Cat has rabies???

[jjthink]

Just seeing this thread and held my breath all the way through it! I was nodding when reading what Pat, ranchhand and other similar posts said. Abscess is indeed the usual thing from a kitty fight and it's oh so very fixable but can be very serious left untreated. So glad you are getting her the help she needs and deserves.

Abscesses can be persistant but with antibiotics and TLC the kitty will win.

And re: vaccines, one of my vet offices believes a vaccine provides lifetime immunity. The others are coming along in concluding/conceding that vaccines last a lot longer than originally advertised. I get everyone the first round of vaccines and then from time to time do the rabies one after that, but not the others. Except that I made a terrible mistake in March and allowed the rabies vaccine to be given again to my cats during a regular checkup and in the frenzy of the day did not manage to tell them to make sure NOT to give it to Teddy, a kitty with an immune disease. He has spiralled downward since (whether coincidence or not I don't know but I am highly suspicious) and sadly, it doesn't look good for my boy.

JJ

 

[Tiramisu]

Quote:
Aw

Well from now on she is going to be kept in the house, or going to try to. If she sneaks out I will only let her be out if i can watch her, and I am going to bring her in when I go in. There have been more strays around =\\ and I know a neighbor on teh other block said a few months ago that she was feeding them, but trying to trap them too or something bla bla.


When we left the vet, almost to the car and the door on the carrier fell of halfway and she got out! Ran down the sidewalk, then into the street, then across and into some yard. Luckily something scared her and she didn't want to go that way so she ran back my way and I got her =\\ guess she was feeling better by then lol...and really wanted to escape that crate.

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
I am veryyyy paranoid about that very thing and check the latches a bazillion times. A friend lost her kitty that way. Happily it ended better than most such cases. The kitty was found after 2 weeks - starving but okay enough to recover. No amount of searching, signs etc. was working so she ended up employing critter psychics who she believe helped them reunite...it was all very interesting.

JJ

 

[RiverOtter]

I am so glad that your kitty got to a vet and that you got her back after the carrier accident! I'm sure she'll be just fine.

Quote:
,

Rabies patients and animals become scared of water because of painful spasms in their throat

Rabid animals may become hydrophobic (afraid of water

Sometimes called hydrophobia, or fear of water, rabies has afflicted animals and humans since ancient times

Infected animal or person may become terrified of water
​

Could you give me the links to those quotes? Is it a medical or veterinary journal? Because my understanding is the name is from the symptom of just before death, no matter how badly the animal wants to drink, it just can't force itself too. Almost as if it is magnetically repelled from the water just before it can drink. The painful throat spasms are well documented and widely thought to be the cause of any "fear" of water.

As far as human patients go, sadly, they often behave as they think they are expected to behave when infected, up until right before death. You don't have to go too far back into history (1800s)to find documented cases of people locked in a cage or even chained in the yard barking like dogs and trying to bite people until a day or so before they died. But no one still believes being infected with rabies makes someone bark like a dog or bite people, so you don't see a lot of it in hospitals anymore​

 

[patandchickens]

What RiverOtter said. No offense meant Sundown Waterfowl, and I realize you are just offering what you think you know in the spirit of helping, but it is actually NOT COMMON for rabid animals to exhibit anything that could be called 'fear of water'. And also has nothing whatsoever to do with any symptoms the o.p. reported in the first post ANYhow (not drinking is not the same thing)

Quote:
And here's another, possibly even better (because more commonly-relevant) reason to vaccinate for rabies:

if your animal bites someone, or comes in contact with a rabid or suspected-rabid animal, the routine you are then legally required to follow is MUCH DIFFERENT if your animal is vaccinated (even if it is not technically 'current' on its rabies vaccination as per local law) than if it has never ever had a documentable rabies shot. You can end up having to have your animal euthanized, or a very elaborate prolonged inconvenient and potentially-expensive quarantine period (like, 6+ months in some cases), if you cannot show that it has had rabies immunization. (And I don't think any states accept home vaccinations as proof of this, it has to be done by a vet for them to consider the animal to be rabies-immunized)

IMO it is worth having at least one or two rabies shots given, early in the animals' years, *for this reason*. (More and more jurisdictions are starting to accept rabies antibody titers in lieu of subsequent shots, a trend which will hopefully spread).

(Plus what apbgv said about wanting to avoid actually GETTINg rabies of course

)

Just a thought,

Pat

 

[cmjust0]

One word: Yay!

That's all I'm saying.

 

[ultasol]

I am very glad for the positive outcome. While it's important to keep in mind all potential issues, look for a horse before you look for a zebra. It's often the simpler answer.