How to De-Skunk a Dog or Cat

Here's a trade secret from a certified dog and cat groomer! Contrary to popular belief, washing your pet in tomato juice does very little to eliminate skunk odor. Because skunk spray is extremely oily, the best way to eliminate the spray is to get rid of the oily base. The following steps will show you how.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Original Dawn dishwashing detergent, as this is the best degreaser that can be used as a shampoo
• An eye dropper
• 2 drops of vegetable oil (1 for each eye) to protect them from the harsh Dawn detergent
• An inexpensive slicker brush, which can be used to brush the pet out before shampooing
• A garden hose, if the de-skunking is done outside in summer; if cold outside, you’ll need an inexpensive shower sprayer that hooks over the bathtub spout
• A few clean old towels
• A sponge
• An apron
• A hair dryer
• Fabric refresher (such as Fabreze)

1. 
   Brush Your Dog

   Before you begin, if the animal’s fur is medium to long in length, brush it out with the slicker brush. Then clean the slicker brush with the Dawn Detergent as it will be needed again later.

2. Carefully put one drop of vegetable oil into each of the animal’s eyes with the eye dropper. The reason for doing so is that usually the majority of the skunk spray is on the pet’s face. Often dogs put their heads though fences and things of that sort, which will require washing the face thoroughly.

3. 
   Wash Your Dog

   Wash the animal TWICE with the Dawn dishwashing detergent, using more liberal amounts in the areas most needed.

4. 
   Rinse Your Dog

   Rinse thoroughly between each shampoo using warm water or a hose if outside in the summer.

5. At this time you may or may not want to shampoo a 3rd time with the addition fragrant human (or animal) shampoo.

6. 
   Dry Your Dog

   Towel off very well. Usually the dog will dry itself the rest of the way, but you may use a hair dryer if you wish.

7. When fully dry, use the cleaned slicker brush to comb out the animal’s fur until it is sleek. As mentioned before, most skunk spray is concentrated on the pet’s face, including its eyes. Therefore, since the eye membranes cannot be washed, your pet may still have a slight skunk odor. This will gradually disappear.

8. Wash and dry any animal bedding and areas where the animal may have come in contact, leaving behind the skunk odor, before you allow the animal near them again.

Tips & Warnings

• You may or may not want to use the additional shampoo. It is really not necessary, however, to purchase the typically expensive de-skunking shampoos sold at pet stores. The Dawn dish detergent will serve the purpose perfectly.
• Purchasing an apron and hair dryer will make your job easier and more pleasant.
• Using fabric refresher in Step 8 usually helps with these areas.
• When rinsing the face, tilt the animal’s head downwards and lightly cover its nose and ears to prevent water from entering the orifices. You may want to use a sponge for these areas.
• DO NOT forget the drops to protect the animal’s eyes.
• ONLY apply the eye drops ONCE during the entire process as the vegetable oil will stay in the dog’s eyes, dissipating when the dog dries or shortly thereafter.
• When washing your pet, be careful using the Dawn dishwashing detergent around the nose, ear and mouth areas as you would with any shampoo.

[Insightful]

on 11/20/2009 Thanks for taking the time to comment, and I'm glad that your question was answered.
Also, thanks for the rating and the recomendation. I also gave you a rec earlier.

[hkimbrell]

on 11/20/2009 I apparently neglected to read the entire intro, that answered my question. LOL! :)Thanks!

[hkimbrell]

on 11/20/2009 I apparently neglected to read the entire intro, that answered my question. LOL! :)Thanks!

[hkimbrell]

on 11/20/2009 Nice work! I'm from the south and I had always heard that tomato juice will get rid of skunk smell...is there any fact in that or is the dawn the way to go? Great article. 5 *

[hkimbrell]

on 11/20/2009 Nice work! I'm from the south and I had always heard that tomato juice will get rid of skunk smell...is there any fact in that or is the dawn the way to go? Great article. 5 *