Tomato juice not an effective skunk remedy

Veterinarian Gary Ryder says it’s one of the most common phone calls he receives at his emergency room practice: What do you do when your pet gets sprayed by a skunk?

Ryder dispeled the myth that tomato juice will remove the awful smell. “They don’t work very well,” Ryder said of the cans of cocktail juice. “And then you end up with a dog that smells like skunks and tomato soup.”

Veterinarian Michael Salkin recommends Skunk Off Shampoo and Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover. (If you have skunks in your neighborhood, you might want to stock up now before the worst happens.)

If an animal has been sprayed in the face, it will often rub its eyes against the ground to try to remove the painful irritations. Ryder, who fields pet questions on the website JustAnswers, recommends rinsing the eyes with a saline solution — either contact solution, artificial tears or eye wash. Make sure to wash your pet’s mouth with cool water, too.

Veterinarian Roy Cru- zen said “skunks operate in twilight, dusk and dawn, in- conveniently when we are most likely to be out walking our dogs,” so you might want to consider changing your walking schedule or when you allow your pets outside.

He said you can also discourage skunks from com- ing around by never leaving out dog or cat food and minimizing the amount of seed spilled from your bird feeders — these are like skunk buffets.