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- Title
Skunks: general care and health concerns.
- Authors
Chitty, John
- Abstract
Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are being kept more commonly as pets in the UK, and may therefore be presented to veterinary surgeons in small animal practice. Appropriate husbandry should be encouraged, including an adequate omnivorous diet and plenty of environmental enrichment. Hand-tame skunks are generally not difficult to handle, but care is important to avoid distressing the skunk and triggering discharge of the noxioussmelling anal sac contents. Common presenting conditions include obesity, metabolic bone disease and dental disease, which may be associated with incorrect feeding; cardiac disease; and parasitic diseases, including endoparasites, ectoparasites and toxoplasmosis. The possibility of zoonotic Baylisascaris spp. infections in imported skunks must also be considered.
- Subjects
SKUNKS as pets; STRIPED skunk; HEALTH of pets; PET care; BAYLISASCARIS; TOXOPLASMOSIS in animals; OBESITY in animals; ECTOPARASITES; DISEASES
- Publication
UK-Vet Companion Animal, 2015, Vol 20, Issue 8, p472
- ISSN
2053-0889
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.12968/coan.2015.20.8.472