HELP! We've been Skunked

11 years ago

A skunk must have hit our dogs this morning close to the house. The house reeks and the dogs aren't too sweet either. At 5:30 am the house was fine, I put the dogs outside. At 6:00 am the odor was quite noticeable, and when I let the dogs back in, BINGO. I barricaded them in the kitchen (it was raining and I didn't have the heart to put them back outside) and investigated solutions. I threw out the dog beds they'd sat in, and I washed both dogs in a hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, Dawn solution which helped some. My DH took the damp crated Poodle to the groomer and returned home complaining of his truck smelling now. I boiled vinegar on the stove, DH baked a loaf of cinnamon bread, I opened windows and ran the attic fan, I put bowls of vinegar in each room of the house.
I mopped the kitchen floor with Odoban. I sprayed Odoban into the air throughout the house many times. I washed down the shower and sprayed it with Odoban. I walked outside around the house looking for evidence of a skunk and found nothing. The basement smells like it always does (not great, but not skunk either). Somehow the smell gets worse with the furnace running --- DH put a new filter in.

Still, the smell persists!!

I plan to rebathe the corgi. And will continue with opening windows and running the attic fan (but it is cold outside!).

Any other solutions that will work?

I must say, this is a terrible smell. Very bothersome. But I would still rank cat urine higher on the scale of offensive odors. Still, I want my house back. I'd appreciate your help.

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Comments (5)

toxcrusadr
11 years ago
Just Google up 'skunk odor removal' and you'll get all kinds of info, including products specifically for removing it from your hounds!
User
11 years ago
Skunk odor presents two problems.

1) It is sticky so it is difficult to remove all traces. Surfaces need to be cleaned with something that breaks down the mercaptans and thiols. Acids, such as vinegar, or oxidizers, such as peroxide or bleach will do it. Throw away cleaning rags after use. Anything your dogs touched could have trace amounts stuck to the surface, even after washing.

2) Mercaptans and thiols can be detected by the human nose even in tiny quantities, parts per billion, making it difficult to clean to the point where you can no longer smell the odor.
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farmerfoo
11 years ago
Boy I had to register when I saw this topic. In the mid 90s our golden retriever got sprayed right in the face. I remember the smell and how it stuck around seemingly forever. I was the teenager and in charge of cleaning the dog everyday. Luckily it happened in the summer. I have her what I'm sure didnt help were tomato juice baths every day followed by shampoo. I remember her licking the tomato juice the whole time, every day, and how odd the whole situation was. The smell gradually went away, took about 2 months until we couldn't notice anymore. Good luck
southerncanuck
11 years ago
Long story short answer, cover the fur with Crest toothpaste, let dry, brush it all out, repeat maybe once more. No more smelly pet.
Zippity-do-dah
11 years ago
We were skunked 3 weeks ago. About 4 am, my husband found our 13 pound dog SHAKING a skunk in the backyard.

As my huband bathed the dog immediately, I was looking for instructions on the internet. We did EVERYTHING wrong.

LOLOL

Well,finally, the house is better, the dog still is stinky but has improved. We ordered products from the internet that helped the house smells but didn't seem to do much for the dog.

We think our dog ingested skunk spray and it is still being eliminated from his body via the skin. Fortunately, he did not get ill.

Lessons were learned! LOLOL