Rabies - maybe a dumb question?

[jane6672]

Aug 5, 2022 15:52:14 GMT -5 wawa said:

This is all totally new information to me. So like, in summer camp when there were MULTIPLE episodes of a bat getting into our cabin and waking us up swooping around....we all all should have been vaccinated???

Is that a newer recommendation?

Yeah… I’m thinking about when we’d visit my great grandma over the summer and there was an incident of a bat inside at least once a summer (old farmhouse)..

Usually they came in thru the duct in the bedroom I shared with my sisters. 😐😐 and one time a bat literally crawled across my sisters face 😱

I’m going to need to ask my parents why the fuck we never got rabies vaccines.
Or fixed the fucking ductwork!

[af1212]

I remember reading an article about the high price of the rabies shot on not - I found the article here

www.npr.org/2022/04/09/1091797594/the-capitol-fox-fascinated-folks-but-no-one-mentioned-the-cost-of-rabies-treatme

[Vespasia]

Just noticed this book at a brewery and thought of this thread. 
wawa

[af1212]

Aug 6, 2022 15:02:04 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Just noticed this book at a brewery and thought of this thread. 
wawa

View Attachment

I used to love Paula danzinger books!!

But I don’t think I remember this one.

[scout8]

Aug 6, 2022 15:02:04 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Just noticed this book at a brewery and thought of this thread. 
wawa

View Attachment

I loved this book!

[wawa]

Aug 5, 2022 16:30:12 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 5, 2022 15:52:14 GMT -5 wawa said:

This is all totally new information to me. So like, in summer camp when there were MULTIPLE episodes of a bat getting into our cabin and waking us up swooping around....we all all should have been vaccinated???

Is that a newer recommendation?

Yes you should have been vaccinated. It's been the procedure forever. Your camp sucked.

Huh. That's fascinating. I wonder if we just never told anyone? It only happened the years I was old enough that we didn't have a counselor in every cabin. The oldest kids were in the oldest cabins, which were also on the edge of a big meadow so it was extra batty.

[magma]

Aug 7, 2022 11:45:35 GMT -5 wawa said:

Aug 5, 2022 16:30:12 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Yes you should have been vaccinated. It's been the procedure forever. Your camp sucked.

Huh. That's fascinating. I wonder if we just never told anyone? It only happened the years I was old enough that we didn't have a counselor in every cabin. The oldest kids were in the oldest cabins, which were also on the edge of a big meadow so it was extra batty.

My 9 year old is currently at her first sleep away camp
And the cabins are open-air on top (they have roofs, but then an opening between the roof and side walls.) so now I’m appropriately freaked out that she is getting bitten by a bat in her sleep without her knowing. I’ll have to email her this info. And I loved all the Paula Danziger books including that one!!

[niemand88f]

Aug 5, 2022 18:48:02 GMT -5 winecat said:

Aug 5, 2022 15:56:38 GMT -5 pierogigirl said:

There is a rabies vaccine for people. My brother had to get it due to his job- he was a Forest Ranger.

I would get the shots.

I feel like I should get the vaccine.  I've been bitten and scratched by stray cats/kittens more times than I can count.  Now that I think about it, none of the urgent care or ER docs have told me I should get the rabies shots.  

You can - I think it's "only" 3 shots if it's not for exposure, then good for 2 years. Some vets & animal control officers get it. 

I also have been bitten/scratched by tons of cats/kittens, but never worried much since the prevalence is extremely low in domestic animals, even unvaccinated and/or community cats. Then I was seriously attacked by a cat last month who was just on the edge of safe time between intake/vaccine and the bite, and his behavior was exactly what I pictured a rabid cat to be. So off to the ER I went... the 5-8 immunoglobulin shots around the bites didn't hurt nearly as much as irrigating the wounds did, and I felt 0 side effects from any of the 4 vaccines. Now waiting to see how the billing shakes out... Cat survived its quarantine so it was not rabid.
In that recent experience I felt like their knowledge was patchy. The doctor was basically "well if you really want the shots...." but the person who administered them was very serious about it. They also didn't report the bite like they're required to (I reported it later).

[winecat]

Aug 8, 2022 22:40:19 GMT -5 niemand88f said:

Aug 5, 2022 18:48:02 GMT -5 winecat said:

I feel like I should get the vaccine.  I've been bitten and scratched by stray cats/kittens more times than I can count.  Now that I think about it, none of the urgent care or ER docs have told me I should get the rabies shots.  

You can - I think it's "only" 3 shots if it's not for exposure, then good for 2 years. Some vets & animal control officers get it. 

I also have been bitten/scratched by tons of cats/kittens, but never worried much since the prevalence is extremely low in domestic animals, even unvaccinated and/or community cats. Then I was seriously attacked by a cat last month who was just on the edge of safe time between intake/vaccine and the bite, and his behavior was exactly what I pictured a rabid cat to be. So off to the ER I went... the 5-8 immunoglobulin shots around the bites didn't hurt nearly as much as irrigating the wounds did, and I felt 0 side effects from any of the 4 vaccines. Now waiting to see how the billing shakes out... Cat survived its quarantine so it was not rabid.
In that recent experience I felt like their knowledge was patchy. The doctor was basically "well if you really want the shots...." but the person who administered them was very serious about it. They also didn't report the bite like they're required to (I reported it later).

It never occurred to me to think about getting vaccinated for rabies until people mentioned getting rabies shots after getting scratched by stray cats.  I've had really bad cat bites that have required IV antibiotics and most of the cats I deal with are community cats who are close to wildlife on a daily basis.  I'm probably more at risk from the skunks or raccoons I trap.  With the details you provided, I'm not sure.