Spider Bite and Kitties

[Alicia88]

So, I have a spider bite.  *To all the people who thought I was crazy for believing spiders were out to get me - told you!*  It got pretty nasty.  I'm too poor to go to the doctor blah blah blah but my mother is a licensed practical nurse and she's dealing with it.  It'll be fine.

My issue is, I don't know if the spider was in my apartment or somewhere else.  Could my boys in danger?  And is there a safe insecticide or bug bomb or anything that would kill any possible spiders without hurting my cats or us?

 

[elkie]

I'm sorry about your bite! I got a nasty spider bite a few years ago, it left a little pit in my leg.

Bug bombs really only work if there's an infestation, not really as a preventative... it's unlikely there's a ton of spiders in your apartment waiting to get your kitties. One probably just wandered inside on accident, and they could come inside after a bug bomb as well. I don't know of any spider repelling plants or anything like that. 

Personally, I'd just do a through investigation of all the nook and crannies.

 

[Alicia88]

Believe it or not, that looks MUCH better than it did a couple of days ago when I drove to the nursing home where my mom works and had her start doctoring me up.  A lot of people are saying it looks like a brown recluse bite.

My boys should feel special.  I got them neutered instead of having a doctor check out my arm.  They're worth it, though.  And my mother has been a nurse for 30+ years.  She probably knows just as much as a doctor by now.  The only downside is that she can't prescribe antibiotics.  It's definitely infected.  But my sister had a bite a few months ago and was giving a prescription strength antibiotic cream.  Mom brought that to me and there's still plenty left.

 

[elkie]

Mine looked a lot like that too. I hope it wasn't a brown recluse.. I've heard a lot of nasty spider bites are actually caused by bacteria and not from spider toxins. I hope it heals okay- try to get to the ER if you have other signs of infection! You can also buy amoxicillin meant for aquarium fish. I'm not recommending that though! It also sounds like you're in good hands.

I've heard diatomaceous earth kills spiders. You just sprinkle it around and then vacuum it up. Safe for you and the kitties. 

They're very lucky to have you! ^^

 

[Alicia88]

 
Mine looked a lot like that too. I hope it wasn't a brown recluse.. I've heard a lot of nasty spider bites are actually caused by bacteria and not from spider toxins. I hope it heals okay- try to get to the ER if you have other signs of infection! You can also buy amoxicillin meant for aquarium fish. I'm not recommending that though! It also sounds like you're in good hands.

I've heard diatomaceous earth kills spiders. You just sprinkle it around and then vacuum it up. Safe for you and the kitties. 

They're very lucky to have you! ^^

Yeah, I adore them.  If I go to the ER, I'll end up with like a thousand dollar bill.  But it's getting better.  The other day, I had arm pain all the way up to my elbow and could barely use my arm.  Now it just hurts a few inches around the bite.

 

[Willowy]

You can go to a walk-in clinic and it will be much, MUCH cheaper than the emergency room. The ER is only for chest pains, loss of consciousness, and unstoppable bleeding, or anything else that might kill you before you can get to the clinic. Or so my insurance tells me :lol3:. Walk-in clinics are for everything else. So if you really need treatment, give that a try!

This time of year all the creepy crawlies are starting to come inside. I just opened the back door to the let the dogs out and a ton of moths just flew in!

Hope you can get that treated soon. It looks scary!

 

[Alicia88]

You can go to a walk-in clinic and it will be much, MUCH cheaper than the emergency room. The ER is only for chest pains, loss of consciousness, and unstoppable bleeding, or anything else that might kill you before you can get to the clinic. Or so my insurance tells me

. Walk-in clinics are for everything else. So if you really need treatment, give that a try!

This time of year all the creepy crawlies are starting to come inside. I just opened the back door to the let the dogs out and a ton of moths just flew in!

Hope you can get that treated soon. It looks scary!

I don't think I'm going to see anyone.  It's on the mend, thanks to my mom.  And since I had to pay double to get the boys neutered by a different vet, I'm not sure how I'm gonna pay rent.  I'm a bit short.  So a doctor would make my financial situation even worse.

