FYI

This:
And this:
Do not mix.

Since part of our door has fallen off, the local toads can now hop right into our living room. Of course, Zane thought we had brought home a new toy for him. So Jackie and I didn't think anything of it when Zane started to hop around after the little toad.

But we thought again about the whole thing when Zane actually caught the little toad. Who knew that toads here excrete a toxin on their skin to keep predators away?! Apparently Zane didn't know that, either. When he started foaming at the mouth, though, we knew something was not right. I have never seen a cat foam at the mouth, and I had no idea so much slobber could come out of one little kitty cat!

I went running over to the neighbor, who seems to know a lot about a lot of different things, including pet care. She suggested washing out Zane's mouth and then feeding him lots of milk. That's what she did when her cat (the white one with big teeth) ate rat poison and he's still alive.

So we grabbed Zane in all his slobbery glory and tried to wash his mouth out with a cloth and lots of water. You can imagine how well he liked that!

Then we tried syringing a bunch of milk down his throat, since he wouldn't drink anything (he was foaming too much!). You can also imagine how well he liked that!

Finally, he calmed down enough, drank some water, lapped up a ton of milk, and seemed no worse for the wear.

So Jackie and I settled down to watch a DVD. In the middle of the DVD, though, Zane started his nightly bathing ritual... and sure enough he started foaming at the mouth again! So we went through the whole thing - and figured that he must have had some toad toxin on his fur! So we rubbed him down with a wet cloth. And you can imagine how well he liked that!

I also got on the internet and found out that there are all sorts of things that can happen with toad toxin and cats - paralysis, convulsions, death... foaming at the mouth seemed the least of Zane's potential worries! But thankfully, today, he seemed just fine. He was a bit sick over night... won't give you the details of that, but we kept him in the porch, so at least the mess was a little contained!

And now, speaking of the cat, I'm going to go and see how he's doing!