We are recently seeing a lot of dogs suffering with ‘toad poisoning’ so I thought I had better refresh your memory on what this emergency is all about. In my mind, the toad poisoning emergency mostly occurs in the evening, as owners are letting their pups out for the last pee before bedtime, on a rainy night.

But this year we have seen such little rain and yet there has been a spike in the occurrence of toad poisonings. It got me thinking about why that is.

Maybe the toads are moving around more looking for water, so they are more noticeable to our doggy friends?

Maybe the hotter weather makes them more active, especially in the evening times when the sun is going down?

Another interesting anecdotal observation I have made this season is that the neurotoxin they release seems to be getting more potent.

I asked the other vets in the clinic, and they also agreed that they thought the toxins were gaining in strength.

This is bad news for doggy owners, especially small terrier-type dogs which seem to be overrepresented.

Whatever the reason, toads are certainly attractive to inquisitive dogs who disturb them, and they pack a powerful punch in self-defense.

If the dog bites or licks the toad, the toad responds by releasing a neurotoxin, which is absorbed through the gums and soft tissues of the dog’s mouth and rapidly enters the bloodstream.

In mild cases, the affected dog looks a bit ‘spaced out’ and wobbly, the gums go brick red in colour and the eyes become fixed and staring.

In more extreme cases they can go into a full-blown seizure and even occasionally die.

As with so many things in veterinary medicine, prevention is better than cure, so what is the best way to prevent our pups from poking with a toad?

The easiest way is to take your dog out for their last pee before bedtime on a leash, so you see the toad at the same time they do and call them away.

I would have said to do this on rainy nights before this season, but now I would say every night as I have seen many toad poisonings happen on very dry nights too this year.

If your dog does grab a toad, quickly rinse their mouth out with a face cloth soaked in water, washing away all the slime that gathers around their gums.

Keep soaking the cloth in fresh water and repeat this wiping of the mouth and gums until no more slime is present.

In the veterinary world we say, ‘The solution to pollution is dilution’ and that is particularly true with a toad poisoning.

Once you have rinsed and limited the amount of neurotoxin entering your dog’s body, call the vet so they can decide what is needed next.

You might think that one bite would put your pup off toads for life, but it seems the hallucinogenic effects of the neurotoxin may be addictive to some dogs, who can become repeat offenders.

So be on your guard with these intriguing amphibians, they may not be as comical as they look.

• Lucy Richardson graduated from Edinburgh University in 2005. She started CedarTree Vets in August 2012 with her husband, Mark. They live at the practice with their two children, Ray and Stella, and their dog, two cats and two guinea pigs. She is also the FEI national head veterinarian for Bermuda