 

[Willowy]

Oh, sure, if you don't need to, no biggie. But dropping $100- $200 at a clinic is considerably cheaper than dying . Or ending up at the ER because it gets worse. But hopefully your mom can take care of it and you won't need to get any other treatment .

 

[Alicia88]

It's been steadily looking better.  If it starts getting worse again, I'll try to see about getting to the doctor.  My landlord seems like a pretty nice guy, so if it came down to it I feel like he would be understanding.  I haven't been late the entire time I've lived here, so that will probably help, too.  Anyway, I've always been the type to take care of everyone else and if I had any energy left over, to take care of myself.  And Connor and Murphy can't take care of themselves.  Well, maybe they could.  They're good pouncers.  But still.  Anyway, as long as my mom's been a nurse, she knows what she's doing.  She was a semester away from getting her RN when she had me.  My grandparents offered to take me until she graduated but she said I was hers and she would take care of me.  She went back several years later to get her LPN.

 

[Anne]

Ouch! 

What happens if you go to a walk-in clinic and can't pay? I guess they still have to treat you, right? (Sorry, not an American so not sure how this works). If it is a brown recluse bite, maybe you need some antibiotics, just to make sure this open wound doesn't get infected?

As for the cats, if they were to get bitten, they would probably show some limp for the first few hours/days and then they could develop the same kind of lesion as you have. What I would do to prevent that is basically scour the house for the spider. Brown recluse spiders are not that tiny and you should be able to spot it. We had one in our home last year and it had an web structure with tiny critters trapped in it (including small reptiles!)  Their egg sacks are so weird too, like some alien spiked blobs. Here's what it looked like in our home -

20151010_210433-1.jpg

• Anne
• Aug 27, 2016

I just trapped it with a glass and a piece of cardboard and released it outside away from our home, along with the strange egg sacks.

Try and look for that nest. I won't hold it against you if you decide to spray the mess rather than risk getting bitten again. The important thing would be to clear it out of your home, away from cats and humans, and make sure you don't have it hatch its eggs there.

 

[Alicia88]

I just trapped it with a glass and a piece of cardboard and released it outside away from our home, along with the strange egg sacks.

Try and look for that nest. I won't hold it against you if you decide to spray the mess rather than risk getting bitten again. The important thing would be to clear it out of your home, away from cats and humans, and make sure you don't have it hatch its eggs there.

If I see it, it will die.  I don't like spiders.  Never have.  I know we don't have anything like that in the apartment.  So it's highly possible (or even likely) that I didn't get the bite at home.  Most clinics want you to pay when you check in.  The emergency room would have to treat me, but then I'd have this ridiculously huge bill I can't pay.

It was already pretty infected.

Spider bite 1.jpg

• Alicia88
• Aug 28, 2016

That was the day before I let my mom have at it.  By the time I went to her, my whole forearm was red, hot, and swollen and it was even greener.  And my arm hurt from wrist to elbow.  I could barely use it.  Now most of the pain is gone - it only hurts at the bite itself and the redness has completely gone away.  It's looking much better than it was earlier today when I posted that other picture.  The swelling and heat are also gone.

It is possible I got bitten in the basement.  That's where the washer and dryer are.  The kittens never go there and I'll just have to be even more careful while I'm down there.  I think I'll call the landlord tomorrow and mention it and see if he can spray the basement or something.  Still, no guarantee that's where I got bit.  We played at several different parks with my future step daughter and went for walks around town.  There's really no telling unless I actually saw the nasty thing, but I didn't.

 

[kittyquestions]

I was also thinking of a walk-in clinic. I am not sure about your area but around here they can prescribe what you need while you are there and you can walk out with it. Also, maybe you can make a payment arrangement with their billing department as needed? 

 

[elkie]

If you didn't see it, it might not even be a spider! Spiders get such a bad rap... many other conditions can cause nectotic tissue like that. Spiders are very shy and would rather not bite you, unless you roll onto one when you're sleeping.. 

I like spiders, personally and your wound is looking quite good, I only suggested the ER in case you got symptoms like high fever.. others are right though, there are better options than the ER. Not all places have things like walk-in clinics and urgent care though.

