Spider bites blamed for pet deaths

Spider bites blamed for the weekend deaths of two Wairarapa pets and the crippling of a puppy have raised fears that the next victim will be human.
Veterinarian Heidi Ward-McGrath said yesterday a dog and a kitten brought to her Masterton clinic over the weekend had both died from suspected spider bites and a puppy is now fighting for its life in similar circumstances.
"I was an emergency vet for 10 years and I've never seen animals with such severe lesions. It could be an unknown venomous spider out there and the real worry is that a person ? or worse, a child ? will be bitten next."
Mrs Ward-McGrath said a 3-year-old purebred American Staffordshire terrier was brought into her clinic on Friday after suspected spider bites were received to the lower jaw and a mammary.
She said the dog, which was nursing a 3-day-old litter of pups that have all since died, received a full blood transfusion on Saturday and despite showing signs of improvement overnight had suffered muscle spasms and died of a heart attack at the clinic on Sunday.
A 5-month-old purebred birman kitten was brought to the Masterton clinic on Saturday as well, she said, also showing signs of a spider bite and was dead within hours.
A third animal, an 8-week-old Beagle-Foxie-cross puppy called Flint, was also showing signs of a spider bite to the tongue when he was brought to the clinic on Sunday, she said. The puppy was sedated yesterday and its condition checked, she said, with a decision to be made today about its continued treatment or destruction.
"I like to give them three days in these circumstances and the puppy is faring the best of the three animals so far.
"But we have to consider its chances at recovery and its expected quality of life if it does survive," she said.
Mrs Ward-McGrath said the spider is thought to have struck when the owner of the puppy had been cutting hedges and Flint was playing in the trimmings.
It is thought the puppy was bitten on the tip of the tongue, she said, and there is now severe tissue decay surrounding the wound site that is now gangrenous.
The owner of the adult dog that died, who declined to be named, said the death represented a financial loss of up to $6000, including vet bills and the death of the 11 pups, some of which had been presold.
"We decided to fight hard for her and followed the advice given. At first we thought it was rat bait that caused it, or a spider bite. I'd hate to see other dogs and their owners go through the same thing. It is definitely a big shock."
The woman said her young son had been bitten by a spider in their home in October and had spent three days in Wairarapa Hospital recovering from the wound and subsequent infection.
Another Masterton veterinarian, who could not be contacted yesterday, had told the woman he had destroyed a dog in the past week that is believed to have received a spider bite to the leg.
Matthew Stone, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries incursion investigations manager in Upper Hutt, said there had been no formal notification made about the animals' deaths and there will be no investigation launched "as yet".
"At this stage our involvement has been informal.
"A colleague was contacted and our team consensus after considering the case notes is that there is a low probability diagnosis it was a spider, although it could have been a white-tail spider," Mr Stone said.
He said the dead animals would need to be examined to confirm they had died from a spider bite, although the River Road dog owner had already buried their animal.
Mr Stone said anybody sighting "unusual spiders" or suspecting contact with a venomous insect ? the only two known threats being a white tail or a katipo ? should contact the ministry on 0800 809 966.