Spider Bite?

[pebbles]

About three weeks ago Abby had a large soft lump with some bruising around it, come up inside her back leg. Off to the Vet. diagnosed as a bite, perhaps spider?, injections and 100mg AB twice a day. The lump came to a head, burst, a lot of dark reddish, slightly thick liquid oozed out, leaving a fair sized hole. This cleared up, cleanly. Still had 4 doses of the AB's which I continued. Two days later another smaller lump appeared near the same area, black bruising around it and quite hard on the edges. Phoned the Vet. as she would still have AB's in her system he said to keep an eye on it. This burst 2 days later, thin pink watery discharge. Yesterday there were three small spots on the outer edge of the last episode, more bruising and some very hard areas around it. To the Vet again today, another injection, more stronger AB's. Vet feels it a spider bite which is damaging the tissue, (necropsy? sp?) Vet suggests that it will just have to be hit with various AB's until one works. The site is sore to touch but Abby is her usual self. No temp at any time.

Anyone had anything like this or any clues?

eta spelling

Edited March 1, 2012 by pebbles

[Kirty]

Not sure sorry, but I would be getting her checked by a skin specialist. Who knows how much worse it is going to get - and there is a chance it wasn't a spider at all.

I had a cat get bitten by a spider on the tip of her ear recently. I think it was just a house spider or similar. All the hair on her ear fell out and it had pimply lumps all over it. It cleared up on its own in a few weeks.

[sandgrubber]

I don't have an answer. But if the best diagnosis you have is "spider bite?" you can be pretty sure the treatment offered is hit or miss.

I, personally, get nasty histamine reaction of some sort that creates swollen festering sores. They go away without treatment, though I dob them with various stuff (eg, peroxide, rubbing alcohol and other 'drying' and 'sterilizing' stuff). Tick larvae (or maybe 1st instars) have also caused pretty bad reactions for me (after pulling the little buggers out I get nasty swelling and hard spots).

Hopefully Abby's problem will clear up on its own. If it doesn't, I'd say keep looking until you find good understanding of the cause of the problem. I'd try web searching before going vet to vet. If it is a spider bite, I doubt antibiotics are helping as the problem is more likely a response of Abby's body chemistry than a bacterial infection.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I did have this happen with an old rescue Westie cross, she used to dig herself holes in the soil and spend hours there. It started off as a lump and then oozed and looked very sore. She had lots of treatment from the vet over a couple of weeks but unfortunately ended up having to have surgery to remove the skin. After that she ended up recovering but it was awful at the time, I just couldn't believe it.

My vet thought it was a white tailed spider most likely, I've never seen anything like it before or since.

[Christina]

I had a necrotising spider bite on my leg a few years ago. Looked like a blister, burst & then went black. Treatment was antibiotics plus a cream to apply 3 times daily, think it was an anti fungal but cant remember now. Had to have it checked every 5 days or so & it took about 8 weeks to heal. I would also get a 2nd opinion fast.

Red back spider bite on my dogs leg made her limp, vomit & have a small fit almost instantly. Nothing like what you are describing.

[pebbles]

I feel my Vet is on the right track with it being a bite, probably spider. I've done a lot of Googling and some things fit partially but not exactly. There's a few Vets within my 150k radius and after trying most and getting ridiculous results, one of which could have had very drastic results, I'm happy with the one I have now. He listens and discusses options so another opinion up here isn't likely.

Abby is on another course of strong AB's for 2 weeks so will see if they have any results, if not then another avenue will have to be explored. Damn it's getting worrying, dogs, who'd have them!

Another question - should I have her on anything to help her system with the overload of AB's? Meant to ask the Vet yesterday, forgot, and he's out chasing cows this morning.

[Skruffy n Flea]

i hope you're able to get it sorted pebbles :)

...

Another question - should I have her on anything to help her system with the overload of AB's? Meant to ask the Vet yesterday, forgot, and he's out chasing cows this morning.

when my wee guy was on a course of ABs, his vet recommended a course of [human] probiotics AFTER completing the ABs.

[pebbles]

Thanks S n F. Haven't been shopping yet so I'll leave that for now. The problem seems to be clearing up at the moment. Guess the answer will be when the latest AB's are finished.

[trifecta]

This sounds like it could be a white tailed spider bite. They like to hang out in linen cupboards & in between bed sheets. One could easily have found its way into the dog's bedding. I don't mean to put the wind up you but a friend of mine had a particularly nasty reaction to a white tail - she ended up with a huge crater in her back which needed cosmetic surgery - so definitely keep up with the ABs! Yes, natural yoghurt is good, as is protexin. The former definitely a cheaper option to the latter if it works for you (or your dog!).

Edited March 5, 2012 by trifecta