I"m not sure what *kind* lizards you have in Fla. but my Frank eats lizards all
the time. I am in the south/central US, and I'm talking about the small striped
ones..I think they're actually called "skanks" or something. Try googling for
an ID on the specific ones you're kitty's catching.
Sherry

 I have never heard of any small lizard being poisonous to eat.   Many of
the lizards we saw when we were in Florida were Anoles - one was a native
species the other was an imported Cuban species.  There might be something
worse than lizards out there that could make your cat sick or injure him.
If you want to comfirm - you will need a new Vet anyway - call a local vet,
they will know of the dangers in the region.

 Personally I like having lizards in my backyard.  We, my cat and I, watch
them along with the birds.  He doesn't go out.

 Linda

 > Having just relocated to Fl. three weeks ago, my cat has just discovered
the
 > lizards & is driving us nuts wanting to go out all day long to chase
them.
 > We only let him out when someone is outside with him.  A friend told us
that
 > the lizards are poisonous for them to eat.  Is this true?  I'm getting
tired
 > of staying out with him all the time & would prefer to leave him alone
 > outside for an hour or so at a time.(the back yard is fenced in).

They are anoles. My cats have eaten about 300 of them. They are
generally puked up at a later date. Get used to seeing skeletons in
their yurrp. Other than that, I have seen no harm done. FWIW, my cats
have generally learned that anoles not make great eating (fun to
chase, but not to eat).

Dr. Dickie
Skepticult member in good standing #394-00596-438
Poking kooks with a pointy stick
====================================
"Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream"
Wallace Stevens-1923
=====================================

I doubt it, but I would strongly encourage them to stay away from the
lizards that are 6 feet long and have long pointy teeth ;-)

I live in the Orlando, FL area. A friend of mine had 2 of 4 cats get very
sick. Everyone had access to same food, water,etc. AND the screened in
porch. After many tests they decided to do a stool culture, which normally
doesn't show anything, and found salmonella. Some lizards carry it and the
vet figured the 2 sick ones shared a bad lizard. There is no way to stop all
of the lizards from coming into the house, yard, porch, pool area. Just be
aware, if they get sick with diarrhea and throwing up to have the vet do a
stool culture if nothing else shows up.

After having read all the responses (so far) I concur that most of the small
lizards are harmless unless they are personally infected with something.
The common ones that change color from green to brown when they change
immediate locations are a great source of feline enjoyment.  Mine love to
watch them through the screened-in patio enclosure.

However, lizards may be the least of your concerns:  If you are not
accustomed to the southland, be advised that the lawn is flea haven.  Fleas
live on the animal but lay their eggs and hatch in the grass. Just a casual
pass through by a cat will attract more fleas than you can count on both
hands and feet.

If at all possible, it is best to keep an inside cat *inside*; as otherwise,
they will bring the fleas into the house.  Then you will have flea eggs in
the carpet and soon an inside-the-house flea infestation.

--Geno

I found this and thought you might be verrrrry interested....Jax

The Internet Vet Column
Fri, Feb 24 1995

Another Internet Vet Column guest authored by Dr. Derek Duval.

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Lori May in Florida wrote:
"I noticed in the latest issue that Dr. Duval has an interest in feline liver
disease. I live in Florida and one of the problems we have here is with cats
catching the little lizards that live everywhere. Apparently these lizards
carry some kind of liver fluke that can be fatal to cats. My vet has warned
me not to let my cats catch these lizards, but that's easier said than done.
My cats are strictly indoor cats, but do sometimes go out into the screen
porch. We do get lizards inside the house also. One of my colleagues here at
work recently lost his cat to liver flukes. By the time he noticed there was
a problem the cat was very jaundiced and died within a few days. He was given
some kind of medication by his vet but it was too late.
Finally, my question. What symptoms should I be looking for in my cats if
they do have liver flukes? Is there a blood test to see if they have them? If
they do catch them is there any medication that can help?"

Well, I must say that I appreciate getting asked questions about my interests.
No one wrote about iron deficiency (which may be a bit too esoteric) but I'll
answer the other questions anyway.
Lori May asked about liver flukes and lizards. Actually this incorperates two
areas of interest for me (lizards being the second). The fluke in question is
Playtnosomum concinnum. Flukes are trematode parasites related to tapeworms.
These parasites have wonderfully complex lifestyles that use intermediate
hosts. In this sense they are "primitive" parasites. More "modern" parasites
devloped the ability to use the same host as both the final and intermediate
host. Round worms for instance are ingested and migrate through the body
(liver and lungs) on the way to the instestines. The migration is similar to
the intermediate host in the "primitive" parasites.

