According to my neighbors who came to get some "liberated" zucchini (thank
GOD! I am overrun with the things!), my house does NOT smell like skunk (I
guess it is my imagination that the smell is still here).  Keesha got YET
ANOTHER TOmato juice bath today; this time out on the deck as she now point
blank refuses to go anywhere NEAR the door of the bathroom with the big
tub.

With her long hair, I still detect that awful odor, but it is clearly not
too bad.

For the poor woman with the skunk-smelling house, here is what I suggest
(based on experience and the recommendations of lots of people).

Wash the cat with tomato juice. Work it into the cat's fur really well and
rinse with a vinegar and water solution, being VERY CAREFUL not to get it
anywhere near the eyes or nose.  It made Keesha sneeze and sneeze.  (She
REALLY did not like the vinegar rinse AT ALL!)

You may have to wash the cat more than once.... sometone suggested a douche
but I didn't have any and decided against getting it.  The tomato juice and
vinegar water seemed to work pretty well.

As for the house, well, if you have carpeting, get a carpet wet vac and
clean it using a vinegar wash.  Tomato juice STAINS; Keesha had an orange
snout for three days--really she is not a punk rocker kind of dog and
looked pretty stupid.

Go over all counters with the vinegar wash.  If you have furniture that is
upholstered, you may need to bring in a professional cleaning solvent, but
I would check first with professionals who do this sort of cleaning to find
out if what you need to use will cause fading or staining of any patterns
or colors.

Skunk smell seems to have an oily base.  I felt like I could smell it on my
hadns for HOURS after washing Keesha; the vinegar water helped with this
more than the tomato juice did for some reason.

Good luck.

My dog hates me except when I feed her these days.  Am hoping she forgives
me all the baths she has had.  I want my loving Keehsa back!!!!

PS My nieghbors WONDERED why they smelled skunk... if only they had known!!

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Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask]
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