Chucky got Skunked

[NewToy]

While walking the dog's this evening my 12 yr old black lab mix "Chucky" saw something in the brush and went after it with reckless abandon. It was almost dark and I went in for a closer look and low and behold he got skunked big time. I saw the white stripe in the nick of time or I'd be sleeping on the front porch with him as well. My other mutt, "Rusty" a 9 yr old Chow mix went through the same thing a few years ago. I think he learned his lesson since he gave the skunk a wide berth. Anyhow, anyone have any success with any type of preperation to remove the odor? I have tried the tomato juice thing last time on Rusty and it may have knocked the edge off a little but not much. Chucky wants back in the house so the sooner the better.

Thanks,

John

 

[PineRidge]

I live in the country and keep this article in Word just in case.

Foolproof Skunk Remedy: You’ll Want To Save This Freitag Article

One of the most disagreeable things to wake up to is the odor of a skunk. It is even worse when you realize you let the dog out an hour earlier. Monday, Aug. 1 was not a good day and soon I was off to Coburn’s General Store in search of that old remedy tomato juice.

Fortunately, Sue Coburn asked if the juice was in regards to a skunk incident and gave me a copy of an article Strafford veterinarian David Lamb once put in the local monthly Strafford News with a formula that is much easier and much more effective. Here is the scoop: Paul Krebaum, a chemist with Molex, Inc. developed a formula to rid his laboratory of odor while he was conducting experiments with thiois, a compound which is often naturally produced in association with the degradation of protein, and is the root cause of skunk odor.

Later he modified the formula when a colleague asked for help with a pet cat that had encountered a skunk. Krebuam made a liquid solution of simple ingredients: hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and liquid soap. The soap acts to break up oils in the skunk spray, allowing the other ingredients to neutralize the thiois.

Because of packaging difficulties associated with mixing hydrogen peroxide and baking soda (the oxygen released cannot be bottled), Krebaum decided against trying to patent his formula and subsequently made it available free of charge as a public service item. In October 1993 "Chemical and Engineering News" published the formula.

The recipe that was modified for use on pets includes the following ingredients: one quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and one teaspoon of liquid soap. Normal bathing procedures should be used to protect the pet's eyes. Following the application, the solution should be rinsed off the pet with tap water.

I can testify that this really works! If you don't live near Coburn’s Store where the recipe is kept on hand, I would advise all pet owners to save this article. You never know when your pet will get a skunking.

By John Freitag

 

[NewToy]

PineRidge, Thanks so much for the recipe. I'll be heading to Wally World in the AM to get the ingredients. I have everything, just not enough peroxide. I wonder if the concoction will bleach the dog's hair? The poor dog really STINKS! I rescued him from a bad situation 1.5 yrs ago and he has really become a great pet. He was horribly abused for most of his life, really skinny, chained up to a tree for 10 years. When I heard his owner was looking to drop him off in the country somewhere I went out there and told him I would take him. He was so antsy for the first 2 months, just paced back and forth and really nervous acting. I took him to the vet for a complete check up and thankfully he didn't have heartworms or anything else. He now has adjusted and is a great companion for my other dog which came from the pound. I really sense the gratitude from these great dog's.
Thanks again,
John

 

[goaliedad]

while your at the store visit the feminine product aisle- get some douche= haven't had to use it on my dogs, but heard it works.

nice job on saving chucky from a terrible situation

 

[PineRidge]

You're welcome!

NewToy please let us know how it all works out. I have two dogs myself and although they haven't been skunked yet, it could easily happen.

 

[NewToy]

while your at the store visit the feminine product aisle- get some douche= haven't had to use it on my dogs, but heard it works.

nice job on saving chucky from a terrible situation

I'll have to get the wife to make that purchase. I don't think I could do it.

Thanks,
John

 

[hazmat]

A few years back my dog got skunked.

I tried tomato juice - made the yellow lab reddish

I tried the peroxide, soap, soda brew - added bubbles to the red lab

I was heading to my parents for a weekend of sailing that night - 60 miles in car with skunky dog

Picked up some of this - petco - Nature's miracle skunk oder remover

It removed smell. Uses enzymes that break down skunk stink protein.

