Sandy, I've just read this terrible tragedy of your beautiful beautiful girl I'm so sorry for your loss

R.I.P beautiful meika xxxxx

Thinking of you.

I'm thinking of you tonight, Sandy. You're still very much in my prayers.

That's such sad news, I'm sorry for your loss. Rest in Peace Meika.

That is beautiful, thank you. I so long for peace, and know it will come.

I am so very sorry.....I cry with you...I am so very very sorry. I know how your heart aches, I know how this feels and I can only tell you that soon good memories will wash away this horrible pain....

Yes, some changes will be made due to mishandling of my emergency call.

The receptionist who put me on hold 3 times, until I finally yelled out "don't put me on hold, help me, my dog is dying", hopefully will think twice before hitting the hold button. She also gave me wrong information, said that there was a mobile vet she would try to get ahold of to meet me, but she didn't have his number, said she didn't have the number of either of the vets who were off on Sunday and she'd have to get them from her manager. She then went on to make me aware that the cost of an ER visit was $105, and I yelled "I don't care what you charge, just have a vet on call ready to treat her the minute I walk in the door. Desperate, I told her I had washed Meika's mouth out and was going to start driving, and to call me if there was anything else I could do. Two vets called me on the road and confirmed there was nothing else I could do but drive.

So, the manager has assured me that the only information she should have given in a toad poisoning was to wash the mouth and nose.... and drive to vet, period. That should happen in the future. I do realize in this case that even the few minutes wasted on the phone in confusion, would not have helped Meika on a Sunday, when the nearest care is an hour away.

Yes, Meika will help other pets get proper emergency attention in the future, so for that I am glad. Also, in case one of my other fur kids needs help, we hopefully won't have to go thru all that.

I also agreed to share all my research into what is the best way to clean the slimy toxic goo off a dog's mouth (water, soap, or some say olive oil), some say there is a danger of aspiration with water, and some people even say to coat the mouth with Pepto Bismol. I will look into it all further, especially with vets in Florida where these Bufos exist, and in Australia. For now though, I have to let it rest and not continually read.

Hugs to you all, my angels who help me face each new day with out Meika.

Reading your post made me sick to my stomach. I am so very sorry Sandy. I cannot imagine the terror. :(

One of my favorite quotes: “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” You are in my prayers...one day your good memories will help you find peace and heal your pain....we never forget but it does get easier.

Linda, that quote is so true.

Meika was such a complex little soul, I do have many amazing memories of her in her five short years. The other 3 fur girls are still adjusting too. Meika was definitely the leader here, she woke everybody up and led the pack out to potty, then to the kitchen where they would all eagerly eat their breakfast. I'm having a hard time getting them all to go outside, and they are not eating much or regularly. When Meika was here they all finished breakfast quickly because if they didn't, she would. Now food just sits there.

All 3 stick to me like glue, especially in bed. Kayla and Karlee are sisters and play with each other but not with Tiki. Tiki and Meika used to play chase and go outside more to check things out and bark. It's a lot quieter now. I hope that K & K will include Tiki in play too. It's all a little weird now, but it has only been a week since she left us.

Lynzy, I've missed you; glad to see you back. Sad that we are both grieving loss of our special girls, and I with I could fast forward to the place where it gets better. Thanks for your thoughts.

Aw! Poor Tiki. I hope her sisters include her soon. When my Tink was in the hospital for a week mine acted like I did something with her. She's the toy hoarder, but no one would touch a toy with her away. I stepped on a squeaky one time and they all thought Tink was back! They ran around the house in search of her for a while.

I think with Peek being so much older they're not too affected, although they know when I'm upset. I also left the blanket he passed in on the floor for them to sniff, so I think they know. I cried after reading your post and Tink, who is mostly a nutjob and off-the-hook, came over to me and looked me right in the eyes and wanted me to hold her, I did, and she put her face right up to mine and gave me the most delicate kisses I've ever got from a dog... I could barely feel her tongue on my cheek. And that made me cry some more.

After 2 weeks I thought I was done crying, everyday anyway. Then it went to every other day. I remember my face and sinuses hurting after the first week from all my tears. Remember to drink plenty of water, a lot of crying can dehydrate you.

Hugs... K

Sandy I'm just heartbroken for you. Hugs to you my friend :(

I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Grief takes it's toll on your health so take time to care for yourself.

Hope you are doing okay, Sandy, and getting some rest.

