Gizmo - Spider Bite
 

My foster, Gizmo, snapped at me when I went to pick him up this evening...well it is actually the next day now..but a few hours ago. He had a lump on the back of his neck and an open area that looked like an abcess. I was reminded of the recent threads about spider bites and looked at pics of Julia and Teddy Bear (two YT pups who had spider bites) and what he had looked like them. He then started having sudden diarrhea.

I just got home from the EC. Sure enough, they believe it is a recluse spider bite...they squeezed a bunch of pus and cottage cheese looking stuff. There also was some necrotic tissue that had sloughed off already. He told me that he is sure this is going to get much worse. All around is an area of blackened looking tissue. While it looked awful before I went, once they shaved it, it looked so much worse. :( You could see the one round open area before, but now after they squeezed it, the area is raw. :( Poor thing...it looks so uncomfortable.

They gave him an injection of Convenia and also a dose of Metacam. I am to apply warm compresses...and give Metacam once/daily.

Now I am creeped out thinking there is a recluse spider in this house. :( :(

I took a couple of pics with my cell phone...will try to get better pics tomorrow. You can see that at the top and bottom it is very dark.

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This picture shows where the necrosis is starting :(

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The EC vet said that it may need sutures after it is cleared up...and that it is good it is in the area that it is because there is excess skin.

Another spider bite!! Poor Gizmo. That looks pretty bad :(

Max's entire area is now black and I'm just waiting for the skin to flake off. Does Gizmo seem bothered by it? Itchy or anything? I was told by my pest control guy that black recluse spiders only live in very dark, damp areas.

Yeah, it's weird...all at once all of these bites. I did not know about Max until tonight....Cathy told me about him.

I am calling my pest control guy tomorrow. I am thinking maybe my garage might have spiders. I have seen spiders in my hallway and thought they might be coming from under the door to the garage. Gizmo sleeps in my master bath...it is not dark and damp there. :( I did not think they just bit like that...thought they had to be provoked. It's just weird. Not that it matters...have to treat it whatever it is. It is just so big...I knew that it was reddened..I could see that under his hair, but until the shaved it I had no idea how bad it looked. Ghastly. :( The vet is sure there will be a large hole.

Oh..and no....but he would have a hard time scratching it...it is in a spot I don't think he could reach. All I know is that it is very painful to him. Poor little guy.

Just seeing this, and want to send prayers and well wishes to Gizmo, and geez Linda, just when it looked like things were getting better around your place, another emergency.

So sorry, but glad you caught it and got him help quickly. Hope he recovers fully, and you are able to eradicate all spiders where ever they are.

Oh yes, max had a bite! What a disaster that was at the ER. yes, my pest control said the only place they could be (inside the house) is in the corners of the garage. He also said they are fairly rare here. I don't know what Max was bit by. There was no puss or anything that came out. And yes, he's going to eventually have a hole there too. Poor little dogs :(

The # of bites is a bit odd at this point. Thank goodness you read a couple of threads and knew what it was.

Yeah, it's crazy around here. I am going to eat lots of beans come January 1, 2014...supposed to be good luck.

Calling pest control tomorrow. The idea of these things in my house is really creepy.

Yes, the number of bites is really, really odd. If I had not read those threads, I might have waited until morning. Cannot imagine what it might have looked like by then. Thank goodness I saw those threads...and SO glad there were pictures.

I am sorry to disagree with your pest control man but they can be anywhere in the house. We set out sticky traps and catch them in every room here. LadyJane you should ask them to use the powder that goes inside the walls. It is the only thing that will kill a brown recluse and that way the pups can't get in it. Also set the traps under anything close to the wall the pups cant get to.

How terrible and poor Gizmo. That picture shows just how awful a bite can be.....Your year (2013) has been terrible. Prayers for you both.

On a different note, I think I will join you in eating anything that is suppose to be good luck in 2014. Isn't sauerkraut was one of those foods? Yummy, beans and sauerkraut.

And, gentle hugs to Gizmo.

Totally agree with you. We also have fought the battle here with the dreaded brown recluse. At first, we too, had pest control come to our house fighting these mean little monsters to no avail. Then we bought the sticky traps and put these under furniture and such in the attic, house and garage. It was sickening to see how many brown recluse spiders we caught in these glue traps. We continue using these traps, have done away with mulch up close to our house (this attracts these spiders), replaced the mulch with river rock. Also look for "dust" webs. The brown recluse has a very unique web that doesn't look like other spider webs. These spiders are very difficult to get shed of.

Yikes! Poor gizmo!!

Drione
 

This stuff works. Really. And it's fairly safe for a pesticide - you can spray (or puff it rather) into wall sockets etc.. We have used it for paper wasps where we couldn't get to the nest - after using two other method, we finally found this and it took one try. I recommend Drione over the Delta Dust based upon my research and our experience with Drione.

Amazon.com : 1 LB Drione Pest Insecticide Dust w/...
Specific directions on the Brown Recluse

How To Get Rid of Brown Recluse Spiders

How to Get Rid of Brown Recluse Spiders | PestMall Blog

Chemical Treatments for Brown Recluse Spiders
Dust Applications: The Brown Recluse spider isn't called a recluse for nothing. This spider prefers the secretive habitat of cracks and wall voids much more often than an indiscrete corner. Therefore, most of the treatments you will do for brown recluse spiders will involve a residual dust agent (we recommend Delta Dust Insecticide or Drione Dust) puffed into cracks and crevices, wall voids, behind outlet covers and switch plates, and underneath insulation. This is best done with a professional Hand Duster (Read our article on proper dusting techniques).
Video on how to use it:

Oh no, poor Gizmo. I hope he's feeling better.
Linda, I've heard that eating lentils on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck in the coming year.
Give Gizmo a get well hug!

