Does my cat have rabies?

My 19-months old male cat, pabo, was bitten by a Tom cat last week. He started limping the first day but then he got better. Two days ago, his bitten arm started swelling and he started favoring his other one. I took him to the vet today with the intention of renewing his rabies shot but I found out that I missed the date by two weeks. The vet refused to renew his shot and told me he might have rabies. I'm worried about him. It's been a week since the bite and he is completely normal- he eats, drinks, and behaves as usual.
what should I do?

@Nouda

What country are you in?

I am always reluctant to say this, but when i feel compelled then i will, please note this is my personal opinion  based only on what you have wrote and provided that you are not in a country that has a high degree of rabies: You need a new vet.

If your vet thought your cat was exposed to rabies (unlikely in the US) then he should have contacted the local board of health and quarantined your cat.  It takes at least 2 weeks for symptoms to develop and there is no other way to tell unless you had access to the other cat.

Most likely, your cat has a bacterial infection from the bite which needs antibiotics and possibly draining from the wound.

I'm in Tunisia, we don't have a high degree of rabies in my city nor in my neighborhood. I didn't see the other cat but even stray cats here are somewhat normal ( I haven't noticed any missing cats or infected ones) but the bite became infected and the vet did drain it and gave him a antibiotic shot (with delayed effect of 3 days?!) but said she won't renew his rabies shot.
I don't know what to do since I don't know if I can get him tested without hurting him. I read once that symptoms start after a week, but he's normal and I'm afraid that if I take him to a new vet they might kill him

Ah ok.  There is no test for rabies in an animal that is living.  The only thing to do if you were concerned is to board him where he could be quarantined (separated from humans and animals) and watch for symptoms.  I don't know how much rabies is in tunisia or in your area of it, but you might be able to google it.  If you weren't concerned then i would just treat the infection and keep an eye on him.  Once he's over the infection and enough time has passed to be sure he is ok, then your vet or any vet should be fine about giving him a rabies vaccine.

Also, given that you were late by only a few weeks with the vaccine, he is likely still fully protected.

Rabies shots confer immunity for much longer than what the label says. So if it was only a few weeks past due, he should still be fully protected.

Now, it is a bad idea to give rabies shots at the same time as antibiotics (the antibiotics can interfere with the body developing immunity). Maybe that's why the vet wouldn't vaccinate him? If she still refuses after he's fully healed and the antibiotic has worn off, just take him to another vet to get his rabies shot and don't tell them about the bite.

stephenq
I've read earlier that they can test their saliva or blood but the results won't be accurate. Is that a thing?
Anyways I'll keep an eye on him for the time being and see what'll happen.
W Willowy
Well, she said she won't give him the shot until 3 months have passed or at least a month from today. So I don't think it was because of the antibiotics.
As I said, I'll see what happens since nothing has changed.


Thank you both for your help. [emoji]128515[/emoji]

@Nouda

My information is that the only accurate test is on the brain tissue of a deceased animal but that testing on a live animal isn't possible and that it can take up to 8 weeks for infection to show, perhaps tha's why the vet wants to wait.

See http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/rabies