if my cat doesn't have rabies when can i get his shots?

Question

I don’t know what bit my cat yesterday this morning he was limping I thought he jumped on his leg wrong, I thought it was broken I toke him to the vet they shaved his leg and found a pretty bad bite mark on the top and bottom of his leg. The vet than got angry with me and "all the other stupid ignorant people who don't get the pets vaccinated" this is my 1st cat and he was a stay I didn’t know about the proper shots guess I am stupid he proceeded to tell me that by law he had to call animal control to have him quarantine for 6 months if he has rabies they will put him to sleep the vet told me he could not give him shots now I was too upset to ask when I want to make this right and get him shots can I do it now or do I have to wait 6 months please help and say a prayer for Keister my cat :( He is 8 months old, 12 and a half pounds male no previos shots

Answer 1

Are you sure he needs quarantined for six MONTHS, not six weeks?!

You can have him vaccinated as soon as he is out of quarantine, but no sooner.

Answer 2

I'm sorry for what your going through. Had you taken the cat to vet before this or was this the first time? A cat by law has to have the rabies shot at 4 months or older and this is done yearly. I'm surprised that no one ever told you that you needed to have certain shots for him. Since you're already in a bit of a jam, go on line and research information on cats and what shots are recommended for them. Different counties require different shots. I don't fully like the attitude of your vet, but he is right to some degree. Calling you stupid and ignorant is out of line. Consider a different vet for the future. Rabies seems unlikely, but by law you do need to quarantine him, but six months is excessive ,maybe 6 weeks is more like it. Depending on how they allow you to quarantine, this can be expensive. Where I live live you can do this at home other places with humane society or vets office. If in doubt on this check with another vet or local humane society. The time laspe for rabies is 2 to 6 weeks and there are several phases they can go through. The Prodromal phase lasts 1-2 days and where spike fevers can develop and erratic behavior. The Forious phase, cats are more prone to to developing this phase. Is anywhere from 1-7 days. Cats are restless, irritable, hyperresponsive to sound and visual stimuli. They become vicious. The cat will progress to become disoriented, have seizures and will die. Also there is the Paralytic (dumb) phase that develops after the other two phases in about 2-4 days after the first sign begin. This is where animals salvate, haved labored breathing, symptoms of being paralized and go into respiratory failure and die. I'm sorry to say if your cat has contracted rabies, there is no cure for him. I have a feeling God is on your side. Once your cat is out of the woods, get ALL his shots right away and keep him indoors. While your on a roll, get him fixed also. You and he will be so much happier in the end. Well good luck and I'd love to hear how things go for you. Below is where I got the rabies info.

Answer 3

I'm very sorry, and also afraid that you probably will have to do what your vet said, and pray a lot your cat's got no rabies. Since I am not a vet, I can go all technicall, but I don't think there is a cure if your cat is already sick. The vaccines work only before he faces the "infection", right now it would make no difference, or may even worsen the problem.
I just got 2 cats myself, I deparasited them 4 days later, had them vaccined against feline leuchemy, rabies and a lot of other stuff on regular periods... this I say just to let you know that rabies isn't the only liability, there are other measures to be taken, i mean, if your cat makes it, which I hope. Good luck.

Answer 4

Go to another vet and tell him your concerns. No potentially rabid animal is quarantined for 6 months. That is ridiculous. The only quarantined period I know of is 10 days. Call around and tell them a friend of yours has a cat with an unknown bite and when it is appropriate to get him vaccinated. Your vet is acting unprofessionally. I doubt your cat contracted rabies but may need antibiotics as a prophylactic measure. Chalk it up to experience. People get bitten by unknown dogs all the time and get the rabies injection right away. Hang in there.Things will get better.

Answer 5

An outside cat definitely needs a rabies shot and an unneutered cat will get bitten by other male cats. I think that is probably what happened unless there is the possibility that you live in an area where raccoons are the vectors for rabies. In my area the vectors are bats. You can check on that.

Getting the cat neutered is the most important step. The other shots, except for the rabies, are not necessary. The FIV and feline leukemia diseases are carried by other cats and if he is neutered he will probably not get bitten.

He will survive his quarantine and is most probably not infected with rabies. I think and hope things will turn out OK.

Answer 6

Vaccines don't work after the fact. Your vet is right, he has to be quarantined to prove he doesn't have rabies, and he will be given the shots after his quarantine is finished. It was wrong of the vet to get angry with you though, it's not their place to act like that, there supposed to help.

Also, vaccines can't cure rabies, nothing can, so if he develops symptoms of rabies while in quarantine he will have to be euthanized. There's nothing else they can do.

Answer 7

I've always heard that an animal should only be quarantined for 10 days.Six months seems awfully extreme to me.

Answer 8

Bless your heart. That sure sounds like a long time for quarantine though.

Answer 9

You should give him the shot befor its to late.