Toad

[descodave]

We live in the front part of HPP & have a toad visiting our lanai & eating our cats food in the evenings. How do we stop this? Is the toad a danger to our young cat? Thanks in advance?

[missydog1]

It's a bufo aka cane toad, and yes it can be dangerous if the cat bites it and gets its secretions in its mouth. They are poisonous in a hallucinogenic way. Look up toad licking as a drug high, I kid you not.

My cats have learned. Dogs are more likely to make themselves seriously ill or even to die, but I can't say they are safe for cats to be around.

They will not stop eating the cat food. You have to move the food where they cannot get it.

Of course you can wage war on the toad, but where there is one there are most likely a plethora of them. Wait until you hear their mating call. [:0]
Kathy

[loffelkopffl]

I just catch them and drive down the road a few miles and drop them off in the jungle

[lavarat]

I never had any problems with my cats and cane toads. I did make an observation. The toads would stay close to the cat food, not to eat the cat food, but to catch the flies that landed on it. I also stopped feeding them outside because it attracted other cats.

[terracore]

I usually just move them into the garden. Other than pet food they will eat anything that moves that fits into their mouths. I have heard that they eat coqui frogs, however I have not directly observed this.

If your pet gets a toad rinsing the mouth out seems to help. Your pet's mouth, not the toad's. You'll know if they bit a toad because your pet's mouth will turn into a saliva faucet and their breathing will be erratic, and eventually they might start hallucinating. Two of our dogs are proficient toad chasers and I think our outside dog is addicted.

[leilanidude]

Just kill them. They are poisonous and invasive.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I would get your toad a small used computer. Wait, hear me out. Then sign him up for an account on Punaweb with a user name like toadbrah.

Instead of eating your cat's food, he'll post all day about the greedy, lazy cat who steals HIS food, and how back in the day when he was the size of a coqui, his friends didn't make such a racket.

Of course, you run the risk that he'll start posting to Facebook or Craigslist, and then you'll have more trouble than you bargained for.

[punafish]

My dog licked one and was tripping till morning. It happened at dusk after heavy rain. (As a rule I don't let my dogs outside at night but got distracted.) I didn't know what had happened at first, and thought my dog was having a stroke. Thankfully he was/is big enough to absorb the dose and still live to bark another day. But I was a wreck! Keep your pets away from those evil bufo cane toads!

[fishenjim]

Cane toad documentary from Australia. Funny and informative.

[missydog1]

Well now I know why my toadbrahs try to come inside, looking for the wireless connection!
Mine are quite persistent about it. One time I saw one come in the cat door. I was shocked that a toad had figured out to jump against the clear plastic and push it in, but I saw it come through and plop down in the laundry room. Toad had not thought it through how to find he cat food once he got in though.

The cats no longer chase the toads. Their toad licking days were part of their wild youth. I've heard that dogs just don't learn that the toad high will take its toll of them. :-)

Kathy