Whether you live in a residential jungle or spend time in cottage country, the odds of your outdoor pet having an encounter with a skunk increase during the warmer months of the year, when they are more active. Skunks mate in the early spring and the females are pregnant a little over 2 months. The babies, called kits, are weaned when they're about 2 months of age, but stay with their mother for 6-12 months. In the wild, most skunks live in a den that they dig in the ground, but they may also happily make their home in a tree stump, woodpile, cave, rock pile, or abandoned building. In populated areas, skunks are often content to make a home in your garden shed, beneath your deck, or in the crawl space under your cottage.
Skunks are opportunistic omnivores, which means that they can thrive on a wide variety of foods, including grains, fruits and berries, insects, mice, birds, rabbits, and eggs. Many skunks will select their home based on convenient access a food source, which may be an ample supply of grubs and insects in the lawn, a handy compost heap, a convenient garbage bin, or a ready-to-eat buffet from your dog's or cat's food dishes. If you eliminate ready food sources and places for shelter, your property will be less attractive to skunks and you may be able to lessen the likelihood that your pet will have an odiferous encounter with a resident skunk.
Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, your pet will still have a close encounter with a skunk; if the skunk becomes alarmed or goes on the defensive, it will attempt to deter the threat by spraying out the extremely smelly fluid that it stores in specialized anal sacs. The skunk is capable of directing this spray over a distance of several feet. Most commonly, pets will be sprayed on or around the head. Not only does skunk spray smell extremely foul, it also can cause nausea or vomiting if swallowed and will act like tear gas if it gets in the eyes. If your pet gets sprayed directly in the eyes or mouth, you should contact us at your veterinary clinic for specific treatment advice. If the spray is not causing distress to your pet, you can take matters into your own hand to eliminate the noxious smell so that your pet will be welcomed back into your home.
Before you can effectively eliminate the skunk smell, it is necessary to understand a little about the nature of skunk spray. Chemically, skunk spray is an oily fluid that contains up to seven different volatile compounds, some of which become more potent when they come in contact with water. So, to neutralize the odor associated with skunk spray, you need to break down the oils so that they can be washed off of the fur or skin, and you need to change the chemical structure of the volatile compounds so that they become substances with little to no odor. In spite of the old wives' tale, tomato juice just does not work to do this; it only makes a big mess! Nor does vinegar work effectively.
Chemists have developed several commercial products, some of which are more effective than others at neutralizing skunk spray. Unfortunately, many encounters between pets and skunks occur in the late evening or middle of the night when stores and veterinary clinics are closed. By studying the nature of the secretions, scientists have determined what combination of products that are readily available around the home has the potential to help neutralize skunk odor on your pet. Most home-made recipes involve a combination of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent in varying amounts; the most common is 3-4 parts hydrogen peroxide to 1 part of baking soda, with a teaspoon or so of dish detergent added. The dish detergent acts to break down the oil, while the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda act to break apart the chemical bonds of the odiferous compounds. To be effective, the solution must be used while ‘fresh', or still bubbling, and must be applied directly to the sprayed areas. Use caution when applying the solution to your pet, since peroxide can bleach the fur of your pet, and it can be extremely dangerous if it gets into the pet's eyes. Also, the peroxide can bleach any material it may come in contact with (such as your clothes or furniture). When using this solution, it is common to notice the ‘eau de skunk' smell every time your pet gets wet over the next few months. This rarely occurs when a commercial odor eliminator is used correctly. So, the best recommendation is to use a commercial odor eliminator for permanent elimination of the smell on your pet, and to use a commercial product that is safe for use on your furnishings or contaminated clothing. However, the best prevention is to avoid any chance of contact between your pet and skunks.
Caution: These news items, written by Lifelearn Inc., are licensed to this practice for the personal use of our clients. Any copying, printing or further distribution is prohibited without the express written permission of Lifelearn Inc. Please note that the news information presented here is NOT a substitute for a proper consultation and/or clinical examination of your pet by our clinic veterinarian.
