Cat with rabies?

Question

I had a kitten and about two weeks ago she ran away. Im guessing she was living under the building next store with the racoons. Well this morning she showed up and im pretty sure the racoons, or whatever she was living with attacked her cause there are bite wounds on her back. Now If she has rabies do i have to have her put down? I dont even want to touch the cat at this point she is very dirty and im pregnant so i dont want to chance the rabies thing. But if she doesnt have to be put down can she still get the shots?

I know for a fact it was racoons. there are no male cats where i live i actually only have one neighbor and my male cat is 7 years old and neutered. they were not neck wounds they were wounds on her legs and back...

Answer 1

I can understand why you'd be afraid. Obviously if the kitten was never vaccinated, there's a risk of rabies. Your best bet is to have someone put her in a cat carrier and then take her to a vet where she can be treated for her wounds and also quarantined until you know whether or not she has rabies. Call your Animal Control Officer and make sure they know that if the kitten is okay, you want her back (assuming you do). If she does have rabies, they can handle putting her down and you don't have to worry about the risk to you or anyone else who might come in contact with the kitten.

Answer 2

I seriously doubt she was hanging out with raccoons!! If she is not spayed she probably has neck wounds from a male cat breeding her. If that is the case, giving her a rabies shot is a VERY BAD idea. Not to mention the rabies shot idea is a little to late. If she was bitten by something rabid, a shot is not going to do a darn thing for her at this point. Where do you live? Is rabies a big problem in your area? Or are you just scared like the rest of the world over a VERY RARE disease? Some places in he country never see a rabies case. You can visit your states health department web site and get the rabies statistics for your state and county.
For example.. my county in Indiana has NEVER in history had a case of rabies.
Depending on your location... you may be worried over nothing and just end up with a pregnant cat.

Answer 3

It's very possible that she got into a fight with another cat. Obviously, something has bitten her, so she needs medical care. I understand your desire not to touch her, but is there someone else that can bring her to the vet? She needs medical care to make sure the bite wounds don't abscess, if they haven't already.

As far as rabies specifically, the only way to diagnose it is to have the animal quarentined to see if she's showing symptoms of rabies. Quarentine typically lasts 10 days and is done in a sterile isolated area - like a vet's office, etc. If she starts showing symptoms, than the only way to 100% verify that it was rabies, is to have the animal put down so they can do tests on brain tissue samples. Since your cat was just bitten, though, I think that it would take longer than 10 days for any symptoms to appear. It can lay dorment in the animal for weeks.

If it's determined that it was a bite from another animal and it ISN'T rabies, than yes, she can have the vaccine. She should be vaccinated anyway since it's the law in all 50 states that cats, dogs, and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies.

*edit*
I know anything is possible, but since raccoons are festy and dangerous animals that are quite capable of killing a cat - let alone a kitten - than I would assume it's NOT a raccoon. The location of the bite wounds doesn't really mean anything either.

Answer 4

in case you're surely effective that the cat has no longer been outdoors and has no longer been uncovered to animals that pass out then it really is extremely a lot no longer accessible for him to have rabies. Cats bite for most motives, worry, annoyance, anger, showing dominence, and merely because. the in hassle-free words checks for rabies are to keep the cat confined for a era of 10 days to 2 weeks to make effective it does no longer change into sick with the indicators you analyze or to have it killed and its mind examined. the U. S. centers for sickness administration says that even as rabies ought to take months to ensue in an animal the in hassle-free words time it really is contagious (and the in hassle-free words time the animal will act ill) is after the sickness has moved into the animals mind and saliva. Then typically interior of three-5 days it's going to be very evident that the animal is ill with the indicators you analyze. If the cat does start up to expose thise sympoms in the subsequent few days then you definitely do might want to take it to a vet and it does should be examined even even with the truth that meaning putting it to sleep it really is truly kinder than letting it gon by a terrible demise from rabies that you'll locate out of you pick the human prevenataive rabies remedies so that you aren't getting sick and die. it should be very good on your cat - both cats - to pass to the vet and get his pictures and that you'll think about having him neutered because it ought to help you calm him, stop him from territory marking (peeing or spraying) on your position, make him a lot less probable to change into aggressive with you and together with your different cat and help him be a lot less probable to get the assumption of operating out sometime once you open the door and under no circumstances coming back or getting very ill if he did get out and get right into a wrestle or became uncovered to a unique animal who became ill. i'm happy you rescued him and gave him a good abode and that you recognize and settle for his no longer being a cuddly kitty. he's blessed to have you ever.

Answer 5

Call animal control and let them handle it. Rabies is nothing to mess around with, and if you're suspicious, don't go near that cat. She will have to be euthanized if she is positive for rabies, there is no treatment that works after the first hours of exposure.

Answer 6

If you can afford to care for her, have a male neighbor capture her IF it can be done safely. OR, BETTER YET... get a live capture trap and put a can of tuna fish in it to capture her.

Remember, she's probably very skittish since she was injured, and more likely to try to scratch or bite right now. She doesn't feel safe at all.

That way you can take her to the vet. Discuss your concern with the vet and he may want to keep her a few nights as she heals.

I believe she can still get her shots, but she needs treatment first, and as you said, you have to keep yourself safe.

Answer 7

She has to be put down if she has rabies. I would call the ASPCA in your area and have them set a live trap for her. You don't want to risk being bitten and you want to do the right thing for her.

Answer 8

Poor baby!

Unfortunately, if she hasn't had her rabies shots and she was bitten by a rabid critter, death is inevitable. Putting her down would be kinder.