Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I need sympathy

I need sympathy. I cannot tell you the frustration I am feeling at this very moment. I am so disgusted! I made a joke out of this a week ago on one of my postings but I am no longer laughing!

About 2 years ago Seadra got a direct hit from a skunk. It was no picnic and we tried every known de-skunking trick in the book. We managed to get through it but it was a long drawn out process and I NEVER wanted to go through that again.


Well last week BOTH dogs got it but we were much more fortunate in the fact that neither one of them had a direct hit but only got a little over spray on them. We doused them with and enzyme liquid that you let dry and it worked pretty well.



Well, here we are one week later and Craig has the dogs outside, it is almost dark. He hears the dogs barking and spots the skunk. He screams at the dogs and shoos them into the house. Little did he know that Seadra has gotten a direct hit and he opens the door wide and allows her to run into the house.



I am sitting at the computer and before I even know what is happening my eyes start burning from the skunk stench that is over powering the house!! Yes, it's in the house!! I jump up and shoo the dogs out on the front porch. Why me? Why us? Why the dogs?......



Upon further inspection of the dogs we discover that Seadra has a big yellow spot right in the middle of her chest. Zoe was spared. Seadra is drenched in the enzyme liquid again and out in the garage. She will remain in the garage all night until after work tomorrow when I can address her.



We don't know what to do about the house other than we sprayed febreeze everywhere and have every candle burning that we could find and all the windows are open for airing out.



I am now heading up to bed. I'm going to put the covers over my head and try to imagine that I am somewhere else and that this is all a big nightmare.......

8 comments:

Peanut said...

Oh I am so sorry. That is awful.

Minerva said...

Oh my gosh, I can't imagine. I feel so sorry for you and the dogs. Could you keep them on a leash when you take them out? Maybe that would help. Of course, that won't help you now, will it?
I wonder if there is any remedy for your house on the internet?
Good luck. I feel for you.

Ben said...

We have been fortunate that this has never happened to us. I have no idea what to do - what is it that people say about a tomato juice bath? Any truth to that? Sorry you have to go through it - but the advantages of country living far outweigh those down times - your pictures constantly show the upside!

Shelley said...

Hi Jessica,
I feel so bad for you!!!
I went searching on the internet and typed in "getting skunk smell out of the house" - here's one thing I found - I think especially impt. because you might need to change your furnace filters: (Also, maybe you want to call animal control and have that skunk trapped and removed from your property since its become a nuisance!)

Step 1:
Remove the source of the odor. If your pet has been sprayed, then don't let him in the house until you have gotten rid of the odor. If you do let him or her in the house, you will have to work on getting the smell out of the house. If it is you that has been sprayed, then carefully go in without touching a bunch of things. If your house itself is where the skunk sprayed, then try and get the things that have been damaged out of the house and into lots of open air. It is also a good idea to open the windows.

Step 2:
Clean the source. This part gets a little difficult. However, the best course of action is to work on neutralizing and cleaning the smell. If it is you, jump in the shower and start there. If it is the dog, then start with a mix of one quart peroxide and 1/4 cup of baking soda with two teaspoons of liquid dish soap in it. This is safe for your dog and will help clean the smell out of the fur. If you have a large dog, you will need to make a larger batch. Wet down the dog, scrub the mix as deeply as you can into the fur (avoiding the eyes, nose and mouth) and let sit for about five minutes. Rinse clean with lots of water. For fabrics, use 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup vinegar, and the standard amount of laundry detergent. Line drying can also help as the sun will aid in getting rid of smells and fresh air is always good. You can also clean your car to try and get rid of the smell there.

Step 3:
Air it all out. You may find that fresh air can be a lot of help. It is always a good idea to air it all out in this case and let that fresh air come in. You may find that you smell it every now and again. This is because we can smell even the smallest amount of it.

Step 4:
Repeat washing. If you still smell skunk odor after the above steps, repeat washing the source. This can be done in a similar manner or with just detergent if you wish. Make sure you clean as deeply as possible.

Step 5:
Change the air filter on the furnace and/or the air conditioner. You may find that you are still smelling it and that is because small amounts are stuck in the air filter of your furnace or air conditioner. You can remove this by changing that filter which will stop the filter from recirculating that smell back into the house.

With time and effort, you should be able to be free of skunk odor within a week or two. With larger pets, this may be a little harder, but it can be done.

Anonymous said...

Oh gross --- skunk stench is the worst.

Hope the house airs out soon.

Jen said...

Oh So Sorry !!! :(

Shelley's tips are Good!! We used the baking soda and peroxide on the dogs and skunk off from the vet and and douche. Did it all several times, as we got direct hits too. I opened the door, just at the end of the spraying and some come in. Open windows, fans and candles, just as you are doing, is all I can tell you to do.
After two days they finally came out from under our porch...they came walking out in broad daylight. My son and husband took care of them. Then we sealed up all entry to under the porch.

Cliff said...

All I have to add to any of this is my sympathy.

Brings back memories of when our dog came into the house after a direct hit. this is something you have a tendency not to forget.

Knatolee said...

You certainly do have my sympathy. Each of my dogs has been skunked in the face this summer, and a few weeks back one of them met up with a porcupine.

A vet once told me that plain Crest toothpaste (no tartar control, no whitening!) is good for removing skunk odour. I found it effective, and it lathered like shampoo. Useful in a pinch, anyway.