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.

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)
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Instructions

    • 1

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

    • 4

      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

      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.