Spider bite?? Any ideas?? This is gross Just to let you know

[Spydra]

Ok everyone,

I belong to a Horse forum and I have NEVER seen anything like this AND the vets have NO idea what the cause could be but...check this out and your ideas/thoughts/expertise would be appreciated.

I told the gal that i would post in our forum to see if anyone could give an idea what type of spider could have done this. Also, this horse was NOT in any type of field but is a race horse in a stall at the track.

http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.co...bite-what-else-warning-gross-pics-260036.html

Renee

 

[codykrr]

well there could be a couple different things....one, my aunt breed race horses.like million dollar kentucky derby horses and when i asked her she asked if the horse may be diabetic! if so it can cause horses to loose legs from gangrenous sore or infections. and if this is a spider bite...only thing that comes to mind is a brown recluse, have you also considered a snake bite. like a rattler, copperhead, or any other thing that has necroshish venom? my aunt says her first guess is diabetis...but she could be wrong. also ay location information would help narrow down any particular species which could be at fault too. my advice is pack the wound with maggots and wrap it up. then once the dead tissue is gone start treating it.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

While I don't know anything about horses, reading that thread makes me feel like its not a bite, but some internal bacterial infection. The leg kept swelling, and only opened up after being treated by antibiotics. She said she went over the entire leg with a magnifying glass, and found no cuts. If a bite were able to cause this kind of damage, I'm sure it would have been detectable at that early stage.

Whatever it is, I hope they find a way to treat it, so this horse can live a happy life.

 

[Spydra]

I am trying to find out the location. I will let her know about the diabetic issue and see what I can find out.

 

[Widowman10]

i don't think that was from a spider bite....

i could ALWAYS be wrong though, but i would almost put money down that it was caused by something else.

 

[LeilaNami]

No native spider I know would have that severe of an effect for a massive animal such as a horse especially in a short amount of time. If it were a race horse, because of the worth associated with these horses, I'm sure they would have noticed it at the first signs of infection where some dead skin may have started sloughing off.
Many bacterial infections and some snake venom will do that. Looking for a wound would do you no good since the infection probably radiated outward and any possible entry site for infection has been rotted off. Here is an article on bacterial infections involving necrotic tissues in horses and cattle:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Hk...X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA18,M1

 

[Nich]

That wound looks like it took a while to make, then ruptured. Look at the areas around it....poor horse. That is horrid.

 

[buthus]

Spider was hungry enough to eat a horse! :5:

 

[codykrr]

Spider was hungry enough to eat a horse! :5:

dude...thats just not even funny. i love horses and thats just sad....not cool. ....

 

[Widowman10]

dude, it was a joke. i thought it was funny ;P

 

[Kris-wIth-a-K]

If it is a spider bite and being a horse the venom would spread a little faster due to the increase in mass. That looks like necrosis has set in and with it being wet all the time/humid/muddy and all the leg is a breeding ground for bacteria off all kinds. The nerve cells would die and rot away just like the skin cells. If it is a spider bite the only one I can think of would be a decent bite from a brown recluse. We have then here on out farm too in FL. Animals vary is spider bites. My dog was bitten by (assuming) a black widow on her neck and the next two days that thing swelled up to about the size of a soft ball. I had to drain it about 5 times a day and put her on some meds. Also the size of the animals too. To me that horse looks small. The hoofs look small as well as hoof to leg and thai ratio. I would keep him put up in the barn to prevent any accidents and keep it wrapped with a lot of antibiotics obviously.

In my own opinion I would count snake bites out since its this bad. Most snake anti-venom use enzymes and what not from horse blood. plus the area of infection is almost ALWAYS in the middle which is still too high up on the leg for a snake and in the US they still aren't that bad and wouldn't cause necrosis in fact this may be the case.

Kris

 

[buthus]

dude...thats just not even funny. i love horses and thats just sad....not cool. ....

Dude... why?...have you seen the horse on the boards at all lately?


Anyway ...I cant say I know jack about horses, but I do know a little bout spiders. And i gotta tell ya, that spider must have been COMPLETELY out of its mind to even THINK about taking on a horse like that. Sheer suicide! imho

 

[codykrr]

i wasnt trying to be rude, but you know what most likely going to happen to this horse right? and all because of this problem. ive seen people have a race horse which broke its leg, ripped tendons, or torn muscles, and they just kill it...and were talking million dollar derby horses...and unless they decide to keep it, its just sad. races horses are always thrown out after omething bad goes on with them, because no one can make any money...thats all...sorry if i was rude. just dont like seeing this kinda stuff. after seeing it go on for years.

 

[Widowman10]

well, hopefully after a bit of treatment they can get this horse better. if it's not race-worthy any more, maybe some horse-loving soul will take it in and give it a good home.

i still doubt it was a spider btw...

 

[codykrr]

yeah me too. im going to say its caused from diabetis...because my aunt who breeds the million dollar horses said that gangrenous sore on horses isnt uncommon,...like i said though before....id personally pack it down with maggots...wrap it up and feed it anti biotics untill the dead fleash is gone.then treat it as any other serious wound.

 

[buthus]

There are ointments available that help thicken skin ...be sure to save some for the horse.


...


Ok...its not about the fact that theres a horse hurtin' and I should feel bad about it. I love all living creatures ...and of course.. esp those animals that are pretty darned close to us (ok... relatively close) when it comes to smarts, emotions, feeling pain..etc.
Its just that.. here we are talkin about a horse in the True Spider Forum. ..Why?
Necrotic symptoms with wounds happen for many reasons.
I just went on a hike through some rough scrub and right through tons of poison oak. Anywhere that the Urushiol entered open wounds (thorns, that slate rock that cut the crap out of my hand, the normal cuts n'scrapes ..etc ), those wounds turned black that evening. Heck, I thought it must be dust or something... seriously...black. Washing revealed a messed up situation... nasty wounds with dying cells instead of healthy cells starting the healing process. Its been a battle all week ...im just starting to see semi normal scar tissue. ..now, these are small wounds... but I can see how with neglect and/or added bacteria or more Urushiol or whatnot these wounds could progress into a real problem.
Im gonna just take a wild shot in the dark and say that ...I bet less than 1% of all necrotic wounds suffered by mammals, from the first shrew thing to modern mankind have been caused by a spider bite. Hind leg right? Can that horse swap its tail squashing something crawling up its lower leg? If not or unlikely, then come up with a better theory and post this heartache story on that forum. :?

 

[burmish101]

All the pics of recluse bites I seen on humans were NOTHING compared to that horse, possible copperhead necrosis?

 

[Scorpendra]

i don't want to comb through 12 pages for the complete play-by-play, but i think someone needs to make it known that skin necrosis isn't the same as a brown recluse bite and that a picture of a superficially similar wound doesn't mean that much.

 

[LeilaNami]

i don't want to comb through 12 pages for the complete play-by-play, but i think someone needs to make it known that skin necrosis isn't the same as a brown recluse bite and that a picture of a superficially similar wound doesn't mean that much.

Thank you! :worship: :worship:

 

[equuskat]

99.99999% sure that this cannot be a spider bite. I am also sure that is is not diabetes. Diabetic horses generally show a variety of symptoms.

More than likely, the horse had a tiny injury, internal infection, or something - perhaps a tiny puncture, which caused massive infection and sloughing of the skin. I have seen this time of injury many many times, and often the owner never saw an injury present.

I've been involved with horses up to the international levels of dressage, and never saw or heard of a horse with a documented recluse (or any spider) bite.