My mother, along with her brother and their uncle, were all bitten by a rabid dog when she was a teenager. She had to undergo the series of twenty-one shots in her abdomen & she told me the shots were very painful. I’m glad that treatments have modernized. The current shots are no more painful than other vaccines.

I really feel bad about the persons attacked by the bobcat. does the rabies treatment still involve those painful injections through the stomach *shudders*?

A bobcat walks into a bar…
And attacks three people.

The bouncer should have stopped him at the door when he didn’t have ID. Maybe the bobcat slipped him a $5? Haha.

I think that every time I’m out at the bar , especially when it’s 10 cents wings night.

All mammals can get rabies, as far as is known. It was once thought that the common Virginia opossum was immune, but that turns out not to be the case; they can and do get rabies, although it’s rare. Some animals are more likely to be infected than others: carnivores and bats are the animals that people usually associate with rabies, but cattle and horses are often exposed too. A rabid horse is a terrifying sight.

Although this is a little off-topic, I am glad that this post gave me the opportunity to talk about rabies. Many people do not realize that rabies is still a danger in the modern world. It’s extremely important to vaccinate your pets and livestock for rabies. There are excellent vaccines available that protect dogs, cats, and ferrets up to 3 years, and other livestock for a year (horses, for instance, should be vaccinated yearly). Most states require vaccination to be done by or under the supervision of a veterinarian. That’s to ensure that the vaccine is administered and documented properly; if your pet has been vaccinated for rabies by a vet, and it bites someone, it won’t have to be destroyed for rabies testing. Or if that pet is bitten by an animal that has rabies, the pet can be revaccinated immediately & quarantined for a couple of weeks, as opposed to being destroyed for rabies testing or quarantined for 6 months.

Don’t handle bats at all, and don’t approach wildlife, especially if it’s acting strangely or aggressively. Wash bite and scratch wounds, all of them, with soap and water. See a doctor to be evaluated for possiblle rabies prophylaxis if the animal hasn’t been vaccinated or can’t be located for quarantine or testing. If you find a bat in a room with an invalid or a small child, talk to a doctor about rabies. If you wake up and find a bat in your bedroom, talk to a doctor about rabies. Many people who get bat rabies have no recollection of having been bitten. Spelunkers who go into bat caves should wear breathing protection and should consider pre-exposure vaccination. People who are traveling to any country where rabies is prevalent should consider pre-exposure vaccine, because the supplies of post-exposure treatments are very limited in some countries, and may differ from what is used here. There have been two people who are known to have survived rabies. Two. At least 30,000 to 50,000 people die from rabies every year.

In the USA and Canada, rabies is mostly a disease of bats and other wildlife. But in most of the world, rabies is spread tp people mainly by unvaccinated dogs. Rabies, spread by dogs, is also threatening some critically endangered wildlife such as Ethiopian wolves. There are international vaccination programs, but funding is woefully short.

Last year someone had a black bear come into their house rooting around. Turned out they had been putting food for it on the porch. Not a good idea. He decided to come on in the kitchen to find something better than dry cat food. When they walked into the kitchen to see what the noise was, he went out…check that…went through the screen door getting out.

Sounds like this bobcat was rabid.