Do we need to put anti-rabies vaccination for cats? has any deaths been reported by rabid cat bites?

Question

I love a stray cat very much . I raise it in home.It is very affectionate towards me.But it roams out and sometimes gets involved in streetfights with its compatriots. So i am scared that it might acquire rabies. I would like to know if cats do get affected by rabies and if yes,how can it be prevented. Please guide me in the right path.I will be really thankful.

Answer 1

yes in 1974

Answer 2

How serious? Deadly serious. If not treated, rabies is fatal. First of all, there is no way to test a living animal for rabies. Rabies is only "suspected" until conclusive tests are done. The only true test for rabies involves decapitating the animal and testing a segment of it's brain. Domesticated animals which appear healthy, have no vaccination records, and bite a human are held in quarantine for 10 days. If the cat does have rabies, symptoms will usually appear within that time frame. Animals which have bitten and show symptoms of rabies are euthanized and tested. If the animal shows symptoms, tests positive, or cannot be located, it is standard procedure to begin rabies treatment for any human who was bitten or scratched. Inititially, humans are given a one-time injection of human rabies immune globulin (or HRIG), and then are given a series of rabies vaccinations. In most cases of suspected rabies in the US, human treatment is done as a preventative measure. Rabies is extremely rare in the US - only 27 reported cases since 1990, and transmission from domesticated animals, even less probable. The majority is caused by exposure to infected wild animals - 20 of those were from bats. Wildlife workers who commonly deal with high risk animals are given Rabies pre-exposure vaccine.

Answer 3

A veterinarian is the best person to tell you, and just to be on the safe side I advice you to search in your yellow pages for the one most suiting you, whether economically, proximity to your home, etc.

And this is what I know from having seen poster at vet's office few years ago advicing for cat vaccination against rabies: I just don't want to upset you by describing "made up" picture of a "supposed rabied" cat, because it was only made this way in order to get people's attention. But the truth is, and I was told this repeatedly from close member of my family, a cat with rabies is worst than a dog with rabies.

If you can afford it, have your pet vaccinated. And a personal opinion (from experience, for I used to have cats before), try to limit its outdoor trips a bit, especially at night, and especially if there are racoons in the area!!!! Some may not know this, but racoons do get infected by rabies, probably more than most animals are thought to be.

Answer 4

The risk of rabies is primarily from being bitten by wild animals not so much from other cats. Rabies in domestic cats is quite rare. The cat should be vaccinated if you can get it done, but the odds that it is rabid now are low. The primary reason to vaccinate is not so much prevalence of it in the population, but he fact that rabies is pretty much 100% fatal in both cats and humans.

Although not transmittable to humans the cat should also be vaccinated for feline distemper and other common cat diseases if you care about it. It is much more likely to catch these diseases as they are very common in stray cats. And should be spayed/neutered if possible to reduce the population of stray and feral cats overall.

Answer 5

This past summer I was bitten by a stray cat and had to take the very painful and costly rabies shots as a result.

Statistically cats gets rabies more than dogs, or so I was informed by the ER doc. Please try to capture your stray kitty to get him a rabies shot. I would hate for you to go thru what I did. The bite itself was terrible and I had to take several rounds of antibiotics. If your interested in reading about my ordeal heres the link.

Cat Bite Results in Painful Rabies Injections as Precaution
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/324193/cat_bite_results_in_painful_rabies.html

Answer 6

Yes cats are capable of getting rabies, and those can be transmitted to other cats and dogs. It can also be transmitted to you as well if you get bitten with an infected feline.

If you really care about this stray, take him to a vet or a shelter who will give it all of the shots it needs to be healthy, as well as getting it fixed. Doing this will lengthen the cats life as well as possibly making it want to roam less and get into fights.

Answer 7

Yes, they give rabies shots to cats as well as dogs. Be very careful. You can also get cat scratch fever.

I know how you feel. We always used to feed stray cats when I was young.

Answer 8

Cats do get rabies...You can go to your vet or local animal shelter (animal shelter generally has low cost shots and spay/neuter) to get the cat the rabies shot. If you got the cat spayed/nuetered this will also prevent most fighting (or urge to fight).

Answer 9

It is your legal and moral responsibility as a pet owner to vaccinate your cat against rabies. Rabies kills my friend, do some research...

Answer 10

I can't quote statistics at you, but if the cat spends any time outdoors, I would vaccinate it. Bats seem to be common carriers - you may have heard of the Wisconsin girl who was bitten but managed to survive? I wouldn't take a chance.

My two are strictly indoor cats. We do not have a bat problem, so we chose not to vaccinate them.

Answer 11

Cat can rabies like dogs.