Cats And Centipedes?

[voyager]

I really don't expect to get a knowledgeable answer on this because there are probably not many, if any, that are familiar with the situation.
But, I still have to ask the question.

We have a lot of centipedes in our area.
I have been concerned about our cats and centipede bites.
You know how they are with long wiggly things.
I know that a centipede bite can be very painful and cause some tissue damage in a human.
Photos of a bit toe look almost as if a toe could be lost.

I will admit that we don't see very many centipedes around anymore, since getting the cats.
Yesterday I saw an ad on CL, someone looking for someone to foster a couple of cats for a while.
In the ad he states: ...They love cockroaches and mice and especially centipedes. ...
We can attest to the hunting of cockroaches, and the mice equivalent rats, and other things, but centipedes caught my attention.

I went to You Tube and found a few cat vs/eats centipede videos


So, my question:
Are cats immune to centipede bites, or can they be harmed if bitten?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Although I could not find any instances of a cat being killed by a centipede in the continental USA, you are in Hawai'i, where I did, in fact, find one instance of a cat dying after being stung/bitten. I do NOT know exactly what kind of centipede it was, however.

 

[voyager]

Thanks for your response.
We have 3 types of centipedes that I know of, red, black, and blue.
Not very scientific, but you can tell what type you're dealing with.

The black are the most common.
We do find black ones on occasion in the house.
But, the house is a very unhospitible environment for them.
It is too dry.
They usually die by morning when they come in at night.
I do see them occasionally in the garage, and around the outside of the house.
We do occasionally have a smack fest when we find one in the house at night.
In my paranoia, I do shake my shoes out before putting them on, just like for scorpions in desert areas.
I assume the bites I hear about locally are from these kind.

I have seen a blue one while shoveling composted mulch into a yard trailer to distribute around the yard.
I have heard that they are the most toxic.

I have only seen a red one when on Kaua'i.
That one was in the shower with me and one in the bath tub before I got in.
We were on vacation before moving here.
Surprisingly, that was the trip we decided to move to Hawai'i.
I've heard that they are the least toxic.

The anecdotal toxicity of the different species is probably in reference to people not felines.

I used to spray an insecticide that is effective against centipedes around the house whenever we'd find them in the house.
I have not done so since acquiring the cats.
I'm afraid of poisoning the cats with it.
And more important, we haven't seen many around since the cats arrived.
That may be significant, not sure.
The cats may be hunting them and we're just not seeing it.
The video has somewhat allayed my worries, but not completely.
I just don't want to get up some morning to find a badly bitten cat needing care.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I know. With their drive to examine every little thing, they can get in trouble in the blink of any eye!