Oh my gosh, I am SO very sorry:unlove: Sending you hugs!

Sweetie, for You
 

Such a sweet remembrance!

Tiki must feel so lost without her big sis. :(

Lisa I saw that you made a donation to Yorkie Haven Rescue in memory of Meika, and wanted to say thank you so much. What a lovely way to memorialize Meika, that was so sweet.

Today is a little more calm and 3 furgirls and I are feeling loved and supported by all of you.

We are trying to adapt to the new smaller pack, and I'm giving Tiki lots of extra attention, which she needs and loves. Without Meika to play with, I will be her best buddy and take her more places with me, etc. where before I felt they were better off at home keeping each other company. Tiki kind of lived in Meika's shadow, and now is her time to be top dog and shine.

Kayla and Karlee (sisters) are buddied up as usual, and doing ok. Meika also played with them a lot, but they still have each other.

We still search for toads daily, and have only found one small one in a week and of course disposed of it. I've started letting the pups go out more again, as I know I can't make them live in a bubble forever.

Thank you all for your healing thoughts, and helping me get through this.

You sound better, less frantic, and that's good that you've gotten to this point though I know the pain is still bad in every way. I'm glad you are giving extra everything to Tiki and helping her through the adjustment. You know she must wonder what happened to her Meika and why she's not there for her. I'm sure she will love her top dog status and blossom now. Living with those all the scary things out there that can hurt our dogs is just the worst and it seems unthinkable that you've found a second one! My goodness - even a small one is awful. I wish exterminators or someone could find ways to treat the yard for those things or find some sort of preventative or some animal that hunts them down so you didn't have to keep searching them out and disposing of them before every outing. I hate that you have to live like that, Sandy.

I'm sure glad you have your furry little three-pack and all the love that comes with them. That's got to make it better to have those sweet babies there trying to make Mommie feel better and comfort her and make her laugh. I pray these next weeks and months slowly heal you and your heart feels lighter before too long.

Oh Sandy, I'm so very sorry. How horrible to loose her in that manner.

Sandy, Im so sorry to hear of your loss.

toad
 

I finally caught a huge toad near the pool pump today, with the help of the gardener we scooped it in a bucket and put a lid on it.

It very likely is the one that killed Meika, and I am relieved to have it gone, but I know there may be more, so I will keep looking. It's hard to believe that one lousy toad could kill my baby Meika..... and made me mad and crying all over again.

Please warn people to be aware of these, especially in South Florida, Australia, and Hawaii. There is more info here: Poisonous Bufo Toads Can Kill Your Dog | For The Love of My Dogs

Those horrible bufo marinus toads (aka cane toads) also live in South Texas along the border, and surely all the way south through eastern Mexico, Central America, all the way to the Amazon (where they originated). There is another species, bufo alvarius (Colorado River toad), that can kill too, and they're in northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, and a couple of other places. My girl got poisoned by a bufo speciosus (Texas toad) a couple of months ago and got pretty sick, but those aren't known to kill. I see the bufo speciosus all the time at sunset and sunrise in the San Antonio, Texas area during the summer, so I have Cookie on a leash always when the sun isn't out. But the one in January that Cookie got to tripped me up because it was out about noon, hiding in a really shady and cool corner between a planter and a trash can on a warm day.

They actually imported them to Hawaii in 1930's to control pests in the cane fields. They do eat centipedes etc., but not worth the trade off of killing dogs and pets. One article says they can even kill alligators, so it's not just toxic to the small pets.

Well Sandy I guess there's at least one advantage with living in Illinois, no Bufo Toads. I honestly had never heard of these toads before. Thanks for spreading the word to anyone that will listen, we all must watch our babies carefully...they can be snatched away from us within minutes. Such a tragedy. Missing Meika, thinking about you.

I read a lot about this toad after you wrote about this. He is a few ways of getting rid of them

Trap and Eliminate Bufo Marinus Toads | For The Love of My Dogs


I am sorry that this happen and I hope that everyone takes notice and learns from this tragedy. I hugged Galen a little closer. I also send lots of hugs and puppy kisses to you and your pack during this sad time.

Same way they got into Florida :(

I think bufo and toad are redundant; I think bufo just means toad. But everything about Sandy's description screams bufo marinus. Huge toad, big poison glands, and then the location. I remember as a kid in school learning about the super toxic toads in the Amazon that were used to poison arrow-heads and such, and then come to find out that exact toad is in the US. :(