Is OBT venom potent enough to kill a cat?

troglodyte

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
178
You may have seen my post about an OBT on the loose in my house... I'm curious whether or not I need to find a foster home for my mammals. I've looked EVERYWHERE and this T is nowhere to be found. My cats either killed it and ate it(???) or it fell and crawled off somewhere to die or it's just REALLY GOOD at hiding. Which wouldn't be surprising because my house is a disaster.
 

runnergirl

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
22
Don't know, hasn't been studied. They're known to be rather sensitive to widow venom, but..... they could have a hypersensitivity reaction to it that's species specific, or they may be nearly immune.

You'll read stuff about it not being possible to be allergic to tarantula venom because something about it being made up of peptides and not proteins....except for peptides are just parts of proteins, so,......I wouldn't count on it. And there are four different categories of hypersensitivity reactions, not just one "allergy", so, there's lots of mechanisms through which it could work - not all mediated by histamine, particularly in the cat, who likes serotonin in some of their immune cells.

I wouldn't be too upset about the cats, though, the possibility of them suffering an attack is directly related to their looking for the spider. And quite frankly, you should be EXQUISITE attention to what they're doing because being the little hunters they are, they are VERY good at finding lost little creatures for you.

Sherry
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
368
This probably won't make you feel any better...

Bites by spiders of the family Theraphosidae in humans and canines.Isbister GK, Seymour JE, Gray MR, Raven RJ.
Discipline of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Newcastle, Waratah, NSW 2298, Australia. gsbite@bigpond.com

Spiders of the family Theraphosidae occur throughout most tropical regions of the world. There have only been three case reports of bites by these spiders in Australia. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical effects of bites by Australian theraphosid spiders in both humans and canines. Cases of spider bite were collected by the authors over the period January 1978-April 2002, either prospectively in a large study of Australian spider bites, or retrospectively from cases reported to the authors. Subjects were included if they had a definite bite and had collected the spider. The spiders were identified by an expert arachnologist to genus and species level where possible. There were nine confirmed bites by spiders of the family Theraphosidae in humans and seven in canines. These included bites by two Selenocosmia spp. and by two Phlogiellus spp. The nine spider bites in humans did not cause major effects. Local pain was the commonest effect, with severe pain in four of seven cases where severity of pain was recorded. Puncture marks or bleeding were the next most common effect. In one case the spider had bitten through the patient's fingernail. Mild systemic effects occurred in one of nine cases. There were seven bites in dogs (Phlogellius spp. and Selenocosmia spp.), and in two of these the owner was bitten after the dog. In all seven cases the dog died, and as rapidly as 0.5-2h after the bite. This small series of bites by Australian theraphosid spiders gives an indication of the spectrum of toxicity of these spiders in humans. Bites by these spiders are unlikely to cause major problems in humans. The study also demonstrates that the venom is far more toxic to canines.
 

Merfolk

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
1,323
Perhaps the reaction is different in every case. We already knew that Aussie Ts is lethal to dogs and cats, while others species leave them unharmed with a swollen paw... We also know that bites from a same species can have way different results. Some are ok the next day, some others cramp for eternity...

Also, among humans, I think it differs from people to people. Like S calceatum is considered the worse, but indigenous people got bit sometimes many times and seem to complain from pain alone and are back working on the tree not long later while others are immobile for a much longer time.

So cat's reaction to T venom could differ from a breed to another, age group to another, sex etc.

You could have many kitties bitten, and one dies, another is ok, another is sick for a little while... but could we point in advance which one would react tthis or that way?... it's a lottery!
 

crpy

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
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2,567
check your litter box for chiton, well their litter box:rolleyes:
 

ShellsandScales

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
502
We also know that bites from a same species can have way different results.QUOTE]

I believe this may be directly related to the amount of venom injected. You could even get a dry bite causing little pain or bleeding if any, or a massive dose of venom causing extremely different results.
 

Thompson08

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
1,498
whoa you still haven't found it..

You should prolly get your other pets ( cats ) out of the house so it doesn't bite it. If an OBT bite can send a humen to the hospital than it possibly could kill the cat. Not sure.

But hurry and find it. If its a live it prolly needs water.
 
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