Rescue skunks

We would like to thank Kim, who has a rescue shelter in de Meern and Thomas and Dagmar who runs also a rescue shelter in Tilburg, working together with the Foundation to take in unwanted skunks and giving them a for ever new home.

"Here's the report that Thomas wrote down about Bultje, one of the rescues they keep".

The animal we're talking about is a skunk. Bultje, Dutch for the bump he had on his face, arrived at their rescue in October 2008. I picked him up at a bird rescue in Middelburg, Zeeland, Bultje had been caught on the seafront of Vlissingen, Zeeland and the original owner still hadn't called in after 3 weeks. As Stichting het Stinkdier was fully packed, they contacted us.

When I arrived at the rescue, I found a scared skunk that was kept in a fully tiled enclosure with little to no hiding places. I immediately noticed a big bump on his face, starting just above his nose to just behind his eyes. Feeling it felt like bone structure. It was rockhard and I wasn't able to move it. In the few weeks that followed, Bultje developed into a calm little skunk that adapted to the group well and had a healthy appetite. Obviously we checked the bump now and then as we still found it weird he had it.

Halfway January 2009 I noticed that he had some puss coming out the right side of his mouth. I checked and saw that his right upper fang was broken off. As we already had an appointment with the vet to castrate Bultje, we decided to ask the vet if he could take a look at it. Bultje would be asleep anyway (Dr. Heemskerk is the vet that Stichting het Stinkdier goes to all the time and thus he's used to working with skunks). The tooth had to be pulled and the bump appeared to be filled with puss. A big gross infection it was. The vet cleaned as well as he could. Unfortunately, within a week the infection broke through the skin and now Bultje had a small hole just above where the fang used to be. The next day it was really dirty and we tried to clean it a bit. While doing that, a part of the skin came loose.

Not expecting this we called Dr. Heemkerk in panick. He told us to drop by the very next morning. Bultje had to be put asleep again and the vet started cleaning the wound thoroughly. The smell that developed, in combination with lack of sleep, lack of food and the heat in the room caused me to almost pass out three times! After cleaning the vet filled the wound with an ointment that contained peniciline (Delvomast for mammary infections with cows) and gave him an antibiotic injection that should work for 2 weeks. 2 weeks later the wound was still not healed and I ran out of Delvomast.

Luckily my own vet, Dr. Molitor, had it in stock as well and I was told he should have the antibiotics as well. I asked my own vet to take a peek at Bultje's nose. He found out that part of the bridge in Bultje's nose was severely broken. With forceps he even pulled out a piece of loose bone. He also noticed that a much larger piece also needs to be removed but it was still stuck to the flesh inside. We discussed which antibiotics would be best. Of course, none of the standard animal products shows doses for skunks. We found that Pfizer is the only company making an antibiotic that works for 2 weeks, so we decided that that was the medicine the other vet used. The wound needed to be cleaned every day and filled every day again with Delvomast. Also, every 2 weeks Bultje needed his injection with antibiotics.

After a while I noticed that the wound started to get dirtier after about 10 days. It became clear that the antibiotics didn't last for 2 weeks in a skunk and thus I started injecting him every 10 days. Still, the vet wasn't happy with the results and decided to take some wound fluid to check what bacteria were living in there. He found that Baytrill was the best medicine. However, injectable Baytrill is aggressive to the skin (developing hard spots and necrosis) and thus we decided to use oral Baytrill. This went well for a week if we hid it in a little bit of yoghurt. Unfortunately skunks have very good taste and he refused to it any further. Healing went very slow. Dr. Heemskerk thought it was a infection coming from the tooth. It starts in the tooth and works its way up from there and then breaks out through the skin of the nose. He showed me a book where a dog was discussed having this problem. The pressure would be so high that the puss would break through bones and skin. According to him, the pressure went so high that just before it broke through the skin, it broke through the skunk's gums between the jaw and the cheek. He told me that treatment would take a long, long time.

Dr. Molitor, however, thought the infection was a result of an injury during catching him when he was walking outside in Vlissingen. His theory is, also due to the loose particles of bone in his nose, that while being caught he got hit on the nose by a net breaking his nose and tooth. As my vet didn't have the right treatment at the time, I was still looking for a vet that knew what to do when I wrote down the original report. Obviously we wanted a quick fix for Bultje as catching him every day was a real ordeal, especially for him. Still, Bultje was still very active and ate very well during his treatments. He seemed to have very little pain although the gums on the right side were still looking very red. On top of that, treatment consisted of catching him every day, removing the crust, cleaning with wet tissues, flushing with saline solution, filling the hole up with Delvomast wasn't his favourite pass time so to speak. Still, the only reason why he let it all happen every day was his share of cheese he would get after treatment. And, although I did it with love, it was getting an ordeal for me as well.

