Skunks

Pepe le Pew is not your friend

We have posted this peroxide mixture that most people report to have had good luck with.

Peroxide treatment- mix 1 cup of peroxide and 1 cup of baby shampoo in a gallon of warm (not cold) water, pour over the dog and suds up (protect their eyes). Wait 10 -15 minutes and rinse with clear warm water until all of the mixture is off the dog’s coat. Skunk odour will pretty be much gone for awhile.  Repeat next day as necessary, be sure to turn off your central air or heat to reduce to odor in the house.  If you can’t get a hose hooked up to a warm water tap, having about 3 – 4 buckets of warm water ready to rinse is handy.

Also, 1 cup of peroxide into the wash with your detergent to freshen towels and clothing may help.  Your vet also has Skunk deodorizer.  Tomatoe juice is almost useless.

If nothing else, it is easier and cheaper to have some peroxide, baby shampoo, and a bucket on hand just in case.  There is a Doggy Wash in Aylmer but you still have to get your animal there in your car.  Here is the Hinterland website with information about Skunks.

Ticks

Tick Removal

The above images are from the Centers for Disease Control/tick removal page on removing ticks.  They emphasize removing the tick quickly without squeezing it and forcing toxins into the animal’s (or your) body.  From the CDC:

Many of us were recently grateful to receive an email about putting liquid soap on a cotton ball and applying it to the tick, which would simply release into the cotton ball.  The disappointment in finding that listed on snoops.com as false and misleading information is hard to describe.  Upon checking on it further, we find that it may indeed cause the tick to drop off, but that it is more likely to cause the tick to regurgitate the rather deadly cocktail of toxins into the animal’s body.  This from thepoodleanddogblog pretty well sums up most of the research:

“Although the liquid soap method of removing ticks does make them drop off, it also may stimulate them to release saliva which may contain harmful diseases that ticks are known to carry.”

Deer Ticks

Deer Ticks seemed to be everywhere in 2010 and 2011 may be just as bad with all the rain this spring, which may cause more leaf litter–a habitat they like.  Check your dog every day, especially around the face, neck, behind the ears and in between toes (claws).  On children or yourself, check especially at the back of the head and any scalp areas.  Not all ticks are deer ticks and not all deer ticks carry Lyme Disease ontario/lymedisease.  Another link is ontario/ticksandlymedisease, and here is the Wikipedia link.  There are reports of ticks from people visiting the Lions Club Dog Park, and there are reports of ticks from people who don’t visit the park at all.  They seem to be from everywhere, even possibly our own backyards.  Contact your vet if needed.

And according to The Tillsonburg News June 7, 2010 article, quoting a local veterinarian, Deer Ticks are increasing in numbers and spreading.

This is a serious problem and not pleasant to deal with.  The actual term of the tick we seem to be pestered with at the present time is the Blacklegged Tick, commonly called the Deer Tick, although there are other ticks around.  The link to Public Health Agency of Canada has some of the best information, and here is the link to the University of Guelph.  Some info is reprinted on this page.

Female blacklegged tick (also known as deer ticks) in various stages of feeding.

Adult deer tick.

Parvo Alert

We are keeping this old alert on this page just for your information.  Parvo is a virus that never quite goes away.

August 16, 2011-  Parvo Virus is active here in St. Thomas.  City vets have recently treated several dogs–three have died.  All three may have been at the dog park.  Are your dog’s shots up to date?

Parvovirus can be hard to kill and is so easily spread.  A bird landing on infected dog poop and then landing on your deck can carry the virus.  The virus can be viable for over 3 months, even in the sunlight.  Dogs are more likely to contact the virus from a city sidewalk than a dog park because most people who visit dog parks have had their dogs vaccinated.

Signs of Parvo include vomiting and/or bloody diarrhea, unusual lethargy, very strong feces odor.  Please note: the vaccine takes 2 weeks to become effective plus a booster shot is needed.  London had an outbreak of Parvo a few weeks ago.  Parvo is very expensive to treat (can cost $3000) and the vaccine is very cost effective.  If you are in doubt if your dogs shots are up to date, phone your vet.

April 22, 2011 - Deer ticks are reported again.  See below for more info.