 

[Bird]

I just happened to notice that same skunk odor remover at a PetSmart store a couple of days ago also.

 

[Richard]

Don't forget that Chucky might need a nice grooming too.

Otis got mildly skunked once and amongst the task of bathing him, we also shaved him. I figured by shaving him, that process alone, would rid him of 90% of the offending spray.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I rescued him from a bad situation 1.5 yrs ago and he has really become a great pet. He was horribly abused for most of his life, really skinny, chained up to a tree for 10 years. When I heard his owner was looking to drop him off in the country somewhere I went out there and told him I would take him. He was so antsy for the first 2 months, just paced back and forth and really nervous acting. I took him to the vet for a complete check up and thankfully he didn't have heartworms or anything else. He now has adjusted and is a great companion for my other dog which came from the pound. I really sense the gratitude from these great dog's.
Thanks again,
John

Thats a great story, John, thanks for sharing.

 

[NewToy]

PineRidge, I used the skunk stench removal formula on Chucky this AM and can attest to its effectiveness. I can barely smell it now, before the application it would knock you over. If he still is humming tomorrow I might reapply. He took his bath like a real trooper so the wife and I took him & Rusty to DQ for their favorite, a small vanilla cone. I guess dogs don't get ice cream headaches judging by their rate of consumption. They are crunching on the cones before we exited the parking lot.
Thanks again,
John & Chucky

 

[PineRidge]

I'm glad it worked out for you and the pooch. I've been keeping that formula around for years hoping that I would never really need to use it. Since you say it works so well maybe I'll just pick up what I need to mix up the concoction and keep the stuff handy just in case my doge get a dose of skunk.

 

[Richard]

. I took him to the vet for a complete check up and thankfully he didn't have heartworms or anything else.

Question...

Though our dogs get their regular visits to the Vet and take their monthly heartworm prevention medication, I've always wondered...

If a dog acquires heartworms, and it's caught at an early stage, can it be "fixed" or is some amount of damage done as a matter of definition of having the heartworms, it's only a matter of how much?

Or, once they get heartworms, are they walking down a bad road with no return?

 

[NewToy]

Question...

Though our dogs get their regular visits to the Vet and take their monthly heartworm prevention medication, I've always wondered...

If a dog acquires heartworms, and it's caught at an early stage, can it be "fixed" or is some amount of damage done as a matter of definition of having the heartworms, it's only a matter of how much?

Or, once they get heartworms, are they walking down a bad road with no return?

Richard, The heartworms are hideous creatures which unfortunately I have had some experience with. My Chow mix "Rusty" which I adopted from a safe shelter (They don't euthanize any dogs, they keep them until adopted out) had heartworms. The local vet's donate their time and supplies. The way I understand it the treatment is a 3 stage thing where they dose the dog with non-lethal doses of arsenic. It's enough arsenic to poison the worms but hopefully not the dog. While the dog is undergoing the treatment it is important to keep them from running around too much. The worms can be dislodged from the heart and cause havoc in the cardio system. You keep the dog penned up and the worms will naturally dissole with the treatment. When I picked out "Rusty" I had to wait 2 weeks for his treatment to be completed. He was approximately 2 yrs old when I got him and he went through the treatment with flying colors. I've had him 6-7 yrs now and he has no ill effects from the infestation. I now have them on "HeartGuard" and have them checked once a year at their physical. We were in Florida when I adopted Rusty and the things are quite common down there. Up here in Ohio they are still around but not as bad. They used to be almost unheard of this far north but they have been slowly migrating or way. (Global Warming again?)
I'm not a vet so I might be a bit hazy on some of the detail, but I think that is the jist of it.

John

 

[PhysAssist]

A few years back my dog got skunked.

I tried tomato juice - made the yellow lab reddish

I tried the peroxide, soap, soda brew - added bubbles to the red lab

I was heading to my parents for a weekend of sailing that night - 60 miles in car with skunky dog

Picked up some of this - petco - Nature's miracle skunk oder remover

It removed smell. Uses enzymes that break down skunk stink protein.

