Toadie the Toad: A Shining Example of Wildlife Healing with Photizo Light Therapy
In recent decades, the UK’s common toad (Bufo bufo) has faced a serious decline, with numbers dropping by an alarming 68% in the last 30 years. Habitat loss, traffic, garden accidents, and even domestic cats are major contributors to this upsetting statistic. But thanks to compassionate veterinary professionals like Charlotte Busuttil, there's still hope for these underappreciated amphibians — and innovative treatments like Photobiomodulation (PBM) are playing an important role in their recovery.
Charlotte, a dedicated Registered Veterinary Nurse with a passion for exotic and wild species, has worked across the UK and abroad in zoological and wildlife settings. She currently volunteers with British Divers Marine Life Rescue and supports several wildlife rehab centres, all while championing sustainability and animal welfare.
Recently, Charlotte submitted a heartwarming — and inspiring — case about a little survivor known as Toadie.
Meet Toadie: A Lucky Escape
Toadie, a male common toad, was brought into Charlotte’s care after a traumatic accident left him with a severely injured hindlimb. Weighing just 24g, Toadie had suffered what’s known as a degloving injury — essentially, the skin and tissue of his hindfoot had been stripped away, likely due to a gardening mishap. The injury required surgical amputation of the remaining damaged area.
Despite the trauma, Toadie’s story is one of resilience — thanks to a carefully managed treatment plan that included surgery, pain relief, antibiotics, and Photobiomodulation therapy using the Photizo Vetcare unit.
How Photizo Helped
Photobiomodulation therapy (PBM) — often referred to as Red Light Therapy — uses specific wavelengths of light to stimulate the body’s natural healing processes. When light at certain wavelengths penetrates the skin, it interacts with cells and encourages increased cellular energy production (ATP), reduces inflammation, improves circulation, and helps accelerate tissue repair.
For a small and sensitive wild patient like Toadie, this non-invasive therapy was a perfect choice. Handling stress can be life-threatening for wild animals, so Charlotte made sure light therapy was administered during routine tasks like medication or enclosure cleaning — and even without handling at all, simply while Toadie sat peacefully in his recovery space.
The result? A calm, low-stress environment where healing could truly take place — and a much-improved outlook for Toadie’s recovery and eventual release.
A Wider Impact on Wildlife Care
More and more wildlife carers and veterinary professionals are reporting fantastic outcomes in wildlife cases using Photizo devices. From hedgehogs and birds to amphibians like Toadie, PBM is proving to be a gentle yet powerful tool in the treatment of injuries, infections, and chronic conditions — especially when stress must be kept to a minimum.
The Photizo unit offers a practical and accessible way to support tissue healing, reduce pain, and boost recovery time, even in delicate species. For animals that can't always tolerate medications or frequent handling, this light-based therapy is becoming a true game-changer.
A Big Thank You
We’re incredibly grateful to Charlotte Busuttil for sharing Toadie’s case with us. Her dedication to exotic and wild species is inspiring, and this story highlights how science, compassion, and innovation can come together to give even the smallest lives a second chance.
We’re wishing Toadie all the best as he continues his journey back in the wild — and hope that his story shines a light (quite literally!) on how Photobiomodulation is helping protect and heal our precious native wildlife.
Many thanks to Charlotte Busuttil for sending in this case study.
Charlotte, a member of AZEVN, has become a regular Photizo Case Buddy and has also submitted a fantastic report for Randy the goat at Buttercups Sanctuary.