one of the dogs I groomed today was skunked at some point, and every time I bathe her the old skunk smell resurfaces and it is fucking disgusting. because of that, and because the smell is still lingering in my nose and brain, I’m going to take this opportunity to advise you all on how to deal with a skunked cat or dog.
a common method, one that is even advised on the BC SPCA website, is to use a combination of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dishsoap. do not do this. people use this as a cleaner for grout and a bleach for hair. it’s not appropriate for use on animals, particularly when there are safer methods available.
so with that in mind, here’s an effective method to best mitigate the smell should your pet get skunked:
do not get the animal wet. as soon as you get them wet, the hair follicles will close up and then the spray is locked in. for dogs, it takes up to seven years for a hair follicle to turn over which means your dog could potentially smell like skunk for literal years.
instead, load them up with baking soda. I’m talking so much that a black dog turns white. let it sit for ten minutes, or more if the animal is not in distress. you can even shake it out and add more. do not rinse.
add concentrate dog shampoo or dawn dishsoap. I’ve been told repeatedly that dawn is the only acceptable dishsoap to use on animals (and only as a last resort, as dishsoap simply is not designed for use on animals). if you can get your hands on proper concentrated dog shampoo that’s better. lather that shit up and add vanilla extract, then rinse. if you are still getting wafts you can add more baking soda even though the water has set.
for dogs, when they are cleaned to the best of your ability, you can add conditioner (my grooming instructor taught me not to use conditioner on cats, and she had a reason but I cannot remember what it was, so I’m erring on the side of caution here in not advising it). if you can, book a bath with a groomer for 3-4 weeks later (given the 28 day cycle of skin on average) or bathe at home, not for the clean but for the conditioner. this is to offset the strip of oils from the coat during the initial deskunking.
unfortunately by the time I have the opportunity to share this method with people, they’ve typically already stuck their dog in the tub and bathed them or bleached them with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. hopefully this helps prevent some unfortunate people and pets from ending up in that scenario.
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