Ribbit

A prince in disguise?

Every once in awhile, the cats will bring me a little lizard. About 99% of the time, I set it free unscathed, other than a missing tail. This morning, I heard some commotion out on the deck and then inside and figured I was gifted another lizard (or the occasional huge cockroach). I could tell it had gotten away, so decided I had some time to finish what I was doing before I looked for and saved the thing. Except that Jack pounced, came over, and dropped what he had in front of me. It was a toad. Yuck. I didn't realize these things could get to a second floor. I palmed it, put it outside, took its picture, and watched it hop off. When I came back inside (and washed my hands), my attention was drawn to Zura, who was sneezing. She slinked off, and I could see that one eye was squinted and watering.

When we were anchored in Luperon, Dominican Republic and dealing with fatal issues with our cat, Shaka, we had heard a lot of horror stories about dogs licking toads onshore and dying horribly from the poison (there are no vets for small animals in Luperon or anywhere near Luperon). Hoping this was not going to be Zura's fate, I went online to see what I should do and read that I should take her to the vet immediately; Florida had these deadly toads, too. Sh**. Of course, it was 6:30am. Accidents never happen during normal business hours. No one was open, and emergency services at the few clinics that offer them aren't available to new clients. How inconvenient. Memories of events in Luperon came flooding back - and they weren't good.

I didn't actually soak her this much.

The violent symptoms were supposed to be swift, severe, and possibly deadly, but luckily none of them were manifesting themselves. Online instructions were to rinse out Zura's eye and mouth, which was lots of fun. She was pretty lethargic when I picked her up (shock is a symptom - gulp), but she sure came to life when the water came at her! Where the heck was Michael when I needed him? More hands please! The good news was that she really did come to life. She stopped squinting (no eye dilation either) and became more herself. I decided I'd just keep an eye on her (and Jack). In order to take her to a vet (the one that opened earliest was all the way out on Stock Island), I'd have to freak her out on her 1st trip on a loud moped, surrounded by even louder traffic (which would increase her heart rate and circulate the poison around faster), or call an expensive cab. We have no income at the moment, so all I could see were dollar signs during this whole affair. Well, dollar signs and visions of a kitty burial (sniffle).

Although I was all prepared - carrying case out/medical papers at the ready/directions to the vet written down/sneakers on - I think we dodged a bullet on this one, although only time will tell. I now know I have to keep a closer eye on these two when they're on the deck. Luckily it's so hot right now, it's just a morning issue. You know, I think I'm going to go wash my hands again.

Per Accuweather

TS Chantal is no more, so we'll see if we get any weather from what's remaining. None of the weather sites are predicting more than a 50% chance of rain over the weekend, just the usual scattered thunderstorms (although forecasting is surprisingly inaccurate down here). Waterspout warnings are still being issued, so keep a lookout for these crazy things. Did I not just say that they rarely cause damage?! Well, one did in Antigua Tuesday (video). Scary!