*****************************THREAD BUMPED********************************

TBN Comes through again!

Hi All,

This old thread helped us today, so I thought it could use a bump to help anyone else who runs into this problem.:thumbsup:

We have been smelling skunk occasionally (especially at night) for weeks, but never saw one or had any other evidence of one. :confused2:

Until today, when all of a sudden and for unclear reasons, our house began to reek wretchedly of a mixture of burning plastic, sulfur, rotten eggs, and rancid garlic with overtones of death and decay, and Bailey, our 6 y/o English Mastiff was shaking her head and rubbing it on everything she could reach. :shocked:

She had been outside with Pat down by the pond, and when she became tired of that, she came back up to the front porch to lie down and wait to be let in, as she usually does, and my F-I-L (who's olfactory nerves must be completely dysfunctional) let her in, not even noticing the fetid stench emanating mostly from her head.:thumbdown:

I was working in the other room, and when I crutched out to the living room, my eyes began to tear, my nose to run, and my stomach to turn, all from the intensity of the reeking skunk juice on her head, her bedding, and on the floor where she had been lying.

We put her back outside and I pulled up TBN and searched for skunk odor, coming up with this very helpful thread. :thumbsup:

We vacillated between using the cheap, but complicated peroxide, soda, and soap mixture, tomato juice, vinegar and water ala the douche recommendation, or the more expensive, but highly touted Nature's Miracle Skunk Odor Remover, and because the very worst areas were right between her eyes and under her ear flaps, we went with with the last one, per HazMat's experiences above.

I didn't think it was too awfully expensive at $7.49 per quart, and we wanted to be sure that we had enough for our 165# baby and the other stuff she had contaminated, so we bought 3 quarts and ended up using up one on her, and about half of another on her bedding, the floor, curtains, floor mats and walls, getting the level of fetor down from late Jonestown to mostly tolerable. :drink:

It was simple to use, just soak the fur or cloth and wait 5 minutes, then wash it out and rinse thoroughly. We treated her head twice, and it really seemed to knock it out pretty well, but we noticed that as she dried, it ramped back up just a bit, especially when we touch her head, so we will re-treat her tomorrow, maybe with vinegar and water. :indifferent:

Our profound thanks to HazMat and all the OP's for posting their experiences for us to learn from. :salute:

Thomas

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have had good luck with Dawn dish detergent. Years ago, I had a rottie that got blasted bad in her eyes. I was lucky to have a bottle of saline rinse on hand. I used pretty much the whole bottle on her eyes but it did the trick. Since then, we always keep saline (and Dawn) on hand.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Richard, The heartworms are hideous creatures which unfortunately I have had some experience with. My Chow mix "Rusty" which I adopted from a safe shelter (They don't euthanize any dogs, they keep them until adopted out) had heartworms. The local vet's donate their time and supplies. The way I understand it the treatment is a 3 stage thing where they dose the dog with non-lethal doses of arsenic. It's enough arsenic to poison the worms but hopefully not the dog. While the dog is undergoing the treatment it is important to keep them from running around too much. The worms can be dislodged from the heart and cause havoc in the cardio system. You keep the dog penned up and the worms will naturally dissole with the treatment. When I picked out "Rusty" I had to wait 2 weeks for his treatment to be completed. He was approximately 2 yrs old when I got him and he went through the treatment with flying colors. I've had him 6-7 yrs now and he has no ill effects from the infestation. I now have them on "HeartGuard" and have them checked once a year at their physical. We were in Florida when I adopted Rusty and the things are quite common down there. Up here in Ohio they are still around but not as bad. They used to be almost unheard of this far north but they have been slowly migrating or way. (Global Warming again?)
I'm not a vet so I might be a bit hazy on some of the detail, but I think that is the jist of it.

John

I think there was a recent article that said heartworm is now being seen in all 50 states? If I recall correctly, that would indicate that someone took heartworm positive animals to Hawaii?

We have some adoptees that were treated for heartworm. No issues but we do the monthly Tri-flex.

 

[rich_ncal]

My little terrier gets sprayed by skunks a couple of times each year. A vinegar water mix seems to be the best, followed by shampoo and rinse.