So your cat had an encounter with a polecat and came out second best. Here are instructions for getting rid of the Eau de Skunk and restoring his own sweet kitty smell.

Difficulty Level: hard      Time Required: 60 minutes

1. Assemble supplies near tub or sink: shampoo, deskunking and regular; containers for mixing and pouring; eyewash product (human variety is fine); several cans of tomato juice and/or Massengil douche powder; several towels.
2. Check his eyes first. If they are red and/or watery, they are probably painful, so rinse them out with eyewash solution.
3. Shampoo with deskunk shampoo. Lather well and massage it in. For complete bathing instructions see the How To article in this series.
4. Rinse completely with body-temperature water.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4.
6. Towel-dry the cat, using several towels.
8. Pour on the juice. Make sure kitty is completely soaked with the stuff, using your hand to gently massage it around his face, being careful to avoid the eyes or inside the ears.
9. Let the tomato juice soak in for ten to twenty minutes, depending on kitty's tolerance level.
10. Rinse well with warm water.
11. Shampoo again, this time using your cat's regular shampoo.
12. Rinse well with warm water.
13. If the odor still remains, repeat steps 3 through 11. You may have to repeat this process again in a few days.
14. Towel kitty dry.
15. Give him some hugs so he knows you still love him.
16. Let him find a warm private place to finish drying and sulk a bit.

Tips:

1. If weather permits, perform the process outdoors, except for the final drying. Otherwise, you may have some lingering odors in the house.
2. If your cat is white or light-colored, use the Massengill powder to avoid the staining of the tomato juice or the special formula linked below.
3. You may need to repeat this process over a period of a couple of weeks, depending on the resistance of the odor.
   

Related Features:

• Special Deskunk Formula
• How To Table of Contents