Oh no poor Gizmo. This looks just horrible. Saying prayers for his recovery.

This really freaks me out. This is the time of year for spiders and spiders are one of the things that totally freak me out.

What kind of sticky traps should be used?? I may get some and put them under stuff.

Just seeing this. Poor Gizmo!!! I remember Julia's being that red hot with fever. She has a small scab still. And the whole area that was read is black now. So, like Teddy Bears mom, I'm waiting for it to start sloughing off. Julia slept for the first couple of days. Her whole leg hurt to be touched. After 2 days of anti biotics she was more herself. Did they give you an anti biotic to spray on the wound, also? I think that along with her pill formed ones made a big difference. I'll be praying for Gizmo and checking for updates.

These spiders are really scaring me now!! Never liked them to begin with!!

Wow! Another spider bite! I've read these are aggressive spiders, which means they do not need to be provoked to bite! I was bringing peepads in off the line in a hurry due to rain... when I started folding them a spider ran out! I screamed, DH was standing next to me and he jumped, lol! Grabbed a shoe real quick and got him... I think it was a wolf or grass spider though. I think I may spray around the perimeter of the house. I did that at the last rental we lived in, and didn't see a spider in the house for 5 years!

Hope Gizmo feels better soon.

(Thanks for the dust info!)

Linda I'm so sorry to hear about Gizmo. I'm praying for him. Glad you got him to the vet quickly. Poor little guy. The vet told me that Teddy Bear's bite was going to get awful too. She said it will get much worse before it got better. She told us his skin would die and leave a hole in his leg. None of that happened. They were so surprised to see it healing two days later when he went in for a check-up. So hopefully Gizmo will heal instead of getting worse too. The vet didn't even give us anything topical to put on it because she said th skin would die and it wouldn't help. The center of the bite was already black when i took him in. The next day i could already see that the lump was not quite as fiery red as it was the first day. I pray that Gizmo will heal quickly. Hugs..

Oh no! This is crazy, all of these spider bites. Poor Gizmo. Praying that your quick action will enable him to heal like Jean's Teddy Bear and not suffer the worst.

I think I told you my Teddy had a spider bite last year that gave him a large hunchback, but no broken skin. Not a brown recluse bite, but it took more than 3 weeks to go down.

We had a monthly exterminator here for years, but the spiders seemed almost immune. I'm going to look into the info that Impish posted.

Sorry about the wrong info! :o I expected to get a correct answer from a professional but after more research I see that he was totally wrong.

Brown recluse spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Brown recluse spiders build asymmetrical (irregular) webs that frequently include a shelter consisting of disorderly thread. They frequently build their webs in woodpiles and sheds, closets, garages, plenum spaces, cellars, and other places that are dry and generally undisturbed. When dwelling in human residences they seem to favor cardboard, possibly because it mimics the rotting tree bark which they inhabit naturally. They have also been encountered in shoes, inside dressers, in bed sheets of infrequently used beds, in clothes stacked or piled or left lying on the floor, inside work gloves, behind baseboards and pictures, in toilets, and near sources of warmth when ambient temperatures are lower than usual. Human-recluse contact often occurs when such isolated spaces are disturbed and the spider feels threatened. Unlike most web weavers, they leave these lairs at night to hunt. Males move around more when hunting than do females, which tend to remain nearer to their webs. The spider will hunt for firebrats, crickets, cockroaches, and other soft-bodied insects."

Hope Gizmo is doing ok. That looks awful. I sure hope since he was treated so quickly that he won't have much necrosis (like Doodlebug's Teddy Bear).

I thought of him several times during the night as this is one of the last threads I read before going to bed.

Prayers going out to Gizmo.

Poor Gizmo, that looks really awfully painful.:( I hope he'll feel better soon!
These spiders are so scary!:(

Omg, ANOTHER spider bite! Poor baby! I can't believe all these dang bites :(. We have brown recluse here too and it scares me. We do spray the house, but now I'm not even sure that the spray covers the recluse.

I am so sorry about Gizmo's spider bite. I agree, it seems like there has been a lot of spider bites lately. I know that we have had a terrible problem with spiders in our barn - not brown recluse, but spiders spiders everywhere! :(

Thank goodness you found it early!!! Poor Gizmo!

We use the glue mouse traps. You leave them flat don't for a box like the package suggests or the spiders just go over it. You can get them at Walmart for 2 dollars and its a package of 4.

Oh my gosh! Poor Gizmo! Poor Linda! What is next??? That just sounds awful. It seems like you get good news one week and then something like this happens. Like someone else said - I'll be glad when 2013 is over for you. Hope Gizmo feels better and the rest of your gang has an uneventful week!

Now this really freaks me out! In the toilet? :eek: My checklist just got longer!

Linda, I'm so sorry to hear about Gizmo's spider bite. The pictures look very painful. Poor baby. Hope he feels better very soon.

OMGosh! I can't believe I'm reading about another spider bite! This has been so scary! Poor Gizmo, his bite looks so painful. :( I'm praying for you little buddy.
Linda, I'm so sorry you and Gizmo's going through this. Thank God you're so vigilant on keeping a close eye on all your babies. ;)