(photo from my stash - if it is yours, please let me know)
Isn't he cute? I love the toads in our yard, and routinely terrify the little buggers by insisting upon picking them up. The cat, Luna, also likes them, and likes to make them jump around by pouncing right next to them. Little did I know that if a cat LICKS a toad, it will froth at the mouth - kinda' like they've got rabies. That's right - rabies. So this morning, as I am leaving for work, the cat is sitting on the kitchen table, and Chris says
"Does it look like the cat is foaming at the mouth?"
Yup - sure enough - frothy like a mad-kitten. So - off to the vet - in a panic - we go. I was especially panic stricken because (bad cat owner!) her rabies shot was two weeks late. Well, the vets were rather amused. Especially since rabies shots allow for a teeny bit of overlap, to cover idiot pet owners like me. So now she is all shot-up-to-dated, and still a little frothy.
Two morals of this story: always keep your pets meds up to date, so you can just shrug and say "I wonder what amphibian the cat licked this time?" and "Bad kitty! Don't lick the toad!"
(photo courtesy of the Simpsons)
1 comment:
This blog was extremely helpful and saved us a trip to the vet. Thank you! While wandering around the yard under adult supervision Waffles the cat notices a small toad and decided to check it out. He touches the toad with his pad then lowers his head and the next thing is that he is backing up slowly with a string of foamy saliva hanging from his mouth. EWWWW! He does not seem to be freaking out about his condition but rather his body language is saying, "what is happening to me? I feel fine but what is this suff coming out of my mouth?" It was determined that he did not eat the toad as it hopped away after receiving its kitty kiss.
Trying to keep calm like the bewildered Waffles we decided to get on line and google "what happens when a cat licks a toad?" Well you know the rest of the story. We came across your fantastic blog and another that instructed us to "flush the cat's mouth out with water without drowning the cat."
We are blessed that Waffles likes to drink running watter. We filled a watering can and flushed him. After a few minutes he was back to normal and a trip to the vet was avoided. Thanks again for your blog.
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