No Striped Kitties! 🦨

[ScentimentallyYours]

. At 11 o’clock last night our 2 Brittanys cornered a skunk out in the yard. Big commotion! Both got sprayed in the face and shoulders big time. Smelled like someone crushed garlic cloves up our nose. The dogs started rolling in the grass to try to get it off. I got them in the house, and they immediately started rubbing their face on the rugs, on the dog bed, and then jumped on our bed to try and rub their face all over my pillow and bedspread.

I managed to get both of them into the bathroom. Luckily, I had a stack of towels and 1 1/2 bottles of skunk off that I haven’t had to use for the last 10 years. The boys were very unhappy to get drenched in skunk off, and even more unhappy to then get a bath.

Of course, I was out of to tear free dog shampoo, so I used mild unscented Vanicream shampoo, followed by a Syndopour shampoo bar. The Syndopour on top of the shampoo was fabulous!!! The dogs smell great (natural dog smell, no skunk), but I still need to use some type of enzyme cleaner in the bathroom for a floor-to-ceiling cleaning. It turns out if you shampoo dogs immediately after they are sprayed it’s easier to get rid of the smell than if you wait.

I texted my sister to tell her what happened. She’s a nature lover and predictably texted back, “I hope the skunk is okay.” Yes it is. The skunk is out there ready to spray another day. I’d better buy more skunk off.

 

[Ford]

Glad to hear all is well. Must have been quite the commotion.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, I so feel for ya. Our dogs have gotten sprayed badly once and sprayed lightly a few other times. Even a "glancing blow" is never a fun experience.

We once had a skunk "stink bomb" close by our house -- thankfully the skunk didn't spray the dogs too. The horrible stench wafted into our house before we realized what was going on and got the windows closed. The inside of the house and the yard all smelled awful for days.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

That's quite an adventure. Happy to hear you were successful in getting the fur babies cleaned up. What a mess!

Too late to help, but we scatter mothballs to ward off skunks. Do they even make them any more? Haven't had a skunk around here in ages.

 

[BWt]

Love that you were so fast thinking! Have heard that dogs can have eye damage from being skunked. Glad everyone is ok. What a lot of work !! How will you remove the skunk smell from the house hold items? We have skunks living nearby and a dog who is forever curious about what’s in the bushes near the house. Now am thinking I should keep skunk off in my bath supplies.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

How will you remove the skunk smell from the house hold items? We have skunks living nearby and a dog who is forever curious about what’s in the bushes near the house. Now am thinking I should keep skunk off in my bath supplies.

Enzyme cleaners break down the skunk spray, but they have to be left on to soak in order to work. The commercial skunk deodorizers contain enzymes. I ordered two more bottles of shampoo and another bottle that can be used around the house. Why? Because the dogs got damp yesterday and they are still full of skunk smell. Not absolutely terrible, but it is definitely there. They are not going to be happy that there are more baths in their future!

As far as cleaning in the house, I washed all of the bedding and it seems to be OK. The dogs had only glanced at it, and it stank to high heaven, but better now. I haven’t managed to get all of the skunk smell out of the bathroom yet. I seem to recall that years ago when the dogs got skunked, it took more than a month for the smell to wear out, even after cleaning. The only relief I see is to make a lot of highly fragranced soap in the next few days, then let it cure in every room of the house. Wait. Maybe I better let the soap cure away from the skunk smell in case it sucks up the fragrance???

I haven’t tried mothballs. I’d be concerned about unintended consequences on other wildlife and on my puppies. We have been very lucky not to have skunks here for the last six years or so. Before that, I referred to the continual smell of skunk in the summertime as “Eau de New England.” More recently the population of coyotes and foxes near us has grown. I believe until this week they have been keeping the number of striped kitties in check. I need to have a chat with them because they are not doing their job lately.