We came back from our vacation on saturday to discover that the cat smells of skunk. Not terribly but you can smell it on her fur.

Any ideas on how to get rid of ithe smell? I'm not looking forward to bathing this cat, she been described as the "the bitch cat from hell" before- but on the otherhand I don't want to have to keep shoing her away while she is stinky.

I've been grooming her but its had no effect.

I'm sure it was pennhp that had a skunk'd dog a short while ago - think she got some special shampoo, but it took a few washes - it might be on her blog ?

Good luck with bathing a cat Put some arm protectors on!!

Our dog decided to dine on skunk last week,so i can empathise.

We purchased a concoction called skunk off,from the vets.This you just squirt on,rub in (if you can) then leave to dry. worked ish.

We then tried a cocktail of,half a gallon warm water,squirt washing up liquid,half a cup of backing soda,pint of white vinegar.apply as soon as the ingredients start reacting with each other.leave for 5/1o mins then wash off.
Worked better,though still stinks when his fur is damp.

No idea if that is possible with your cat. Know how ratty/violent they can be when water is involved.Our dog stunk so bad he actually welcomed the idea of us washing him.

Good luck.

There is also nikki dreaming, her dog had a very recent interface.

I think she left it to her other half to sort out though.

Tomato juice is supposed to get rid of the smell, but I would stick with the speciality shampoo myself.

Remarkably, given the number of cats we have and the number of skunks around...I've never had to do this yet...


Good Luck

Sensible woman! Could you pop round and help fledermaus then?

I am all skunked out for now.
Have informed the dog next time he will be burried alongside the skunk.

OK, disregard that (other than the good luck part!)

It seems thats just an old wives tale and tomato juice has no effect on the smell...

What you need is baking soda and peroxide....

What colour is the cat? It might not stay that way....
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mam...ato-juice1.htm

Thanks for the replies. I'll try the vets for something to wipe on her fur. The sound of a spray gun makes her head for the hills too.

The young woman who was house sitting never mentioned the skunk smell at all, you'd think she would notice. We also think the cat has been let out at night as each evening she has been sitting by the front door staring at the handle.

We used a bleaching mouthwash that contained hydrogen peroxide on wash number2,but found we got "more fizz" and a better reaction,with the vinegar.

Given that skunks are largely nocturnal, that seems likely to me too

When my 2 dogs got well and truly skunked I did:
2 x tomato juice baths - put tom juice on - leave to dry, shampoo off - no effect

2 x hydrogen peroxide and bicarb = mix to paste, rub in leave to dry, wash off worked slightly

2 x special stuff from vets, plus the house and fur spray

then another bicarb and hp mix.

That was in may - the lab still has a faint undercurrent whiff when its hot and he gets wet - mm mm!!

Just curious - what does a skunk smell like? Seen a couple dead by the side of the road, but I didn't stop and have a whiff

Unless you are quick hitting the "recycle" button, you have probably got a whiff on the way past the dead ones. Sometimes they dont smell, but mostly they do...

Its a hard smell to describe...it smells like skunk I guess...