Is this a Black Widow?

[th3w01f]

We have these all over the place and while they don't have the same jet black coloring as the black widows I saw as a child, I've seen many different shades and variations on the internet.

We had to spend last Sunday at the emergency vet having our cat put down. We found him near death and completely paralyzed, the vet was unable to find any obvious bit marks (so not a rattlesnake) and no other injuries. We ran some simple blood work which did show very low potassium (apparently a symptom of a black widow bite). The vet said he's seen 3 or 4 over his career but usually someone saw the spider so they had a much better idea what it was.

66611

I'll add that my wife didn't flip it over for a picture of the abdomen, I'll go looking for another one but if anyone has any thoughts I'd like to hear them.

[CS1983]

Looks to be a false black widow from that angle... have pic of underside?

[Lurch]

It's doesn't look like the black widows that I kill weekly at my house.

[davsel]

Looks to be a false black widow from that angle... have pic of underside?

+1
http://www.spiders.us/species/filter/colorado/

http://www.spiders.us/species/steatoda-grossa/

http://www.falsewidowspider.com/10-curious-facts-false-widow-spiders/

[th3w01f]

Thanks for the answers, I agree that those pics look very close. Now to try and figure out what killed our cat. There are plenty of dark places he could have gone where he could have run into a real black widow.

[WETWRKS]

The cat may be eating them. I know more than one cat owner who had sick cats that they had seen eating black widows.

Looking at the photo I would second it as a false black widow.

[TheGrey]

I'm sorry for the loss of your cat. One of the reasons we keep our cats indoors is because of all of the wildlife (and the idiots driving in this neighborhood), but I had't even thought about spiders! I am so thankful that I've not run across anything scarier than the occasional wolf spider or bathtub spider.

[cmailliard]

It looks close enough for me to go bat crap crazy killing the bastard. Only seen one black widow in my life, in a drawer of hanging files, right after I put my hand in the drawer.

Buddy of mine was bit by a Black Widow, put his fire boots on and was bit. He was real bad and nearly died. A couple months ago he was bit by a Brown Recluse while at CDP in Anniston, AL. He had to have a few surgeries after that bite.

Fuck Spiders

[BushMasterBoy]

We have rabbits dying here. I don't know why, tularemia, mixomatosis, plague. I caught our dog and cat eating a dead baby bunny. Both were sick. The cat was paralyzed. I am suspecting botulism from rotting meat. They both got over it eventually. I had botulism from a Wendys hamburger in Alamosa. I first thought I had altitude sickness as I was up near Summitville. I was driving up a mountain road. First I started sweating, but I felt cold. Then blurry vision and loosing feeling in my arms. And then projectile vomiting. Pretty sure the burger was bad meat. I make sure the cat gets plenty of canned food. That keeps him from eating dead animals. I got it once from Walmart cooked ribs too. I think somebody took the BBQ ribs and put them on another shelf, then some employee put them back in the heated display case. That time I just vomited it up quickly.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/neurological/c_ct_botulism#

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism)

[th3w01f]

We have rabbits dying here. I don't know why, tularemia, mixomatosis, plague. I caught our dog and cat eating a dead baby bunny. Both were sick. The cat was paralyzed. I am suspecting botulism from rotting meat. They both got over it eventually. I had botulism from a Wendys hamburger in Alamosa. I first thought I had altitude sickness as I was up near Summitville. I was driving up a mountain road. First I started sweating, but I felt cold. Then blurry vision and loosing feeling in my arms. And then projectile vomiting. Pretty sure the burger was bad meat. I make sure the cat gets plenty of canned food. That keeps him from eating dead animals. I got it once from Walmart cooked ribs too. I think somebody took the BBQ ribs and put them on another shelf, then some employee put them back in the heated display case. That time I just vomited it up quickly.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/neurological/c_ct_botulism#

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism)

WOW, I think you nailed it. The symptoms look almost exactly like what we saw, although we didn't see him go downhill, by the time we found him he was completely paralyzed and breathing very shallow and rapidly. He did love old dead things, I think he'd hide them for a couple of days before bringing them up to eat.

He was a completely indoor cat before we moved here but with 9 people living here and coming and going in all directions it became nearly impossible to keep him from sneaking out so we finally gave in and let him be an indoor/outdoor cat.

He was really cool though.

66616

[Fentonite]

What a cool-looking cat! Sorry for your loss, that's rough.

[Irving]

RIP

[BushMasterBoy]

I think our cat survived because he is part feral cat. He was rescued off the highway and had been hit by a car. He was just a kitten then and had a head injury. We nursed him back to health. We he got the botulism, I saw part of the dead bunny he was chewing on. The meat was black. She took him to the vet, he got an IV of saline to re-hydrate him and a shot of antibiotics. He is fine now, but the rabbits are still dying of something here because I have buried at least a dozen in the last two months. I think it is the bubonic plague. Even the baby bunnies are dying and I have never seen that before. So be careful with your hunting dogs, because the plague is spread by flea bites. Pueblo area is notorious for bubonic plague devastation of prairie dog colonies. And sometimes people here get the plague from the prairie dogs.



http://www.krdo.com/news/person-dies-of-plague-in-pueblo-county/34552508

[Madeinhb]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160813/0cf0ba406b508d9685e3cfcc5d6b1237.jpg

[OctopusHighball]

It sucks to lose a valued family member that way.

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[Aloha_Shooter]

http://www.spiders.us/species/filter/colorado/

Interesting link. It doesn't show actual black widows and I'm almost certain I saw one several years ago (complete with hourglass on abdomen) at the house -- I think it was riding in some wood I'd picked up at a campsite out in Teller or Park County. In fact, http://www.dmns.org/colorado-spider-survey/faq/ says the western black widow is the most common species in Colorado with a venom harmful to humans.

[NFATrustGuy]

66627

I took this photo in my garage a few years ago. She stayed still long enough for me to get my good camera and set up a tripod.

Rod

[jmg8550]

I used to see black widows every summer growing up in Windsor.

[waxthis]

I used to see black widows every summer growing up in Windsor.

Oh great...

[Jamnanc]

Wheat ridge has plenty. Johnstown has plenty. Carter lake has a jillion.

[wctriumph]

Get some WD40 and flame it.