Playtnosomum fluke eggs are passed in the feces of infected cats. The eggs
are ingested by free ranging land snails. The fluke develops in this first
intermediate host before the snail is ingested by the second intermediate
host, either a toad, snake or lizard. In the lizard (or other intermediate)
the fluke develops to the stage infective to the cat. The cat then eats the
second intermediate host. The flukes migrate to the common bile duct (which
empties the gall bladder into the small intestine) and migrate into the gall
bladder and bile ducts in the liver. The flukes can cause serious liver
damage and damage to the bile system. Chronic disease can cause severe liver
fibrosis and liver failure. Obstruction of the bile ducts can lead to
obstructive liver disease and liver failure.

Clinical signs associated with Platynosomum infection are icterus (a yellow
or jaundiced collor of the skin), vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, weight loss,
depression and death. The clinical signs depend on the number and location of
the flukes. The fluke eggs can be detected in the feces of effected cats. If
the bile duct is completely obstructed eggs may not be passed in the feces.
The flukes are difficult to kill the most common drug is Droncit
(praziquantel) and a higher dose (than used for tape worms) must be used.

The best preventative is to keep lizards out of reach. In cats that go
outside in Florida it is estimated that up to 50% are infected. These cats
may or may not have signs depending on number and site of the parasites.

There are also reports in the Southeast about lizard toxicity. The so-called
blue tailed skink is most often incriminated. It is not clear if these
lizards cause liver disease in their own right or are merely intermediate
hosts of the flukes. Although the only poisonous lizards in the United States
are the Gila monster and the Mexican Beaded lizard, other lizards may be
"toxic" if ingested. The juvenile forms of many lizards have blue tipped
tails and may be generically refered to as blue tailed skinks. Luckily, the
lizards tend to be fleet of foot and often escape ingestion.

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Suzanne wrote:
"My three year old Tonkinese has developed what my vet calls a vesticular
problem. Many times after she shakes her head her eyes begin to move back and
forth very rapidly. She will crouch low to the ground and/or move around in
circles. This behavior usually lasts no more than 15 seconds, and she seems
to have no residual effects. For example, sometimes immediately following an
episode she will chase or be chased around the house by my one year old Tonk,
or they will "rough-house" on the floor. The episodes seem to be triggered
only by headshaking..... I am seeking any advice or recommendations that you
may have...."
The vestibular system tells the body where up is and how to get there. This
is the system affected when you try to read in the car (or on the roller
coaster) that makes you or your pet (if they ride roller coasters) feel ill.
The common signs of vestibular problems are a head tilt, circling to one side,
loss of balance, nystagmus (a side to side eye movement) and vomiting. Indeed
many drugs for vomiting work with the vestibular system (such as dramamine).
Diseases that cause vestibular signs are infections and masses in the ear,
infections and masses in the brain, toxins (metronidazole/flagyl being the
best known), congenital causes, and idiopathic causes. Inner ear disease is
the most common cause and should be investigated with an ear exam and swab.
Other signs of ear disease include head shaking, scratching at the ear, and
an odor from the ear.
Idiopathic (latin for who-knows-why) vestibular disease can occur in cats and
dogs and usually goes away on its own. Since brain tumors are a possible
cause, the workup for vestibular disease can be long and complicated. More
than once, my patients have had the good sense to get better before I knew
why they had vestibular disease.

The form of vestibular disease that Suzanne had asked about was the
congential syndrome with nystagmus in Siamese and other breed cats. This is a
harmless defect where their eyes move from side to side. These cats do not
usually have any other signs of vestibular disease. Since her cat was shaking
his head as well, I recommend that ear disease (mites, yeast, ...) be ruled
out. If it indeed is the hereditary form it will not cause any problems, but
make for an interesting conversation piece.

Derek Duval, VMD Philaldelphia, PA

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Article is Copyright © 1995 by the Author and Cindy Tittle Moore

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DISCLAIMER: One of our concerns in writing a column like this is that we are
not seeing the animal, and what we get from folks in ASCII isn't always going
to be the whole story. So we cannot provide diagnoses, or really tell you to
ignore or treat a given problem. We hope the information provided guides you
in making good health care decisions for your pets.

Welcome to Florida, land of the critters.  I don't know if the lizards are a
problem but the green frogs are poisonous and I spent an evening at the vet
hospital with a friend and there was a dog there that had eaten a toad and
was having serious problems.  Also there are all manner of poisonous snakes,
fire ants, black widow spiders, and scorpions.  My babies get to go out in
the screened pool area but only if closely supervised.