By the time I wrote this part, I was already treating him for 4 months. Luckily Bultje is a very calm skunk who will never bite. I got others here with whom I couldn't have done the same treatment without loosing fingers. The wound by this time was about .2 inch wide and .2 inch inward. The boney bridge that they normally have is gone. I was calling out for people to come up with a solution, even something that would work faster than what we had at the time. Nothing came out of my cry for help. Below you'll find some pictures. On the First picture you'll see Bultje hiding under the closet. This was when he first came to us. You can see the bump after which he was named.

 

The second picture is him the day before he got castrated (January 12). You can see clearly where the infection broke out (more to the front of the nose). The third picture is the wound after a day in March, right before cleaning. At the time I wrote this the crust contained blood which I thought was positive. Blood means faster healing. Still, there was still puss in the wound itself although less then before. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures after cleaning. That would clearly show what I mean with the boney bridge that is gone. The pictures following are not for the faint hearted! Only after X-rays were taken and Dr. Molitor removed a large piece of dead bone, the wound started healing. Healing went fast after that and within 2 weeks the wound was closed. By the end of June, Bultje was fully healed and to this day he's a little happy skunk roaming around in our home.

"Bultje healed after a long period of intense treatment by Thomas and Dagmar. Instead of a bump he has a dent in his nose".

"This is Kims report about Ursus one of his rescues in his shelter in de Meern"

It all started with a call from the reptile shelter in Amsterdam. A man from my neighbourhood wanted to give up some reptiles, they wanted to know if I was able to shelter them temporarely. No one could have imagined what would happen… After a very short phonecall it appeared that the owner was being evicted. At the point I was at work and had the owner bring all the animals to my vet. Several hours afterwards; a panic phonecall from my vet. In the practice there were; 1 yellow anaconda, 2 bearded dragons, 2 blue tongued skinks, 2 leopard gecko's, 21 ocellated skinks, 20 ferrets, 2 raccoon dogs, and… 1 skunk.

All enclosures and cages were extremely filthy and smelled breathtakingly. All the doors and windows could not ventilate the bad air. All the animals were in poor condition, but the skunk was by far the worst. He was housed in a mini-bench of which the bottom was completely rusted through. The poor thing could not turn around and had to sit in his own excrements. His abdomen was bald and the skin fiery red. His fur was orange by the stress and rust stained. What seemed to be a branch sticking out his rear appeared to be his tail. It lacked all hair and was caked with crap. His paws had sore and inflamed patches on the foot pads and the nails were centimeters too long. He retained so much water that his skin sat tight. Three men were needed to clip his nails, he's as strong as a bear. He's not manageable by oneself.

After several days of anti-inflammatory agents, rest, space, good food, fresh water and a clean environment Ursus, as he now was named, started to come round. His fur turned whiter and his feet started to heal. A week passed when he was brougt to the vet for a check up. His condition had improved that much that he was neutered. His teeth were cleaned also, and underneath the thick layers of brown tartar appeared the dentures of a young animal. As white as a sheet whith no cavities or caries. His tail was clean and pink and the sores on the soles of his feet had almost healed. Even his behaviour is changing. The sorry little bundle of misery is becoming a nice skunk. Although a bit startled at times but whith a soft approach he even lets you pet him. Soon he wil be rehomed at some friends of mine, finally a place to call his own. They have patience forever and I think that might be just that what Ursus needs.

Here some pictures of the rescue skunks that has been adopted by the Skunk foundation.
These skunks are given up by the former owners for different reasons.
They usually need a long time to adjust to their new homes.
That's why they usualy stay in our shelter.

