Bitten by stray while trying to get him into cage. What should i do?

[hisalweisu]

So there was a cat I’ve been feeding for over a year now. Just two weeks ago, he started limping on one leg and couldn’t put pressure on it. My family and I decided to get him treated and bring him into the house. However, in the process of trying to put him in a carriage, i was bit (stupid i know. Should’ve used an automatic trap). It was quite a deep wound, punctured through the pad of my index finger and through the nail. I washed for five minutes under water and soap and wipe the area with an alcohol pad. Then i went to see a NP and she prescribed antibiotics/cream along with a dose of TDAP for tetanus. I guess at this point I’m worried about the worst case scenario, which would be rabies.

The whole time I’ve seen the cat (a little over a year) he’s been the same. No change in behavior, appetite, etc. He did get some wounds probably from fighting with other animals but he recovered nicely and just until yesterday he was fine. Aside from his limping, he didn’t have any noticeable ailments. I live in a pretty well occupied area but still see a rogue raccoon or skunk now and then.

I refrained from going to the ER because i have no insurance so at this point i was wondering what to do. The only pain i have is from the bite itself. It’s been 7 hrs but no redness or itching and no fever. Just took some medications and am waiting for the topical cream to be ordered. I’m quite scared bc obviously rabies is fatal so what should i do? We weren’t successfully able to capture the cat so we can’t put it under observation.

 

[Beholder]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Is there any way the NP you saw can administer a set of rabies shots? That's generally the course of action taken if there's potential that the animal has rabies.

 

[hisalweisu]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Is there any way the NP you saw can administer a set of rabies shots? That's generally the course of action taken if there's potential that the animal has rabies.

Thank you. The office i went to didn’t have any rabies vaccination in stock so I’m not sure i would’ve been able to get it there. I’ve searched the vaccine as well but finding places where the vaccine is offered isn’t quite as easy as i thought it would be.

 

[Beholder]

Got it. Unfortunately the ER then may be the only place that carries it, and after a quick google search I now see your reluctance. It amazes me that a vaccine could cost so much money, let alone the four separate trips to the ER. From what I just researched it would put you anywhere in the range of $3,000-$40,000 depending where you live (if you are in the US), but likely closer to $4,000.

I can't give you a good answer on what to do, but as you know, rabies is usually deadly and the first shot needs to be administered the same day for the highest level of effectiveness. Is there any way you can find the cat? I know you can't trap it, but maybe if you can see the cat from far away you could try and take a picture and zoom in to see if there's any extreme salivation at the mouth or other unusual behavior.

 

[hisalweisu]

Got it. Unfortunately the ER then may be the only place that carries it, and after a quick google search I now see your reluctance. It amazes me that a vaccine could cost so much money, let alone the four separate trips to the ER. From what I just researched it would put you anywhere in the range of $3,000-$40,000 depending where you live (if you are in the US), but likely closer to $4,000.

I can't give you a good answer on what to do, but as you know, rabies is usually deadly and the first shot needs to be administered the same day for the highest level of effectiveness. Is there any way you can find the cat? I know you can't trap it, but maybe if you can see the cat from far away you could try and take a picture and zoom in to see if there's any extreme salivation at the mouth or other unusual behavior.

Thank you for searching the info! I also recently searched and we definitely don’t have that kind of money to spend especially at this time.
We’ve seen the cat everyday for the past year. It salivated when eating and when we pet it while it was purring but never excessively to the point of excessive drooling and never when it wasn’t purring(which i searched was common?). Behavior was the same as well. I searched up some videos and while i was worried at first about his limping being a sign it was just in one leg. Cats with potential rabies seemed to lose the function to move throughout. The stray was always friendly and rubbed up against us the same way it had been since the first time we saw it a year ago. And since it has been near our home, we haven’t seen it get bit any time recently (although it did get bit in the past).

 

[fionasmom]

Can you try to trap and cat and observe him in a room of his own? You mentioned you were going to bring him in the house previously. You have a trap?

This happened to me in late November, similar story, and my GP made me go to the ER as she said they would know the vector for rabies in this area and also would have the HRIG. Do you know where unvaccinated cats in your area fall on the possibility of having rabies scale? As it turns out, in LA County they are not even considered enough of a risk to give the rabies vaccines and the ER doctor gave me the TDAP and a bunch of antibiotics (oral) and bandaged me up. Yes, it was expensive just for that......$2000. I did have insurance and the cat (not going to hijack your story here with mine) clearly does not have rabies and is fed by me twice a day.

If a hospital gives you the first HRIG shot, you can usually get the rest of the series from a Walgreens or other drug store, if that helps with the cost.

Whatever state you are in has rabies information on a public health department site, so you could consult that. Are skunks and raccoons the carriers? Around here, it is almost exclusively bats in the foothills and if you even pick up a downed bat you will be given the rabies series.

The NP should be up on the danger of rabies in your area and, as such, might have known that you did not need the shot. I also have to wonder if she could have gotten the rabies vaccines for you as a health provider.

 

[fionasmom]

Watch the bite through the nail bed especially. That could become painful and will need to be watched for a while. I almost wonder if you should have been given an oral antibiotic as well.

 

[hisalweisu]

Can you try to trap and cat and observe him in a room of his own? You mentioned you were going to bring him in the house previously. You have a trap?

This happened to me in late November, similar story, and my GP made me go to the ER as she said they would know the vector for rabies in this area and also would have the HRIG. Do you know where unvaccinated cats in your area fall on the possibility of having rabies scale? As it turns out, in LA County they are not even considered enough of a risk to give the rabies vaccines and the ER doctor gave me the TDAP and a bunch of antibiotics (oral) and bandaged me up. Yes, it was expensive just for that......$2000. I did have insurance and the cat (not going to hijack your story here with mine) clearly does not have rabies and is fed by me twice a day.

If a hospital gives you the first HRIG shot, you can usually get the rest of the series from a Walgreens or other drug store, if that helps with the cost.

Whatever state you are in has rabies information on a public health department site, so you could consult that. Are skunks and raccoons the carriers? Around here, it is almost exclusively bats in the foothills and if you even pick up a downed bat you will be given the rabies series.

The NP should be up on the danger of rabies in your area and, as such, might have known that you did not need the shot. I also have to wonder if she could have gotten the rabies vaccines for you as a health provider.

The thing is, we put him in the carrier and i covered it with a blanket in order to get ready to go to a walk in vet to get the leg looked at but during that time it somehow escaped. It sat it the trunk and i didn’t feel safe driving with it in out of the carrier/didn’t know how to get it back in without getting bit so i called a house call vet. They couldn’t help me put it in the carrier either and they just suggested getting it vaccinated for rabies/distemper along with a pain med and antibiotics in case it was an abscess that made him limp. I feel like this wasn’t a smart decision to make as the more i researched the more i found out that cats should be observed about 10 days to see if they pass away from rabies-like symptoms, but i didn’t want to run away and never see him again without being protected in the wild (called shelters and clinics but no one seemed to give any advice on how to catch cat again, and i knew I’d lose trust once i let him go) so i gave him the shots and let him leave. The only thing i could rely on was the fact that if the cat was in the final stages of rabies, even a vaccine wouldnt be able to treat it. If cat was in incubation period, cat should recover and CDC said being bit during that period shouldn’t transmit the virus, as it isn’t in their saliva yet. Thankfully, the cat came back to us and it doesn’t seem any different/showing signs but it’s skittish and being vaccinated rules out observing him for 10 days...and i live in Bergen county in Jersey but i couldn’t find out any info about rabies stats since the health department was closed on the weekend (whew that was a long reply)

 

[hisalweisu]

Watch the bite through the nail bed especially. That could become painful and will need to be watched for a while. I almost wonder if you should have been given an oral antibiotic as well.

I did receive an oral antibiotic! I’ve been taking it every 12 hrs and put neosporin on the wound (antibiotic cream is coming Monday sadly). There is slight pain but not that much. the finger is slightly swollen (not too noticeable but still) so I’m keeping an eye out for that.

 

[fionasmom]

The only thing i could rely on was the fact that if the cat was in the final stages of rabies, even a vaccine wouldnt be able to treat it. If cat was in incubation period, cat should recover and CDC said being bit during that period shouldn’t transmit the virus, as it isn’t in their saliva yet. Thankfully, the cat came back to us and it doesn’t seem any different/showing signs but it’s skittish

This is true. An animal could have rabies (not saying at all that your cat does) and not transmit to humans.

 

[Beholder]

I did receive an oral antibiotic! I’ve been taking it every 12 hrs and put neosporin on the wound (antibiotic cream is coming Monday sadly). There is slight pain but not that much. the finger is slightly swollen (not too noticeable but still) so I’m keeping an eye out for that.

I was randomly on another thread and learned something pretty interesting. There has not been a single cat-to-human reported rabies case to the CDC in the past 40 years and only 2 since 1960. In addition to this, only 1-3 cases are reported in the US each year, mainly by dogs and bats and many of those started abroad. I think the odds of you being the first case in 40 years are insanely low.

Sorry, I find math and statistics comforting sometimes so I thought I'd share.

Cats Are No Rabies Threat
Human Rabies | Rabies in U.S. | Rabies | CDC
Bitten By Cat - Rabies?

 

[fionasmom]

B Beholder OMG yes, stats are of great comfort to me and I am always looking for information when I am afraid or upset.

I have heard and read that as well. Rabies is quite well controlled, if not eradicated in the US generally. The most recent case I read about was a man in the Midwest ( I think that area) who actually had made a bat house for bats in his attic or something and considered them pets. Sadly, he was bitten and died of rabies.

The dr I saw in the ER was positively relaxed about the fact that a cat had bitten me.

 

[Beholder]

B Beholder OMG yes, stats are of great comfort to me and I am always looking for information when I am afraid or upset.

I have heard and read that as well. Rabies is quite well controlled, if not eradicated in the US generally. The most recent case I read about was a man in the Midwest ( I think that area) who actually had made a bat house for bats in his attic or something and considered them pets. Sadly, he was bitten and died of rabies.

The dr I saw in the ER was positively relaxed about the fact that a cat had bitten me.

He kept bats as pets?! Wow, that's a new one.

 

[fionasmom]

Utah man dies from rabies, the first in the state since 1944

 

[Beholder]

Utah man dies from rabies, the first in the state since 1944

That was a sad story. Poor guy, although I'm glad none of the family members got it from him.