Brown Recluse Spiders, also called Fiddlebacks,  are venomous and live in the Northwest, Seattle area. The bite from a Recluse is serious.

When a dog gets bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider, you need to consider it serious and get immediate medical attention for your dog.  The results from a Recluse bitten dog can range from no affect to critical.  Although Recluse spider bites are not often fatal in pets, it is possible that in just one hour the highly toxic Brown Recluse venom can cause serious damage destroying living cell tissue moving  ultimately to a point of gangrenous areas, amputations or even death. Puppies, older dogs or dogs with poor immune systems are especially at risk.

Note: If possible, save the spider and take it to your vet.  It is not possible to know for sure that it’s a Recluse without examining the actual spider.

Recently, a beautiful 14 year old Westie was bitten by a spider and probably a Brown Recluse.   After 11 days of brave struggle to survive, she died.   This sweet Westie had a horrible lesion covering most of the top of her head and deep enough to show her skull bones.  The pictures & story were so sad and horrifying that I couldn’t forget it.  It is what prompted me to write this article & I hope sharing will save some dogs.

It’s called a Recluse because this spider likes to hide and can be found inside homes in shoes, closets, beds, under furniture or outside in woodpiles or under logs. They can survive six months without food or water, generally move to hunt at night, range from mostly tan to dark brown in color, have a violin shape on their backs & range from tiny to the size of a quarter.  If a spider has stripes on its legs, it’s not a Recluse. Females lay about 50 eggs from May-July encased in an off-white, silken sac about 2/3 in diameter.                  Please Post & Share Your Comments   Also, see website www.brown-recluse.com