a problems every couple of years is no reason to trap the poor thing, like some people do. They are very cute! So I think I''m going to be stocking my basement with extra bottle of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Just in case.

 

[Lorelei]

Wren I shouldn't giggle, but that visual of the trapped skunk with his rear end pointing at Beau's mouth is funny! Good thing the spray isn't toxic, might smell toxic though! I bet Beau skedoodled a bit quick when he got zapped! I would have hoped the stink would have improved a bit by now, I do feel for you!

I am glad you aren't going to trap Mr Stinky, he is only trying to defend himself! Good for you!

 

[Miranda]

Good luck with your de-skunking! I don''t have any advice (other than tomato juice - my mom swears by it), but, is your dog a Ridgeback? We have one and the way you described your dog chasing things that run sounds so much like him! He chases my cat...But only if she runs...If he catches her he nibbles on her fur.

 

[firebirdgold]

Date: 3/14/2006 2:56:30 PM
Author: Miranda
Good luck with your de-skunking! I don''t have any advice (other than tomato juice - my mom swears by it), but, is your dog a Ridgeback? We have one and the way you described your dog chasing things that run sounds so much like him! He chases my cat...But only if she runs...If he catches her he nibbles on her fur.

That''s exactly what he does! My cat is pretty resigned to it by now.
I always figured he had to have Ridgeback in him because, well, he''s got this ridge of fur down his back. Looks like he was shaved in a straight line down his back and the fur grew back in an odd direction. As far as I know, only one breed does that, but Beau''s a serious mutt. It''s why I named him Beauregard, pretty eyes and a heritage about as clear as gumbo.

 

[Miranda]

Date: 3/14/2006 4:58:38 PM
Author: Wren

Date: 3/14/2006 2:56:30 PM
Author: Miranda
Good luck with your de-skunking! I don''t have any advice (other than tomato juice - my mom swears by it), but, is your dog a Ridgeback? We have one and the way you described your dog chasing things that run sounds so much like him! He chases my cat...But only if she runs...If he catches her he nibbles on her fur.

That''s exactly what he does! My cat is pretty resigned to it by now.
I always figured he had to have Ridgeback in him because, well, he''s got this ridge of fur down his back. Looks like he was shaved in a straight line down his back and the fur grew back in an odd direction. As far as I know, only one breed does that, but Beau''s a serious mutt. It''s why I named him Beauregard, pretty eyes and a heritage about as clear as gumbo.

That''s true as far as I know, also. I haven''t seen any breed other than a Ridgeback with a fur like that. Ours is almost 7. He sleeps 20-22 hours out of the day...He''s spunky (lol)! BTW I love the name Beauregard for a dog!

 

[TBeck2000]

This is what I used when my dog got sprayed:

I picked it up at the local pet store for ~$7. It worked very well. Good luck. I know exactly what you are going through.