How to know if your dog has an addiction to cane toad toxin
To humans they’re slimy wart covered pests to be avoided but to our four-legged friends cane toads are an irresistible source of toxic venom thought to trigger a euphoric altered state.
Cairns
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To humans they’re slimy wart covered pests to be avoided or nudged with a trusty nine iron, but to our four-legged friends cane toads are an irresistible source of toxic venom thought to trigger a euphoric altered state.
But too much of a good thing is never good and vets have warned small dogs during a Far North cane toad breeding season are at risk of ingesting a fatal dose of bufotoxin secreted or squirted from small glands behind the toad’s head.
Similar to the effect of eating gold top mushrooms on 90s era ravers, an ear-to-ear grin, bloodshot eyes, drooling, vomiting, dilated pupils and irregular heartbeat are all symptoms to look out for if you suspect your dog has been hitting the cane toad juice.
Though it’s impossible to know exactly what’s going on Freshwater vet Paul Matthews has decades of experience treating dogs for cane toad poisoning and reckons some dogs develop a taste for the psychotropic effects of cane toad poison and actively seek out the hopping amphibians.
“Once they ingest that white (substance) they stare and hallucinate and some dogs work out if they have the right amount they get high and the little buggers come back for more,” he said.
“I have seen some dogs have grand mal seizures and their start eyes rolling and they come in with blood red gums and they are totally oblivious to what is going on.
“There are no long term effects from toad poisoning, and there is no physical addiction as such, but some dogs seem to enjoy the experience.
“They will find them even if the cane toad is dormant.”
Dr Matthews said dogs with a strong prey drive such as jack russells, Australian terriers, border collies and kelpies are more prone to being poisoned.
Treating poisoned dogs is one of the more common after hours call outs for Cairns vets.
“It’s very common, people just need to be aware of it around dusk when dogs have finished having a snooze and they want to be active,” he said.
“It’s usually the dogs that have previous experience that succumb to it, but the larger dogs don’t throw themselves around or have seizures like the little ones do.”
EXPERT TOAD OPINION
James Cook University amphibian expert and biologist Lin Schwarzkopf said it was counterintuitive that dogs would potentially chase a psychotropic effect given an increased risk of being preyed upon by other animals, but tripping canines was a well-documented phenomena.
“It seems really weird that something like a wild animal would not try to keep its wits about them but I guess they are domesticated and are safe most of the time,” she said.
“There are other animals that do that kind of thing. Birds and elephants get drunk and fall about but it’s hard to know whether they are doing it on purpose.
“It’s very possible they don’t remember or connect the effects of the poison with the toad.
“I have heard that people have to keep their dogs inside and in cages to keep them away from toads and it does seem likely that they do seek that out.
“The main risk is death, the poison is really toxic and if they get too much they can die.”
Dr Schwarzkopf said no significant body of academic research had been undertaken to fully understand if dogs do actually become addicted to cane toad toxin but such investigations could be useful to pet owners and vets.
TREATING POISONED DOGS
Cane toads secrete a toxic cocktail of chemicals called bufadienolides; these include cardiotoxins and the hallucinogenic bufotenine. The toxins ooze in greatest concentration from parotid glands at the back of its neck but are also present on the toad’s skin.
Dr Matthews said pet owners who suspected their dog was suffering from cane toad poisoning the treatment was quite straightforward.
He said to administer emergency first aid by washing the dog’s mouth out with water but care should be taken not to panic and drown the animal by squirting water down the throat.
He said a safer method was to wipe out the mouth with a saturated cloth, keep the pet in a quiet darkened space and to allow the toxin to wear off.
“But if seizures occur a trip to a veterinarian is required,” he said.
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Originally published as How to know if your dog has an addiction to cane toad toxin
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