Deadly Spider Species That Threaten Your Cat

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:02]Hello and welcome to Cat Life 247, the first and only solution to the homeless cat problem in America. Cats love chasing spiders, but some spiders can be extremely dangerous, even deadly for our fur babies. Let's talk about the ones you need to watch for. Now, most spiders are harmless, but a few can cause real problems if your cat tries to play with or eat them. Let's talk about the most dangerous black widow. Rare but serious.

[00:00:33]Their venom can cause muscle tremors, pain, weakness, and even death in cats.

[00:00:39]If you suspect a bite, that's an emergency vet visit. Next, brown recluse. These bites can cause tissue damage and swelling. Cats may show lethargy, fever, or painful sore at the bite site.

[00:00:56]Next is one we have a lot here in Utah.

[00:00:59]Wolf spiders. Usually not deadly, but the bites can cause irritation and swelling. Most issues happen if your cat repeatedly mess with them. The tricky part about wolf spiders is they also kind of look like the hobo slightly and so you can get them mixed up. So, it's best to just not get in the habit of letting your cat chase any cat or any spiders. Even if you think it's just a wolf spider, it could be something worse. The hobo spider, which is often found in basements, garages, and wood piles. Their bites are rare, but they can cause pain, swelling, slow healing skin irritation, and even death. If your cat develops redness or a sore after spider contact, monitor closely and call your vet if it worsens.

[00:01:50]The yellow sack spider is small and pale yellow, very uh common in the house, but they're easy to miss because of their color. Sometimes they camouflage because they're so light. These are one of the more common indoor biting spiders, but their bites aren't too venomous. They can cause redness, mild tissue irritation, and discomfort, but most cases aren't life-threatening, but still painful. Most people see a lot of the seller spiders or the daddy longlegs, the indoor kind. Those are very common in corners, and basement, ceilings.

[00:02:29]Uh, generally harmless to cats, but if eaten, they may cause mild stomach upset. Still best to discourage cat play. Then you have your jumping spider.

[00:02:40]They can be the many variations. They're usually little furry fast suckers and they jump and hop around. Usually harmless, but because they move quickly, they strongly trigger your cat's hunting instincts. Low danger, high chase appeal, but still better to probably not let them play for long. And you just never know for sure if that's a jumping spider or something different. Uh, also we have the funnel weaver which is common in garages and outdoor foundations. Typically not aggressive but if disturbed they can bite and most reactions and pets are mild irritation.

[00:03:21]Just remember cats are hunters. Moving spiders trigger that instinct fast. And all of these same rules apply for dogs as well. Dogs can get bites and infections and they can even die from spider bites. Also, the spiders will usually try and bite the cats somewhere like on their paws or their skin on the bottom like the pads or inside their mouth or uh like on their face or their ears or really they they can burrow into the fur and get them just about anywhere. Here's how to reduce your spider risks and do it safely. You want to seal all the cracks around your windows and doors. You want to keep your clutter low, especially in basements and garages. Vacuum corners and ceilings regularly. Remove outdoor debris near your home. Uh spray once or twice a year. Um you know, get the pets in a different area. If you're using pest control sprays, always check that they are labeled pet safe once they dry and follow the instructions carefully. Never spray anywhere near their food bowls, litter boxes, resting areas, or their beds. If you're going to do a room, you know, get them all out of there. Like we use home ortho with the white and red bottles, and we just clear the cats from one room at a time for four to 5 hours.

[00:04:48]And we just give the time the spray time to dry. We take out all the food bowls, water fountains, bedding, all that stuff, you know, each time we treat each room. And you just want to spray in the corners and the areas the cats don't go, but the spiders will, like the closets, and the upper corners, lower corners, you know, under the dresser, things like that. Just be very careful if you choose to use essential oils as many of the essential oils can be poisonous to cats such as the tea tree oil. Uh but stick to just spraying and using natural options like sealing entry points and reducing uh insects which is the food source for the spiders. So if you can you know control the population of other bugs then the spiders won't have any food to come in for. But if you do notice your cat suddenly becomes lethargic, starts trembling or vomits, or cries out when touched, don't brush it off. This could be signs of a spider bite. Watch for swelling or redness anywhere on the body, sudden lethargy, or weakness, muscle tremors, vomiting, fever, pain when touched. If you suspect a bite, gently check your cat's body.

[00:06:03]Part the fur carefully with your fingers and look for small puncture marks, red or inflamed skin, swollen areas, open sores, and like I said, check common areas like the face and paws, the belly, around the neck, inside the legs. If symptoms are severe, sudden, or getting worse, contact your vet immediately.

[00:06:25]Spider venom can affect cats quickly, and early treatment matters. Just like with people, spiders aren't usually that big of a threat, but taking steps to prevent and knowing the risk helps you protect your cat. And protecting cats, well, that's what we do, right? So, thank you for loving cats and thank you for supporting cat247, the first and only solution to the homeless cat problem in America. Visit catlife247.com to find out about our plan to build America's largest cat sanctuary and cat people tiny house community and find out how you can reserve a spot. Have a great day. Meow out.