Friday Toad Blogging
Another Freeloader
Whireeeeeeee!
[Editor: This Southern Toad [Anaxyrus terrestris] reluctantly moved out of the cat food when I approached. They eat bugs, so I don’t object too much.]
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11 comments
What a handsome little guy! Let me kiss him…
Hmmm…
Reminds me of a joke from my coding days… 😉
What a handsome fellow!
Don’t let the drawl fool you, Jill, he will never be a prince. Come on, he eats cat food! He has mackerel breath!
Well, Kryten, it would depend on what the princess knows about device drivers 😉
Fortunately, as a toad, Jams, he doesn’t jump, he just sort of ambles about, so the cats aren’t interested. They would regret handling him, as with all toads, he is slightly poisonous.
Has mackeral breath? Hey…sounds like my last boyfriend gone bad.
He was chowing down on the stuff I cook for the feral cats, in this case rice, vitamins, brewer’s yeast, garlic powder, vegetable oil, and canned mackerel. The smell in an enclosed space is rather overpowering, but it’s protein and the cats seem to like it.
Sound like a recipe for happy kitties. But garlic’s not good food for them.
Onions and Garlic are Toxic to Cats and Dogs
Nice toad! When we were kids, we used to play with them… probably because they were cute, and they were easy to catch. It’s funny that he likes to eat the cat food. Poor kitties. It reminds me of some movie, don’t remember which one… the toad stayed in the dog food and the dog was all blurry because of licking it. What was that movie? I think it had Tim Allen in it. Perhaps, it’s the one where he saved the world. PaintedJaguar points out that onions and garlic are toxic to cats and dogs. My ex always stuck a couple garlic capsules down the dog’s throat to deworm her. She’s still going strong, and she’s an old dog, now. I guess it has something to do with how much, maybe, to be toxic?
The plants are toxic, I use some garlic powder which, with the brewer’s yeast is reputed to be a flea bane. It’s more for the odor than anything else.
I also use chicken livers instead of mackerel occasionally, but you can’t do it often because vitamin A builds up.
The key is variety .
All toads and frogs exude poisons which can affect pets and people, so you should wash your hands after you handle them.
I also used to give brewer’s yeast. One of my kitties thought of his yeast pills as kitty treats.
“Onions contain a substance (N-propyl disulphide) which destroys red blood cells in the cat, causing a form of anemia called Heinz body anemia. Garlic contains a similar substance in a lesser amount. Cooking or dehydrating these foods doesn’t eliminate the risk, so powders and products containing them such as cooking mixes, dietary supplements, and processed snacks are equally dangerous to pets.
Allium species toxicosis can be caused by either a single large ingestion or the cumulative effects of regular small doses.”
Harmful dosages seem not to be known, but would of course be idiosyncratic like any food or drug.
So… when you say you use garlic mainly for the odor… is that supposed to cover up the mackerel breath, or is it that you just like that garlicky kitty smell? (assuming it comes out their skin and lungs as with humans)
It isn’t for me, it is for the fleas, they don’t like the odor. Actually real lavender is also supposed to be good, but I can’t get it to grow around the house outside even when I fill trenches with potting soil. I have tried the three sides that get sunlight, but I suspect that whatever the yard guy uses on the grass is killing them and just about everything else I try to plant.
The cats get kibble, canned, and the rice, so the amount is minimal. Given the effects of fleas on the feral cats, the risks outweigh the benefits.
Actually, tonight there was a young possum eating the rice, rather than the toad, so I’m not sure exactly how much they really eat.