The toad that made me sick!

See that little guy below? He made me sick!!!

Yes, you heard me, a toad got me sick. It's called toad toxin poisoning.

Never heard of it? Me either!

So here's what happened...

Gracie and I were out in the yard playing and wrestling. After that and a good little dip in the pool, we started sniffing around and Gracie found this toad. She sniffed it, did her 'back up, ears forward, head bob, trying to figure out what it was and what it was going to do, or what she could make it do' thing, bol!

She paw'd at it a bit and it tried to hop, but ran into the fence. Mum called Gracie off the toad to leave it be. So then of course I had to explore the little guy. I paw'd at it a bit and Mum called me off.

After a few minutes we were getting hot and decided to go in to cool off and Mum started fixing her lunch. Then all of a sudden I started to gag. Mum first thought that I had sniffed up some sandy dirt (which I've done before) and was trying to get it out of my nose and throat. So she didn't think anything about it.

Just about then I gagged up some foam. Hmm...Mum thought all that gagging may have turned my tummy a bit, no big deal, it's happened before. But then I gagged/threw up more foam, and then again and again! About eight times total. That's when Mum knew it was something different and remembered the toad.

And she remembered that she had read somewhere on the internet about toad toxin poisoning. So she got on the internet, did a quick search and got info. She washed out my mouth with the kitchen sink hose, then she got a little peroxide and put it on her finger and rubbed my gums with it. Then gave me some yogurt and voila, it stopped the gagging/vomiting!

She called our vet and told them what happened. They asked how I was feeling/acting right then and Mum said I was ready to go outside and get my zoomies on again. Our vet said, that means the toxin is out and I won't have any more symptoms or dangers. Good!

After I'm safe and settled, Mum goes outside without us to get the toad out of the fenced area and sees that it's injured, and dying. So she tosses it over the fence for another animal to enjoy a good meal.

We've played with toads in our yard before, but we've never hurt one. That's the difference!!! When they get hurt or injured is when some toads release a toxin to ward off prey.

Come to find out that larger dogs, like Gracie, aren't really effected by the toxin it's such a low level. But smaller dogs like me are! And the dangerous part is that if a small dog, like a Yorkie or Pap where to ingest part of the frog (along with the toxin) it can actually be fatal! Yep, that's right, fatal! Bet you didn't know that, did ya?

The good thing is that the toad toxin tastes horrible, so most dog's leave them alone; another reason you probably don't hear much about toad toxin poisoning. Interesting stuff, huh?

So that adventurous day was over, we cuddle into a good sleep complete with rustic bedding on the human bed. And then we woke up to another adventurous day the next day, more on that to come!

You can read more about toad toxicity on these sites: PetMD and Merck Veterinary