PORTSMOUTH (WVEC)-- They may be cute and furry, but the puss caterpillar is no pussycat.
A two-year-old Portsmouth girl, Chloe, was playing in her backyard Thursday when she ever-so-slightly touched what looked like a cuddly caterpillar. She immediately started screaming. Chloe's mom, Melissa Hicks, said she panicked when she heard Chloe's screams and cries.
"I had seen this caterpillar before on Facebook, so I panicked and said, we've got to go to the ER now, because at that time she was screaming bloody murder," Melissa said.
She scooped the venomous caterpillar into a container and then rushed Chloe to the Sentara Belleharbour emergency room.
"Where she had touched it, it was bright red at the time that I looked at it," Melissa said. "By the time I got to the emergency room, the rash had spread up her forearm and was heading up towards her shoulder."
The puss caterpillar has toxic bristles under their fur that break off into the skin when they are touched, causing excruciating pain.
"I couldn't do anything but cry with her. That's all I could do. And just hope that it wasn't severely poisonous," Melissa said.
Bon Secours Internal Medicine Physician Dr. Elenor Kurtz says there are about eight different kinds of caterpillars that have little "hairs" -- that are actually spines or tiny little barbs attached to little venom glands on the body of caterpillars.
"Generally, you have an instant reaction where whoever touches it says it instantly hurts -- says it feels like it stung them -- almost like a wasp or a bee," Dr. Kurtz explained. "And then they'll get a local reaction with some redness, swelling and you can see some spread up the arm sometimes. Usually following along the line of blood supply to the arm."
ER doctors gave Chloe Motrin and Benadryl to help with her swelling. On Friday, she still had a red puffy mark on her hand where she touched the caterpillar. Chloe's parents believe the caterpillar fell from a large tree in their backyard.
Dr. Kurtz says if you encounter a puss caterpillar, don't panic! She says to remove the spines using a little bit of scotch tape and then wash with soap and water. Use Calamine lotion and put ice or bag of frozen peas on it to relieve the pain and stinging sensation.
If it's a small child in serious distress and they feel nauseated and sick to their stomach, then seek medical care, Dr. Kurtz recommends.
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