Anthem Pets, hosting Jackass Acres K-9 Korral...serving Anthem, Black Canyon City, Carefree, Cave Creek, Desert Hills, New River, Tramanto, Scottsdale, and North Phoenix

MEMBERSHIPS DUE JULY 30, 2009

Watch out for the Colorado River Toad. We’ve been seeing them for weeks, but last night was almost a disaster.

If you don’t read the rest of this email, at least remember what to do if your dog gets its mouth on one of these: Rinse the mouth out for 10 minutes with a hose or large syringe. Keep the dog’s head down so you don’t cause it to choke on the water. Unless you live next door to a vet’s office, take the time to rinse first. The poison is very sticky and will continue to be absorbed if you don’t get it out. Once removed, the effect is short-lived, but the dog can die from a huge spike in body temperature.
Ron

Here is what I posted on a Doberman Forum today:

What an exciting night.
We had friends over to have a quiet time in the hot tub. The music was on, the drinks were poured, and then my dad yelled from the patio, "You've got a sick dog up here!"

I ran up and immediately thought that Wilma was bloating ( http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm ). It was dark and it was difficult to see her under the table, but I could hear her very rapid, shallow breathing and retching. I yelled to Pam that Wilma was in trouble, and everyone came running.
I ran in to get the car ready for transport, and while I was gone, our neighbor found the dead toad next to Wilma.

We immediately turned on the hose and began rinsing her mouth out. All the while she was fighting it, convulsing, drooling, and trying to get away!
After about 4 minutes of rinsing, she managed to break free, even though she was seizing and her legs were "saw horse".
Of course she wanted to get as far away from the house as possible. She collapsed behind the pool, and I could not lift her. Two of us picked her up and carried her all the way to the truck. * I was so beside myself I didn't even know who was helping me carry her until we got to the car!*

The ER doc and techs were wonderful. They took her right back and rinsed her mouth some more, and then got her into a cool bath because her temperature was rising rapidly.
Within an hour her temp was back down, and she was looking pretty normal. A couple of people in the waiting room couldn't believe it was the same dog they saw us bring in!

So we learned more about the toad, Bufo alvarius, (http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/08/12/sonoran-desert-toad/ )and its effects on dogs. We always knew they were poisonous, and we even know someone who's Yorkie died within 15 minutes of having licked one.

What we didn't appreciate was just how violent and scary the whole episode is! This makes your average seizure look like a walk in the park.

My dad said we were all yelling and running around in such chaos, that he decided to get out of the way and just remove the toad and the rug it was on.