{"id":836,"date":"2020-03-19T21:40:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T21:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbahvet.com\/?p=836"},"modified":"2020-03-19T21:40:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T21:40:11","slug":"my-dog-got-skunked-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sbahvet.com\/blog\/my-dog-got-skunked-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"My Dog Got Skunked, Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy dog got skunked, best day ever!\u201d said no pet owner ever. When a pet encounters a skunk, the results are typically not fun. While most pets come through the meeting relatively unscathed, the smelly souvenir is definitely worth avoiding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We humans know to turn back when a skunk offers its backside to us, but our pets aren\u2019t always so intuitive. Thankfully, your expert staff at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sbahvet.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sunrise Boulevard Animal Hospital<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> knows how to help!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding Skunk Spray<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skunks utilize their spray as a defense mechanism, so the best way to help your pet to avoid a face full of stink is to decrease the chances of a threatening encounter. You can:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use extra caution when letting your dog out in the early morning or early evening hours when skunks are most active<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pay particular attention in the warmer months of the year when skunks tend to be around<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/animalwellnessmagazine.com\/train-dog-not-chase-wildlife\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teach your dog to leave wildlife alone<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep your yard clear of potential skunk habitats like wood piles, brush, and tree stumps<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid feeding skunks inadvertently with food items like garbage, pet food, or compost in the yard<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a skunk feels threatened, it will often warn a potential attacker by presenting its tail and stomping its feet. The distinct black and white pattern is meant to get attention. If the warning is not headed, it will spray to protect itself. Skunks can spray very accurately and up to several feet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skunk spray is an oily substance produced in the anal glands of the skunk (boy are we thankful that dogs and cats can\u2019t exert voluntary control of this organ!).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The yellow-brown secretion contains seven compounds that are primarily thiols or thioacetates. These volatile substances are very good at binding to the proteins in skin and are known to be quite smelly, especially in the presence of water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What to Do If Your Pet is Skunked\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your pet (or you) has the unfortunate experience of being skunked, stay calm and consider the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first thing to do is to be sure everyone is okay. While most skunk encounters end in nothing more than a bad smell, ingestion of the spray or getting some of it in the eyes or nose can cause trouble. Skunks are also potential rabies carriers, so we should see your pet if there are any injuries from a scuffle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to prevent the spread of the smell. Keeping your pet outdoors is preferable, otherwise confine them to a small area &#8211; ideally without porous surfaces like carpet and upholstery that will hold smell.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will want to try to remove the smell from your pet. The key is to avoid water, break down the oils in the spray, and neutralize the smelly thiol compounds. There are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chewy.com\/s?query=deskunking%20&amp;nav-submit-button=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">de-skunking shampoos<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> designed just for this purpose, however you probably don\u2019t have one laying around.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a pinch you can put together your own de-skunking concoction that is pretty darn effective. Make a mix of:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 teaspoon dishwashing detergent to help break down oil (Dawn is suggested)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 cup baking soda to help neutralize the odor<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide to help neutralize the odor<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apply this to your pet (wear gloves!) and rinse to remove the odor. It may take several passes. Use caution around the eyes and note that the peroxide may bleach dark fur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your pet is sprayed by a skunk, you will know pretty quickly. We hope now you know what to do, though, and who to call if you need help. Don\u2019t hesitate to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sbahvet.com\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reach out to us<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMy dog got skunked, best day ever!\u201d said no pet owner ever. When a pet encounters a skunk, the results are typically not fun. While most pets come through the meeting relatively unscathed, the smelly souvenir is definitely worth avoiding. We humans know to turn back when a skunk offers its backside to us, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,77,102],"class_list":["post-836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pet-health","tag-de-skunking-dogs","tag-dog-got-skunked","tag-getting-out-skunk-smell"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>My Dog Got Skunked, Now What? - Sunrise Boulevard Animal Hospital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sbahvet.com\/blog\/my-dog-got-skunked-now-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Dog Got Skunked, Now What? - Sunrise Boulevard Animal Hospital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMy dog got skunked, best day ever!\u201d said no pet owner ever. 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