I found one of my Spicebush cats like this folded up in his leaf yeaterday. One is gone and have one left. I have them in the florida room so don't know how something could have gotten to them
What happen to my cat
Do you happen to have any meow-kitties or poochem-dawgs that may have taken an interest -?-
- Magpye
Are you spritzing them with water during the daytime?
He looks burnt, it's hard to tell in the photo, but the hind end looks burnt or dehidrated.
have both cats and dogs but they can't get into the room to it. Have not spritzed it either. Almost looked like something squished it.
Donna,
I've learned (through lots of cats dying) that you have to spritz your cats at least morning and night. He could have overheated...I've found a miricle spray thats used for Monarchs but it seems to work for everyone. Its sort of a purifying/antibiotic spray. I found it on LiveMonarch.com
Check it out....and spritz!!!
I'll have to check that out but in the mean time I am going to go spritz right now
Isn't that a spider next to it?? Or is it too late for me to be on here?
Asafla- I didn't see the spritz you mentioned on livemonarch. Do you have a link? Also, please explain spritzing- I read somewhere not to get them wet do to fears of fungal illness.
Thanks,
Maggie
Yep, KKB .. that is a spider beside him.
Do ya think it's mere coincidence and he wondered by after the fact .. or, are they (spiders, or some species) sometimes linked to the demise of the cats -?-
I know that wasps and some bees will certainly sting them and harvest them (some cats) ..
for food.
Am most curious now. Ahh, more research on my agenda, I reckon.
- Magpye
You know that just shows how blind I am. I had the thing in my hand and never saw the spider. I see it now
It's a clear looking spider so I'm sure it was easy to miss while you were trying to take a picture. A spider was the first thing I thought of then I saw it in the pic. I just wasn't sure why no one had mentioned it. lol
Spiders are my biggest problem outside for cats. I'm always having to flick little crab spiders off flowers. I know what they are doing! bad spider! They lurk all over my passionvine and eat my cats there too.
Ahhh, DonnaB .. welcome to the CSD club ('caint see diddly-squat'. (LOL)
I'm fast approachin' 'head honcho' status ...
(merely luvinly teasin' you)
Besides .. such oversights happen to ALL of us.
.. KKB ..
As one of my lil'est grandy-sons would say .. " U's dot Dood eyes! " (you've got good eyes)
Appreciate the info about the 'cat'-burgler spiders too!!
- Magpye
When you bring foliage to give to your cats, always inspect it first. It's so easy to overlook insects like spiders. Some people rinse foliage off with water, but then you have to dry it off. As for spritzing, that sounds too often. I don't often do that very often because things can get messy or moldy. And don't use fresh chlorinated water. I use water I get from those water machines, or you can let the chlorinated water sit in a container a couple of days, chlorine will evaporate.
I do have to thoroughly inspect plants that I bring in because there is undoubtedly always a hidden spider on them!
I don't spritz and have never had any problems.
I never did either but with it being so hot I was wondering if they may have been the problem. They are on the plants themselves in pots in my screened Floridaroom with no direct sunlight
I have spring water. Would that be OK to spritz my new Monarch cats? Or would rainwater be better? They are in all day sun.
Betty
Am sorry to see that poor cat. One time I took a photo of a chrysalis and never even noticed a crab spider sitting on top of it!!! Only when I loaded the pics on the computer and was reviewing them did I notice the critter! I quickly ran out to check the chrysalis - by then the spider was gone...possibly fell off when I was rotating the branch to photograph the chrysalis. Am happy to say a beautiful healthy Giant Swallowtail eclosed a few days afterwards :o)
Bad spider! Bad! Bad! Bad Spider! I am forever flicking spiders off my plants. They can go look for buggies in the grass!!!
Whenever I go walking around the butterfly park I always see butterflies and cats snared by crab spiders...I still can't fathom how such a small spider can grab hold of a big cat or butterfly! UGH!!!
Crab spiders are the WORST!! I usually always see one sitting on top of my coneflowers. FLICK, Bu-bye! I went out earlier to try and collect some GF eggs off the vine and ran into a tiny little spider everywhere I turned. Thus why I have to bring eggs in now. People talk about cats eating their vines to nothing but I can't get my cats big enough on the vine! I'm having to bring the vine to them, which I really don't like to do.
