Rabies

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There's a cat in my hood and I played a bit with her today and had a little toy for her which she played with and chewed on and later when I picked it up it was wet with her spit. And now I'm worried cause I had cut myself on the thumb a few days ago and the cut still isn't totally healed. Was this a risk? What if I got saliva on it? I washed my hands afterwards a few times. In the past I'd never have worried about this but someone I know got biten by a cat and he was totally afraid of rabies for years!

You need to see a doctor.. not for your physical health but for your head.. Your paranoia is ridiculous.

Originally Posted By: sdpYou need to see a doctor.. not for your physical health but for your head.. Your paranoia is ridiculous. That's very insulting! Why do you offend me like this? I am only worried cause I heard about rabies and cats and I think that saliva is dangerous and I didn't think about it.

So you think cats and dogs are just walking around drooling rabies?

No but you can never know if a cat might not have it.I don't know if you can see it from the outside. But I know somebody I know was biten by a cat and after that the next 2 years he was in hell constantly being afraid because somebody told him that she might have had rabies. Can you get rabies if you get saliva into a wound?

Yes, but only if it's an infected cat, which are very rare in the US. And an infected cat would be noticed by its unusual behaviour. Furthermore, the saliva has to get into the wound, not just be on the surface.

If you have a deep wound which hasn't healed the chances of getting rabies from a rabid animal's saliva are equal to getting rabies from being bitten by rabid animal. Rabid animals don't "play" with humans. Their behavior is different from normal animals, just one look at a rabid animal and you will know it's not safe to approach it. I have played with a lots of stray cats and dogs, even got growled or hissed at, scratched by them sometimes but I haven't gotten rabies or any other disease from them yet. If you cleaned your wound well with lots of water after the saliva got on it then you are safe. If you are still worried, pick that cat up and go to a vet, ask the vet if it is has rabies. It should clear your doubts.

why would you play with the cat if you were so paranoid? Think in advance next time

How would a rabid cat behave? What if it has freshly been infected?
Today I saw the cat again. She somehow seems to like coming to our house now where I fed her some catnip cat food. She also seems to have had surgery a while ago cause her stomach has been shaved. In the past I'd never have worried about such things but due to this event where somebody got bitten by a cat and then worried for years I've becoming afraid, too. Afaik you also had to kill a cat to see if the has rabies because you need brain tissue.

Originally Posted By: tonym
....you also had to kill a cat to see if the has rabies because you need brain tissue.
Where did you get this info? If an animal is alive skin sample, saliva, blood or urine is used. They don't kill a living animal to get brain tissue to check for rabies!! geez...
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She also seems to have had surgery a while ago cause her stomach has been shaved.
This could be for few reasons; due to complications in pregnancy or it was spayed/neutered or had a tumor or something removed through surgery. If it had any skin infection or not I cant be sure but since the region shaved is the tummy region I am guessing it didn't have skin infection. For skin infections mostly the region with more fur is shaved so the meds will work well, like the region on the back and neck if it's infected. Tummy region has less fur so shaving it to apply meds for skin infection isn't necessary unless it's a long haired breed. These are all guesses but they should be accurate enough.
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She somehow seems to like coming to our house now where I fed her some catnip cat food.
Well you fed her first, played with her, even gave a little toy to play with and now you are claiming it maybe "rabid" cuz her saliva got on your wound! If you feed that poor thing catnip cat food, of course it will come over for dinner/lunch with hope to get it's tummy filled and a pat on its head. :frowning: I feel sad for the cat. I hope you don't go near animals, feed them or play with them just to accuse them later due to your fears or paranoia.
You will find info on rabies online. Look it up on the net. 1-3 months after the virus enters the system it stays latent and there aren't much signs or symptoms to make sure except a blood or skin test. If you see any visible bite marks or wounds on it's body that may have been caused by another animal then you should be careful. After the latent period is over, the behavior changes then the animal gets very aggressive. At this point if you see it you will know it's dangerous.

Originally Posted By: tonymIn the past I'd never have worried about such things but due to this event where somebody got bitten by a cat and then worried for years I've becoming afraid, too.You never questioned whether this person is mentally imbalanced?

So this means the cat could be infected and you don't see it yet? Great! That worries me again. So should I better stay away from her now? I think she's pregnant cause she has a really fat stomach. @ sdpNo this person is not imbalanced. He got bitten by a cat and then somebody told him about rabies and then he was scared which I can totally understand. I also ask myself what do you do if you're bitten by a cat and then worry she might have had rabies and you can't catch her to test her? What do you do then? I heard that simply getting a rabies vaccine without really knowing if you have it is also dangerous.

Originally Posted By: tonym@ sdpNo this person is not imbalanced. He got bitten by a cat and then somebody told him about rabies and then he was scared which I can totally understand. But you said he lived in fear for 2 years.. That, my friend, is a person who has issues.

Why? 2 years is the time which it usually takes until you notice if you really have it.

But living in fear should not be part of ordinary life. It's not worth it.

Originally Posted By: IneligibleBut living in fear should not be part of ordinary life. It's not worth it. Tell that to somebody who has fear. It's easy to give smart advice when it doesn't affect you. I understand this person very well.

I accept that it's a lot easier to give advice to others than to oneself. It always is; but it doesn't invalidate the advice.

We all of us could die at any time. We could be run over by an out-of-control driver, or have a stroke, or heart attack, or trip over and hit our head the wrong way, or be carrying an aneurysm or a cancer. We should take reasonable precautions - but not unreasonable ones. We can't let fear of death stop us from living.

Therefore, even though we know that eventually something will indeed kill us, to live in fear of it is in itself a disorder that needs treatment.

BTW, anyone bitten by a rabid animal, or by any bat, skunk or raccoon, should get immediate rabies treatment (unfortunately expensive). The treatment is 100% effective if given within a week or so of the bite, but effectively useless if you wait until symptoms develop.

Originally Posted By: IneligibleBTW, anyone bitten by a rabid animal, or by any bat, skunk or raccoon, should get immediate rabies treatment (unfortunately expensive). The treatment is 100% effective if given within a week or so of the bite, but effectively useless if you wait until symptoms develop. I agree. Being safe is better than being sorry. Also tony, you should have told that person to get over the fear and helped that person instead of siding with her and making it worse.  Quote: even though we know that eventually something will indeed kill us, to live in fear of it is in itself a disorder that needs treatment. This does need treatment, once it gets out of control the person's life becomes a hell.

But afaik you can't simply get a rabies treatment if you're not sure you really have it cause that would also be dangerous. The person I know didn't get a treatment.
Are you saying I should get a treatment? :open_mouth:

No, there's no reason to suppose that cat was rabid.