 

Would you like to have a skunk but you don't have the time, room and money to get one?
Maybe being a foster parent of one of the rescue skunks in our shelter would be an option for you.
The skunk you choose for to be his foster mom or dad will stay at the shelter and by donating a amount money of minimum $5.00 each month you provide partly in his food and possible vet bills.
You will receive a picture and a monthly update of your foster skunk and a certificate that says you are the foster parent of that skunk.
If you are interested and want more information about this project, you can e-mail to fosterskunk@stichtinghetstinkdier.nl

Shelter Alphen aan den Rijn

Polar

Polar is albino female skunk. She will be six years old at 5-2-2007. She came into our shelter two years ago after being owned by several different owners who used her for breeding. When the breeders were disappointed that she did not produce white kits they would sell her to a new breeder. By the result of being moved around from owner to owner she became a very shy and stressed skunk. She needed more then a year to get used to her new home and she still does not trust us to be to close to her. She sleeps in the big outside skunk house with the others and sometimes she dares to come into our house to see if we will serve her meal in the kitchen. Though, how shy she is, I can pick her up to cut her nails and for a check up to see if she is okay. With her passed life, her experience with different owners and lack of human attention, she did not became an aggressive skunk She still has a friendly character. Polar is been spayed .Which the Foundation paid for.

Purdey

Purdey is a brown/white classic female. In may 2003 she came from America to Holland together with a large number of other kits, who has been selled to a lot of different animal traders and new owners. Her first Dutch owner did sell her after a few months to the Foundation because of she would be a danger to the newborn cats, which the owner breeds. For that reason she is been kept in a cage, and she did not get enough attention, which young kits need so much to become a tame skunk She never did get over her shyness and fear for humans. Her hunger to food makes her to come close to us, but not close enough to pick her up. But when needed to pick her up for a check up, she allows me to cut her nails and do what is necessarily. She is to afraid to bite. After her check up she hide for a while, being afraid we would pick her up again. Purdey is been spayed, vaccinated and micro chipped , which the Foundation paid for.

Prince

Prince is a male skunk with very rare markings. His colour is white and smoke brown , sometimes smoke grey. He is born in may 2004. Because of him being bossy over the little group he lived together with , his former lady owner gave him up to our shelter. She also was a bit scared of him, because he bit her several times. He was not a nice skunk when he first came here. He would bite your fingers of when we wanted to give him a treat. By giving him something to eat on a spoon or with a large pair of metal tweezers, he did give up biting our fingers and hands. The first few times when he bit in the spoon or the pair of tweezers, he hurt his mouth or his teeth a bit, which did not give him a pleasant feeling. Now he will gently take some food out of our hands. The other skunks did let him know that they did not appreciate his attitude, which made him a very social skunk in the group. He became a nice skunk, but still does not prefer to sit on our lap. But he likes it to be scratched on his back and stay sitting next to your feet on the floor enjoying it. When he came into our shelter he was already being neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated.

Phaedra

She is an apricot coloured female skunk. She is been born in April 2003 and in April 2005 her former owners brought her to our shelter, because of one of their two legged kids became allergic to her. Before a half year she came into her shelter for just one day, because we got a phone call that someone find a skunk . We jumped into the car to pick her up. Through the internet we were able to find the owner , and he came to us at ones to collect his skunk. It was then that we got to know what happened. She fall of the balcony of a seven high flat building. Beside a few bruises, she was okay. When she came into our shelter, for ever to stay, we noticed that she still is suffering from some trauma's , from the fall and from being separated from her family. She became a nasty biter and very unpredictable. It took me one and a half year , a lot of patience and all kinds of tricks to get her to like it to lie down on my lap and to pet her. The food the former owners gave her was horrible. She just wanted to eat cupcakes with pink icing on it, raisons and some dry cat foot. It took us a lot of weeks to make her eat a healthier diet. Phaedra is been spayed and micro chipped, which the Foundation paid for.

Benji

Benji died at the age of nine.

Benji is a albino male skunk. He will be eight year old this year. His former lady owner who owned him for four years did not want him anymore, because she could not effort to keep him. He eat to much, was her reason. Before she owned him Benji has been moved around to different places and owners. His last owner tell us that her ex boyfriend abused Benji by kicking and hitting him.He even made him eat his own faeces, when he did not used his toilet properly . Benji is blind. We don't know if being abused caused it or that his old age has something to do with it. We find out that he was blind the first day he arrive here. When I put him on the floor to investigate his new home he walked strait to the dog who was lying down on the floor. As soon as Benji realized his mistake, he stomped and hissed to the dog. He was not used to dogs, so if he could have seen, he would have avoid the dog. Benji was very scared to be picked up, he would poo and pee you all over. That's why his former owner never held him in her arms. First time I lift him from the floor I fold his tail under his but , so he dirty himself with crap. Next time I pick him up he did not do that again. Skunks are clean animals and likes it to stay clean. Now these days he loves it to be held and to cuddle on your lap. He enjoys to be petted which you can see by the look of his face. He is a lovely skunk. He was neutered and vaccinated by the vet of his former owner.

