Gizmo - Spider Bite

[ladyjane]

I took Gizmo to my vet this morning and again this afternoon. He is becoming a bit of a difficult case. He has no appetite .. no vomiting and no further episodes of diarrhea. She drained that thing again, but all of the infection is out of it .. she just flushed it out. This afternoon he started walking in a hunched position. Not sure exactly what is going on...his tummy is definitely tense but he also had some signs of back discomfort.....his lipase and amylase are elevated but that does not always mean a lot. All of his other labs are fine. She gave him fluids and cerenia and advised me to keep a close eye on him and take him to GCVS if the symptoms become worse. He is sleeping now finally...he had stayed awake all night and day. I am hoping he is feeling a bit better. If he is ok through the night, he will go back to my vet in the morning. Time will tell....
Poor baby. I hate this so much.
Oh..and the exterminator does not think it was a recluse spider. He said that he hardly ever sees them in this area. He did say that I could put the sticky pads down...that way we could see if there are any here. I just let it go....what are the chances of this happening again anyway?

I asked my vet if this could be something else and she told me it is a classic looking spider bite. *baffled*

[Maximo]

Poor Gizmo. I pray he gets his appetite back quickly and that his wound looks better in the morning. Glad to hear he is sleeping now.

All spider bites are bad, and I'm not surprised that more than the brown recluse can cause serious problems, especially for a small pup.

[MauiGirl]

Poor little guy, glad he is finally able to sleep, and hope he recovers from this scary bite. Prayers always going out to him, and all the others under your roof & care Linda.

[Doodlebug]

Teddy Bear walked in that hunched position too. He felt awful and looked so scared. We thought the drug Dapsone made him feel bad because the bottle said it May Cause Dizziness. So the vet took him off of that. He was also on Baytril. He had already been taking Metronidazole for diarrhea and they told us to keep him on it. He started getting better immediately. We thought he was hunched because of side effects from the drugs but who knows.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Doodlebug

Teddy Bear walked in that hunched position too. He felt awful and looked so scared. We thought the drug Dapsone made him feel bad because the bottle said it May Cause Dizziness. So the vet took him off of that. He was also on Baytril. He had already been taking Metronidazole for diarrhea and they told us to keep him on it. He started getting better immediately. We thought he was hunched because of side effects from the drugs but who knows.

Well, I am happy to hear this...maybe it is just normal then. I just woke him up and he ate a tiny bit of food...and I mean tiny! But...it's a start.

My vet was going to add Baytril, but then when she saw his blood count looked good, she decided not to. Hopefully the Convenia will do the trick.

[Britster]

YIKES that is horrible!! OMG... so scary!! Hope all ends up ok.

[ladyjane]

I was just giving night meds and treats and Gizmo came out for his!!! SO encouraging.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Britster

YIKES that is horrible!! OMG... so scary!! Hope all ends up ok.

Yes, it is quite an ugly looking thing. Thanks

[Doodlebug]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I was just giving night meds and treats and Gizmo came out for his!!! SO encouraging.

Yes!!!! I remember each time Teddy Bear showed even the tiniest sign of improvement I was so happy it brought tears to my eyes and prayers of thanks to my lips. The morning he jumped up in bed for morning kisses I was in heaven. I'm SO happy to see that Gizmo was interested enough in a treat to come out! Yay Gizmo!

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I took Gizmo to my vet this morning and again this afternoon. He is becoming a bit of a difficult case. He has no appetite .. no vomiting and no further episodes of diarrhea. She drained that thing again, but all of the infection is out of it .. she just flushed it out. This afternoon he started walking in a hunched position. Not sure exactly what is going on...his tummy is definitely tense but he also had some signs of back discomfort.....his lipase and amylase are elevated but that does not always mean a lot. All of his other labs are fine. She gave him fluids and cerenia and advised me to keep a close eye on him and take him to GCVS if the symptoms become worse. He is sleeping now finally...he had stayed awake all night and day. I am hoping he is feeling a bit better. If he is ok through the night, he will go back to my vet in the morning. Time will tell....
Poor baby. I hate this so much.
Oh..and the exterminator does not think it was a recluse spider. He said that he hardly ever sees them in this area. He did say that I could put the sticky pads down...that way we could see if there are any here. I just let it go....what are the chances of this happening again anyway?

