Skunked

The only skunk I love:

At 4 am, I woke from a deep sleep last week, to wondering why John was making coffee at such a weird hour. Then I wondered if Wiley had had uncontrollable diarrhea someplace in the house. I quickly jumped out of bed, hoping my first guess was it. I discover John to be in the backyard with Wiley, where he lets me know Wiley chased a skunk, which then of course decided to spray him, directly in the face. OHMYWORD, he hadn't even entered the house, and the smell had entered our entire house. Enough to wake me from a dead sleep. It smelled like that faint skunk smell I had always known, but multiplied by a thousand. Poor Wiley was foaming at the mouth, and his eyes were red and sore. I frantically searched online for home remedies, and came across a mixture of baking soda, peroxide, and dish soap. John covered Wiley in it, but most of the spray had entered his mouth and nose unfortunately, so not much could be done about that. The bath seemed to help, a little. We put him in his kennel for the night, John took a shower, and we all tried to get some sleep.

In the morning Jack woke me by asking, "What smells so weird?" I quickly got us ready and out the door to get Jack to preschool, unaware that the stench had permeated everything in our home. The smell was stuck in my nose, so it was hard to tell what had been affected by it. I stopped by Pet-Co where I picked up some Nature's Miracle, Skunk Be-Gone, and picked up some Tomato juice at the store. When I picked up Jack from preschool his teacher let me know his backpack reeked of skunk, and I also realized my purse and clothes did as well. LOVELY! I immediately went home to do damage control. I covered Wiley in Skunk-Be-Gone and sent him outside. I took the kennel, my purse, baby carrier, hats, shoes, pillows, rugs, and anything else that I could outside to air out. I opened all window and doors, turned on fans, and lit candles. After Wiley had dried, I noticed some improvement in his smell, but not much. I doused him in tomato juice, which gave him a nice hue, but didn't seem to help much. I covered the kennel, back porch, and walkway (where Wiley got sprayed) in bleach water as well, in a desperate attempt to kill any skunk oil that could be tracked back into our home. I did several loads of laundry, but tossed all towels and blankets that Wiley had used.

By the next morning, I woke up and could still smell skunk. I headed to the store and picked up: the biggest bottle of vinegar ever, cheap coffee, vanilla extract, Febreze, a gigantic box of baking soda, Murphy's Oil soap, sponges, carpet odor neutralizer, plastic gloves, and a couple Monster Energy drinks (for my consumption). I cleaned for probably 5 hours straight, and that might be an understatement. I de-skunked Wiles with another round of skunk be gone and brushed his teeth.The boys watched a lot of cartoons. Thankfully the weather was decent, and the windows and doors were okay to be open.

The weekend was now here, and I folded MOUNDS of laundry, continued to air out the house, and bathed Wiley in Murphy's Oil soap, which made him smell great. I also took the garden completely down, just in case that gave the skunk a reason to visit. Come Monday I felt the need to clean again. I kept getting random whiffs of skunk and wasn't certain it was just from what was stuck in Wiley's muzzle. I sprayed the entire house and everything outside that was airing out and the back gate and walkway with vinegar. Jack said the house smelt like pickles (better than a skunk if you ask me). I soon was craving salt and vinegar chips. I then sprayed all that I could with Febreze, mainly to counteract the vinegar smell. I vacuumed (even with the attachments under the couch cushions, which needed to be done anyways). I washed all wood floors and the kitchen floor with Murphy's Oil, dusted, disinfected, deep cleaned the bathroom including the tub, and changed out the bowls of coffee grounds and baking soda, and cotton balls soaked in vanilla, while I was at it. I also kept the boys entertained, fed, and bathed all week. It has now been almost two weeks since the ordeal, and Wiley's face still has a funk. I finally cleaned the kennel one last time and brought it in, along with all of our things that were airing, outside. I'm not totally convinced our clothes don't still smell, and wonder if I'd be able to decipher that anyway, as my sense of smell is totally off kilter. I hope and pray that this was a once in a lifetime experience.

Poor Wiley covered in tomato juice: