I found out that a rapid racoon was found in my city recently and I am concered for the ferals that live here. What are the chances of them catching it?
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rabies
- Thread starter shadow79
- Start Date
Have they been inocculated against rabies??
Katie
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
not that I know of. Are they gonna be at high risk?
Truthfully....I think if you can get them to a vet and have them receive a rabies vaccination, that will put your mind at ease. If the Animal Control in your area starts to grow concerned about the fact that there is Rabies in your area (it truly doesn't matter which animal it started from) they may start trapping cats if there is no proof they have received the rabies vaccine. It would also be a good reason to have these cats fixed if they haven't already.
Katie
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
i will ask the vet about the rabies shot. WHat are signs of rabies in cats besides foaming at the mouth so I can be more aware if one of them has it.
Sorry, the foaming thing is much more of a rareity than a reality. Look for neurological symptoms such as unbalanced gait, staggering, very akward behavior. One form of rabies ("dumb rabies") causes damage to the brain ruining muscle and motor control. These animals act 'drunk'. The other form ("furious rabies") causes hyper-accentuated pain and the animals will attack anything and everything. Again these are some basics but there is no way to diagnose rabies without testing brain tissue to be sure. TNVR is a useful tool in establishing a barrier to the disease as ferals are a natural companion & competitor with wildlife (raccoons - skunks - foxes -etc). Never will forget the night I saw 15 ferals and a half dozen raccoons come out of the woods behind a local restaurant. Bad scene....
When ferals are TNRed, they do get a rabies shot which would protect them for a year. Have the ferals been TNRed? When?
