Beatrice was playing in the yard while I was doing a little gardening. I noticed that she was after something by the fence and assumed it was a lizard (they LOVE to chase them). After a couple of minutes I saw her jump back with something in her mouth. She had found a Bufo Toad. For those of you unfamiliar with these disgusting creatures you can read about them here. http://www.healthyhomesforkidsandpets.com/articles/bufo.html
By the time I had got to her (a matter of seconds) the thing had secreted it's poisen into her mouth. We don't have many of them on this coast although they are seeing more and more of them. I do know that they are deadly to small dogs. She was frothing HORRIBLY and I threw her in the sink and sprayed her mouth as well as I could for about five minutes until I couldn't see anymore froth. I got her to the vet within ten more minutes. Called them on my cell on the way. They were waiting at the door for her and had her under the water and being rinsed again within seconds of walking in the door. They gave her several shots of whatever it is that counteracts the poisen. Thank God in heaven she is going to be okay. Her temperature dropped VERY quickly but came up soon after. She vomited once and it was clear. Her gums were only spotty red and her Vet told me that he didn't think she had the chance to actually swallow much. Although it doesn't take much. I can honestly tell you that I have never been so frightened. I was so afraid that we could lose her. Horrible.
Generally these toads are nocturnal but it has been horribly dry and they burrow under the sand . It was probably living under one of the rocks near the pool and of course, a dachsie being a dachsie, was digging.
Keith has done a thorough check of the yard and we have removed ALL of the large rocks where they might hide. The puppers will NOT be outside in the yard during the summer without being supervised. He is also going to go out tonight and use a flashlight to see if he can find any others. I pray this was isolated. My vet has seen this four times so far this summer. Four to many.
On a brighter note, Toby's ear looked better yesterday when they removed the pressure bandage. The hematoma is about half the size that it was. So we are going to keep a pressure bandage on it until wednesday and look at it again. If it continues to improve he will not have to have surgery.
So... How has everyones holiday weekend been? I'll be sure to post a picture of my new head of gray hair soon!
Oh NO! These toads sound treacherous to our wiener babies. It's so good that you were right there to intervene so quickly. Your fast actions were probably the best thing for little Bea. Thank goodness she's all right. Wow! Us parents can't be too careful, can we?
Bea, don't go be eating things that make you froth at the mouth. Snuggles to you, li'l darlin'.
Glad your fur baby is doing well,just more grey hair for Mom they have away of doing that to us.
papbouv
It was so great that you were able to act so quickly!! I can't imagine how scary that must have been!! No more toads!!
you poor soul, thank goodness she was OK. My biggest fear is snakes. It sounds like the cane toad we have here, at present it is to cool in Victoria for them
'Give your wee girlie a big hug from us
dagang
Quote from: Roberta on May 28, 2007, 01:53:21 AM
you poor soul, thank goodness she was OK. My biggest fear is snakes. It sounds like the cane toad we have here, at present it is to cool in Victoria for them
Hi Roberta.... I thought it was interesting that you have a creature like the bufo over there so I looked it up. It is the SAME toad! http://www.fdrproject.org/pages/toads.htm They imported them to Australia just as they did Florida! I guess it goes to show that messing around with nature is not a good thing!
How scary - so thankful you were out there and saw it right away AND got quick thinking by rinsing before taking off for the vet. I imagine you got a lot of the poison out right away. My heart is thumping just thinking about it. Thx for the info on the toad. Sending rays that you and Bea can relax this afternoon !
Oh my goodness....I am so GLAD you acted so quickly....how scarey that must have been for all of you...thank goodness everything turned out alright.....I hope the rest of your week-end you can relax......extra belly rubs and kisses to Beatrice!!!
I thought Toby was the one to give you all your grey, not Beatrice. Oh well, guess they are teaming up on you. Maybe Toby is giving her ideas since they are buddies!
I hope things settle down for awhile now. Glad to know Bea is back to normal and really glad to hear good news about Toby's ear. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
Even run-of-the-mill toads can be nasty customers. Rudy & Max had numerous run ins, which caused the frothing of the mouth from the alkali coatings. However, on one occasion Max ingested some of the alkali, which caused him to start vomiting and having diahrrea simultaneously. I ran him to the emergency vet. Max was seriously dehydrated with a PCV (percent corpuscle volume) of 73 (typical dachshunds have PCVs of 15 - 25, a reading of 45 is considered dehydrated. The immediately put him on IV fluids, which ended up bloating him, but fortunately care was administered early enough to prevent kidney damage. Had I not taken him to the emergency vet, he would not have lasted the night. Instead, Max lived another 12 years after this incident, never having a repeat, thank goodness, finally passing at the ripe old age of 17 years, 7 months.
Glad to hear that Beatrice survived her run in no worse for the wear.
If I remeber right years & years ago some one posted a article in Dog Fancy magazine on how to train your dog not to go after Toads or Snakes although not sure if it would work on a Doxie since some of them are intent on getting their prey.I wonder if you e-mailed Dog Fancy they could find the article I'm sure they get allot of e-mails maybe a snail mail letter???
Papbouv