 

[Alicia88]

I'm about as arachnaphobic as you can get.  And I swear they're out to get me.  Haha.  They don't run from me - they have been known to chase me  They're the main reason I like snakes.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

 

[tarasgirl06]

GOOD ON YOU for putting your boys first!  That's what we should all do, because they are in our care and they depend on us for everything.

That does look like a brown recluse bite.  I don't know about treating these, so it's good that your mom is expert.  

As for spiders in the environment, the best thing I can recommend is to be alert and to keep your environment very clean.  Spiders aren't "dirty" but a spider would be easier to spot, usually, in a clean, clutter-free environment; and because spiders eat other insects who may thrive in dirtier or cluttered places, it's just easier not to give them the option any more than you have to.  Spiders like dark corners and they do not go out of their way to come into contact with humans -- quite the opposite!  We get very few insects of any kind in the house, but any I see, I immediately look at to be sure they will not harm my loved ones or me; and I do not advocate killing any living being except those who would be a threat, not with chemicals which may also be extremely harmful to cats, but by using a swatter or other method of instantly dispatching them.  Any insect that is harmless, I try to catch and return to the outdoors.  

 

[neontheblackcat]

I REALLY would suggest getting that spider bite checked out. They can get BAD. If you really can't though, you might want to try reading this WHOLE article: http://www.healthline.com/health/brown-recluse-spider#Overview1  your's doesn't look very serious, so don't worry yourself to much, but it's better to be safe then sorry. If you're worried about the money though, you could explain the situation to your landlord (he sounds like he would be understanding) or you could ask your family or friends if you could borrow from them and pay them back later.

 

[Alicia88]

It did get bad before I took my arm to my mom.  My arm was swollen and painful from my wrist to my elbow.  But, I obeyed mother's orders and the infection is gone and it's healing.  I will check out that site, though.

 

[sherit]

I just posted my thoughts to you

Please do not get a bomb or treat the inside of your apt.

Pesticides are dangerous to cats, dogs, or you or birds..

They attack the central nervous system to my knowledge

and if they do that to a bug or spider then humans or pets

are going to suffer the same..ruined immune system or

death...

I use a Shark steamer for my tile and hardwood floors with the

terry cloth pads..I use 2 pads per room , flipping them over

wash them on gentle and hang to dry..once a week..

No fragrance in the distilled water you add to the shark steamer

machine...upright ..small sold at walmart or Lowe's etc and Home depot..

I vacumn a lot..the spiders hide in closets, under the bed

and in corners...so cleaning out your closets twice a year

and shaking and vacumning would be very good to prevent

a bunch of spiders in them...

If you must spray with pesticides only spray around outside doors and house..but  not where air will be returning in to your

apt or home...

There are sticky traps you can get..if you can keep them where the cats will not bite into them..

I know the vacumning and  also mopping with the Shark steamer works..

I have seen huge spiders come out from under my tile floors and stare at me...they are furious from the steam and the vibration of a vacumn cleaner...LOL

I am serious..

I just take paper towel and do what I have to do

and they are finished...

I have heard of 3 other people being bitten recently and also knew of a cat taken to the vet who almost died from an inside

brown recluse...spider...

These are my healthy suggestions..

Sheri T ,Lily and Bro

 

[Alicia88]

I used to have a Shark vac then steam and I ADORED it, but it was one of the many things I had to leave behind when I ran from a very abusive ex.  I left EVERYTHING behind except one suitcase full of clothes.  I just bought myself a new vacuum the other day.  A dirt devil something or other.

I really don't think the spider was inside at this point.  I haven't seen any sign of one.  I would almost bet it was in the basement.  My building has laundry facilities in the basement so I go down there a few times a week.  Or I used to, anyway.  Now the laundry is the boyfriend's job because I'm gonna be a chicken.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Hope you aren't trouble by spider(s) any more!  I got a Dirt Devil vac on their website, refurb, for really good price.  Has a HEPA filter, is bagless, and really cleans well.  I've had it for 7-8 years now and love it!  They have very good customer service, too.