Pepe

Pepe has been adopted by Joshua and Austyn Jones from Nashville USA

Pepe will be one year old in May. He is a black/white classic male skunk. His new owner wanted him for the company of her first skunk. She thought he would appreciate it to have a second skunk in the house to live with. Being a little kit, Pepe stayed a few weeks in our house, because of the working hours of his new owner. She could not feed him every couple of hours because of being away from home to do so. As soon as Pepe could have three or four meals a day he moved to his new mommy Before that, she did visit him ones or twice a week to bond with him. It turns out that the older skunk did not accept Pepe. He came back to us to stay. We made an agreement with his owner that we would not look for a new owner for him. He has a micro chip and is been neutered, which the Foundation paid for.

Ricky

Ricky is a brown/white classic male skunk he is born in April 2002. He already had four or five different owners and different names in his short life.. He lived at his last owner for two years. His last name was Ricky Chanel. Ricky is been very spoiled by his last owner. Most of the time he was sitting on his owners lap , driving him around in his scoot mobile. When he was not sitting on his lap he slept in his cage and sometimes he was allowed to walk in the garden by himself. But Ricky was a very lazy skunk and usually he looked for a nice spot to sleep on. From the moment he came in to our household we just let him be. He could do what likes best. We never force him to sit on our lap and just pet him when he ask for it by scratching our legs or feet. He became a much more active skunk and lost some weight by being so. He use to be a single skunk, but he adapted very easily to the large group he lives in now. In spite of him being moved from owner to owner, he is a lovely skunk with a very sweet character. Ricky was neutered, vaccinated and micro chipped before he came to the shelter.

Shelter Rotterdam

Amor

Amor died at the age of nine too, in April 2010

Amor is a black/white silverback male. He is about six years old. He is been rescued by Ferret/skunk club Mustela from an animal shop in Belgium, were he lived in very bad circumstances. His health was very poor. After being nursed for many months by the shelter of Mustela he became a healthy skunk again. Then he moved to the shelter of Rotterdam were he lives now for several years. When we visit animal events to introduce skunks to the public we always bring Amor too. He is a good example of being a rescue skunk. He is not tame and not in for cuddles or to be petted. But if he feels like it he can climb on the couch and walks on your lap, as long as you don't touch him. He is a nice skunk and wont bite you. A year ago, Amor escaped by digging himself out of the garden. He disappeared for three months. In spite of all the adverts and flyers we spread , we could'nt find him. Suddenly after all those months of worrying, someone spotted him nearby his house on a parking place. His owner Don went after him and was able to catch him, while Amor tried to run away again. We suppose that someone found him at the night he escaped, and wanted to keep him. But Amor is a very shy skunk, who does not want to be picked up, so it must have been very disappointed for the finder to have him. So after the experience of having a very shy skunk this person must have decided to let him free again on the spot were he was found. We cant think of an other possibility , because Amor could not have survived in that period of the year and in a area with a lot of traffic.

Kaylo

Kaylo has been adopted by Martijn Boogert and Gerreke de Gans

Kaylo is a handsome black/white classic male skunk. His former owner had to give him up with pain in his heart, because Kaylo didn't like his lady owner. He used to bite here feet and legs and go after her trough the house. For that reason she had to wear high boots to protect herself. The owner himself could play, kiss and cuddle with him, that's why it was so hard for him to give him up. But it was for the safety of his wife. That's how Kaylo came to the shelter in Rotterdam were he is been admired and loved for his good looks and his character, because Kaylo knows what he wants. If he does not want to be touched he will show that to you by biting the hand that wants to pet him. But when he decides to sit on your lap, he can be a lovely skunk. This shows that every skunk is different and thats why they are so special.

Pablo

Pablo is a black/white classic male skunk. We don't know his age. In the time Amor was missing , Pablo was found wondering around in a residential area somewhere in Rotterdam. After a call from the local TV station, no-one came up to claim his skunk. We do not know anything of Pablo's past . He is a very shy skunk. But he loves his freedom in the shelter were he can run around in the garden. After being one month in the shelter and no owner showed up to claim him, he is been neutered, vaccinated and micro chipped which the shelter paid for.