This looks more like a physiological problem. The spider is way too small to take a caterpillar this size - it would have gotten knocked all over the place the second it touched its intended prey. The brownish discoloration is actually the hemolymph or blood that has spilled out of a rupture (sorry for the graphic detail). Caterpillar blood blackens or tans very quickly so that small wounds can be plugged and that is what is all over the leaf. From the picture it looks like it was attempting to molt because the skin is separating. If something went wrong genetically or it ate something it shouldn't or was exposed to something toxic, the damage may not show until a molt or a pupation is attempted. In insects, each end of the gut is shed along with the skin and a rip or tear during the process will bring on something like this. The 'burning' on the body is actually either the blood tanning or bacterial septicemia. Bacteria blossom in these situations and can cause the dark spots. The caterpillar could also have been killed by a pathogen, but those which cause ruptures of the skin are usually preceded by a complete darkening of the body. A predator big enough to have taken on a large caterpillar would not have made such a mess of it and then left so much uneaten. The caterpillar would have certainly resisted a predator and from the picture it looks like it died quietly in place. CSI Entomology....
Wetting caterpillars routinely doesn't seem like a necessity to me. They are pretty well adapted to handling water balance on their own. If the atmosphere is humid enough to grow the plant, then the larva should be fine. If there are a lot of caterpillars in culture in a confined space, the chances for disease skyrocket and maybe this was the reason for an antiseptic spray that was mentioned.
When bringing in leaves from outside for caterpillars, it actually is a good idea to wash the leaves in a 5% chlorine bleach solution. This kills all of the insect pathogens (there are a lot of them: your fresh salad has about a million or so baculovirus particles on the leafy greens) including the viruses, protozoa, fungi, and most bacteria. As pointed out, rinsing in fresh water afterwards is needed to get rid of the chlorine. Lower percentages will also work and even a 1% solution will get most of the microbes that matter. Personally, I hate the smell of bleach and only do this when I really need the adult butterfly or moth.
FM
This message was edited Jul 27, 2006 6:11 PM
great info Hill thank you
Wow...show off. ;) Kenya is that you or your husband posting?! Very impressive info, and much needed here!
I've got a whole problem myself with chrysalises that died but haven't had a chance to take pics and make a post. Just warning you in advance because I will need expert advice too.
Donna, this problem sounds worse. The spider was much more simple. I just kind of figured it injected it with something that killed it and it would eat it later, since you didn't kill it. (lol)
Soooo...now what does she do? Is there any necessary sterilization, if the cat was inside??
LOL!!!!!!!!! The jig is up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, Paige, that was DH again. I'll be getting him to sign his posts (or vice versa, I suppose) so that y'all will know who posts what and when, but I don't think it will be all that hard to tell whose posts are whose. He's the expert with firsthand knowledge. I always filter it second-hand from him. He is verbose. I am not, most of the time. I have no qualms about being silly in a post, he does. In fact, after he made his first post, he asked me if he needed to include a smiley face or some cutesy thing, LOL.
Post made by:
Kenya :-)
Kenya I got your DH's book. It is awesome!!!!!
Thanks Donna!! I am so glad that you like it!!!!!!! I'll tell DH you think so.
Kenya
:-D
Well, welcome Mr. Hill! We're going to put you to good use! That's too funny about the smiley face. I'm always having to add those kind of things because people don't "get" me in print sometimes. Thus the "concrete" part of my name. I come across very blunt or dry and have to add some :) 's.
So THAT is where the 'konkrete' part came from! I thought it referred to the fact that you lived in the concrete jungle of Burleson, lol.
KM
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paige--since I had the source for the 'concrete' part of your name wrong, is there anything you need to clear up about the 'blond' part of your name, or am I surmising correctly that you ARE blond (in one way or another), lol?
KM
Nope, I am blonde. Part natural and part is chemically induced nowdays. lol Plus I'm so concrete that I'm not creative! What you see is what you get with me. So I guess I should apologize now for any future time I might be joking and someone takes it wrong. :)
Burleson is growing but I still don't consider us a concrete jungle yet. I still feel like I'm on the prairie.
What wonderful book by Hill????
Thanks,
Maggie