I asked my vet if this could be something else and she told me it is a classic looking spider bite. *baffled*

Maybe ANY kind of spider bite....not a recluse....? Any way, since you live within "spitting" distance from me, after I read your post about the bite, I called my exterminator, and he told me the same thing yours said....very, very rarely spotted in this area. So, I went on line and bought $200.00 of professional chemicals and will be treating my own home, outside the foundation of the house, and garage. I got 3 different kinds, all of which were touted as effective for recluse spider control......a really toxic one that will be used only around the front of the house and in rooms the dogs can not get to, the attic, and the garage. The others are pet friendly and will be used inside the house where the dogs do run.....this is supposedly the very same chemical the pros use, non toxic to pets, for baseboards and inside cabinets..... and then one outside around the foundation of the house, in the backyard.....I cant put sticky traps down....if I caught one on a trap, I would walk out and never come back to this house.....and I would have to call the fire department to come pick the trap up and get rid of it!!!!!! HOPEFULLY, our exterminators are telling us the truth and we dont have them i this area!!!

[CouversMom]

Yikes! Poor boy... I'm glad his appetite has increased. I hope it heals up quickly!

[JasmineNoelle]

I forgot to mention we also got rid of all cardboard in the attic and now only use plastic storage bins with tight fitting lids. And we put all our shoes in plastic shoe boxes with lids. Getting rid of the mulch in the flower gardens really helped a lot too since it really attracts crickets which these spiders love. My husband and I have both been bitten by these brown recluse spiders in the past. They really can do quite a bit of damage.

I am praying for Gizmo for a complete recovery and also for you. It is so difficult to see our little ones suffer.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by JasmineNoelle

I forgot to mention we also got rid of all cardboard in the attic and now only use plastic storage bins with tight fitting lids. And we put all our shoes in plastic shoe boxes with lids. Getting rid of the mulch in the flower gardens really helped a lot too since it really attracts crickets which these spiders love. My husband and I have both been bitten by these brown recluse spiders in the past. They really can do quite a bit of damage.

I am praying for Gizmo for a complete recovery and also for you. It is so difficult to see our little ones suffer.

Very scary! I agree with getting rid of cardboard boxes for storage anywhere in the house. We did the same many years ago. They are big bug collectors. After all of this talk of spiders, I don't think I will have the courage to go in our crawl space ever again.

[Lisa and Pic]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I was just giving night meds and treats and Gizmo came out for his!!! SO encouraging.

Now that is positive! Hope he is even better this morning.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

Maybe ANY kind of spider bite....not a recluse....? Any way, since you live within "spitting" distance from me, after I read your post about the bite, I called my exterminator, and he told me the same thing yours said....very, very rarely spotted in this area. So, I went on line and bought $200.00 of professional chemicals and will be treating my own home, outside the foundation of the house, and garage. I got 3 different kinds, all of which were touted as effective for recluse spider control......a really toxic one that will be used only around the front of the house and in rooms the dogs can not get to, the attic, and the garage. The others are pet friendly and will be used inside the house where the dogs do run.....this is supposedly the very same chemical the pros use, non toxic to pets, for baseboards and inside cabinets..... and then one outside around the foundation of the house, in the backyard.....I cant put sticky traps down....if I caught one on a trap, I would walk out and never come back to this house.....and I would have to call the fire department to come pick the trap up and get rid of it!!!!!! HOPEFULLY, our exterminators are telling us the truth and we dont have them i this area!!!

You know, these guys can say what they want...if you google Houston spiders, the only two that come up constantly are black widow and recluse. Maybe our exterminators have not seen them yet, but that does not mean they are not here. After all they are named recluse for a reason!!

I hate pesticides...I give you credit if you can do that stuff...I would rather let them do it.