Dog - abdominal pain - eats lizards ?

Question

Oscar Dog   QUESTION: Hi Jana
Our 10 year old Staffordshire Cross [Jack Russell / Dachshund?] loves to "hunt" lizards in our garden.  When he is in "lizard mode" - nothing will distract him from the challenge of catching one!  Over the years he has spells when he suffers from acute abdominal pain - generally lasting from 6 to 48 hours and comes on very quickly [he seems fine one moment - and then within a few minutes is really uncomfortable].  No diagnosis expected from you - we have taken him to our vet on countless occasions in the past - including full ultra-sounds etc ... none of which have resulted in any clear diagnosis of a physiological condition].  We now simply give him pain relief tablets and a prescribed stomach relief tablet which settles his tummy within a few hours.  When he is in this condition his stomach makes squelching noises [almost like he is going to suffer from diarrhea - but doesn't].
I am now examining the possibility of a link between his periodic stomach ailment - and his favorite past-time - hunting "garden" lizards.  He does not [as far as we know] eat the entire lizard - but certainly bites it sufficiently to ingest some of its "juices".
Can you assist by pointing out where I can research the lizard link theory - or at least let me know whether I could be on the right track [or am wasting my time!]. Also any tips you may have on how we can discourage Oscar from pursuing his favorite past time?
Many thanks
John


ANSWER: Hi John,
can you tell me what Kind of lizards these are? Where I live we have blue bellied lizards which are indeed a hazard to cats. They carry a toxin in them that can make a cat sick for days and some even die from it. My own cat back in the 70s got very ill from eating them.

They (all lizards) contain a substance that makes vit b hard to absorb resulting in lack of thriving for cats. They can actually starve to death eating lizards.

Now for dogs, I am not sure how bb lizards can affect them. They make still be affected by the toxin even in biting them.

So if you can tell me what kind of lizard it is, that would help.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


South African indigeno   QUESTION: Hi Jana
I'm afraid I don't know [have tried hard to find source for proper identification].  I live in South Africa and we have a variety of what I would describe as common garden lizards [not exotics - although we also have the blue headed variety - but not seen in our garden].  I have uploaded an image obtained from the net of one of the varieties of lizard which Oscar has "munched".
Perhaps the answer will be to take a lizard which Oscar has "captured" to a local reptile expert and see what answers he/she can give?  The point is - are lizards commonly "toxic" as a defence mechanism [I have found articles that suggest they commonly carry Salmonella bacteria - that may even explain the stomach discomfort?!
Special thanks for you VERY prompt response.
Kind regards
John


Answer
I'm not sure that all lizards are toxic but that looks like our common alligator lizard. Again, they do carry various substances to make them less appetizing to the predator so it wouldn't surprise me that he is getting sick from them.

Toads of course are very toxic to dogs and cause fatalities yearly.
I would keep a log if I were you about when he has these episodes and see if they correlate with lizard biting. Another thing to watch for is that if Oscar gets table scraps he could be getting a gut ache from eating fat and having mild pancreatitis attacks.  These are not harmless and can escalate to a fatal status themselves.

So don't feed him table scraps and watch for lizard biting to see if that is when he is sick.
I looked everywhere for more information on whether or not lizards were toxic to dogs and found nothing of note.

Thanks for the great feedback!
I hope Oscar does well and lives a long and happy, Frisbee jumping life!