Skunks and Pets

Our dog Casey loved to go out in the evening and sleep next to the gate in our fenced in yard. Casey would sometimes stay there for several hours, just enjoying the peace and quiet.

One night I was watching TV and almost simultaneously, I heard Casey bark, then I smelled the spray of a skunk. Without thinking, I went to the door, let Casey in, and realized that the skunk sprayed her. By the time this registered with me, she had gone to the couch and was rubbing her face trying to get the spray off. I never worried about this happening to my dogs because we had the fenced in yard, but we surmise that she was sleeping next to the gate, a skunk walked up to the gate, surprised Casey and it sprayed her. So consequently, I did not have anything in the house to neutralize the odor, or so I thought.

My first instinct was to wash her face with water. Big mistake. I made the issue worse because the spray contains oils. The next morning I went to the pet store and purchased a neutralizer for Casey, my couch and everything else she touched. I also made an appointment for the groomer and learned that in an emergency, most of us have the ingredients in our homes to take care of this issue. The groomer told me that in a pinch, I could make a mixture with equal parts of vinegar and water and that will help to neutralize the odor.

Fast forward a few years when I would let Dakota out in the middle of the night for a quick potty break. We lived on a dead end street with only four houses and she did not roam, so I would let her out on the front lawn while I watched. One night Dakota took off for a minute or two and a skunk sprayed her. This time I was ready and took her immediately into the kitchen and made a concoction of the vinegar and water, put it in a spray bottle and immediately started applying it to her and by the next morning, there was still a faint odor, but it was not bad at all. The only thing I neglected to do was wear plastic gloves and my hands smelled like skunk, but it was the middle of the night and I really was not thinking clearly at the time.

After this incident, I posted a few skunk neutralizer recipes on our bulletin board in case this happened again. I encourage anyone with a pet to have the ingredients on hand to deal with this because you never know when it will occur. I researched some recipes online and some common ingredients in the recipes include Dawn dish detergent because it helps break down the oils, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, water, baking soda and rubbing alcohol. I recommend that you find a recipe that works for you and can easily access it if your pet is sprayed, because as in my case, the pet store might not be open and you have to act quickly.