This little terrier terrorist was out and about this morning. Skunks know they are carrying a gun in a knife fight, and they act accordingly. This fellow not only did not run when I walked up, he did not even loop up from his search for larva in the grass.
While a skunk will weight generally weigh not much more than 4 pounds, they can kill a terrier underground, as their spray chelates on to red blood cells, creating toxic skunk shock. This only happens to dogs sprayed underground, and even then not to all of them. That said, a skunk spraying a dog underground is a serious thing. What to do? Get the dog out as quickly as possible, hydrate the dog, and don't panic. Running to a veterinarian is a good way to lose a $1,000. Most vets have no idea what do, and they may actually make things worse if they start staining and restaining eyes (which does nothing to help the eye). This is not to say nothing can be done to help the dog. Dosing the dog with Acetycistein (sold as Mucomyst, Fluimucil, Mucolator, or Tixair) seems to help on a couple of levels -- it helps the dog cough mucous out of the lungs, it strengthens blood cells and the vascular system in general, and it helps prevent reduction in renal function -- a big issue with skunk toxic shock syndrome. Since acetylcystein is cheap, easily available, and a well-tolerated drug, starting a dog on this would seem to make sense if skunk toxic shock seems to be setting in.
1 comment:
I live in town, and these little punks will walk right up to you. They have no fear. Fortunately for me I taught my dog, (who is usually off-leash) to come to me and sit when the little buggers appear. My dog has never been "skunked" despite multiple encounters, (knock wood) but we both had a near miss when coming around a corner suddenly, almost stepping on a BIG one. He walked around me, brushing my knees with his tail, and I can tell you with no shame that I whispered "Be still" to my dog, shut my eyes and held my breath until the skunk slipped down into a nearby storm drain.
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