Stray/possibly Feral Cat Scrached Me With Its Tooth

[Delfure]

Hi, sorry if this is a bit long.

So about two and a half weeks ago I went out to my back porch and lo and behold there was a cat just hanging out. I know there are about three that hang around my neighborhood, but this was the first time I had seen one on my back porch. In hindsight I know I shouldn't have even gone close to a feral cat with no experience, but I saw that she was TNR'd and looked very clean, so I approached and she let me pet her. Long story short, she was fine just hanging out and being pet, but at one point she was laying on her stomach, and when I went to rub it I got a bit of claws and teeth(I'm more used to dogs and didn't know at the time this was a nono with cats). She didn't actually seem to want to hurt me or threatened, but one of her teeth scratched me, not enough to draw blood, just to leave a red raised mark for a few hours and a small scratch on the surface. I immediately went inside and washed it down with soap and water and then alcohol. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, and all I could thing over and over was if the cat had rabies.
I called my doctor the next day, and was told that without drawing blood there was little to no chance of infection. I called animal control as well and they said roughly the same thing. Even after this I still couldn't get it out of my head, and the cat was still hanging out on my back porch at night, so I decided to make nice to see if I could make any observations(I know, once again a bad idea). She was incredibly friendly with us and with our dog, and even figured out the doggy door and after a few days would split time inside and outside.
I wound up taking her to the vet to try to get this all out of my head. She was very agreeable, tested negatively for worms, FLV and FIV, and when I asked about things related to rabies(she has very dilated eyes unless the sun is fully out, and had a small tuft of missing fur on her back right leg I assumed was from a fight) they said that she seemed perfectly healthy, and eventually convinced me to adopt her and get her a round of shots.

So here I am last Friday, bought her food, seem to be getting along fine with her, same thing happens. Playing, I get scratched, this time with a claw enough to draw a small amount of blood, again, she didn't seem aggressive, just playing. I cleaned it in the same manner. All of the same thoughts are running through my head, and I feel like at this point if I ask again my doctor would look at me like I'm insane, but I just can't get it out of my mind.
I keep on looking things up and seeing the incubation period of rabies and so on. I know rabies usually has very visible symptoms in a contagious animal, but I've read that sometimes it makes wild animals friendly instead of aggressive.
The first scratch from the tooth two weeks ago is completely gone, and the second one from last Friday is scabbed over. She seems fine, still friendly, just a bit lazy. I've had no notable symptoms, but I've heard it can take weeks to months for something like this to develop.

This is the first time I've written this out, and honestly reading it back I know how its probably ridiculous, but I just can't get it off my mind. Is there anything realistic to worry about? I just want to stop thinking about all of this but I feel like I can't, like if I do it'll turn out I got it and didn't get the shots just to save a few hundred dollars.
Any advice, on any of this, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Willowy]

Keep an eye on her. If she dies or disappears within 10 days you should take the body to animal control or get vaccinated. If she is still alive in 10 days she is not shedding the virus in her saliva now. Plenty of studies have been done on rabies and the animal is always dead (or at least showing obvious symptoms) within 10 days of shedding the virus. They can't transmit the virus during the incubation period.
CDC - Domestic Animals - Rabies

Did the vet give her a rabies vaccine? Since she was TNRed she should have gotten a rabies vaccine at that time too, and vaccines confer immunity for a lot longer than most people think. So I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[Delfure]

Did the vet give her a rabies vaccine? Since she was TNRed she should have gotten a rabies vaccine at that time too, and vaccines confer immunity for a lot longer than most people think. So I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply! They did give her a rabies vaccine, and when i brought her in I asked about age and they said she was 2 or three. I assumed they might do a vaccine when they pick them up for TNR, but i dont really know if it lasts this long, I'm pretty new to cats in general. Im glad to hear about the 10 day period, she's seemed healthy and honestly doesn't even go that far from my house anymore(tho that's probably just her knowing I have food). She hasn't shown me any signs of being sick the past couple weeks; the most I could say is she seems a bit lazy/less excited than before, but I didn't know if it was actual lethargy or if she was just used to my house and everyone in it now.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Something similar just happened to me a few weeks ago, except that this one was definitely a stray and not a feral. I was busy posting her pictures on social media and not paying attention. Her wet nose brushed my arm and I jerked away and she nipped me, just enough to draw blood.

I work for a large urban health department and I've done raccoon rabies baiting, so off to the hospital I went without hesitation. I opted to get the rabies shots. I would advise you to do the same. You just don't know with ferals. At the very least you should have a course of antibiotics.

I fed the kitty for 5 days just to keep her close so I knew where she was. On the 5th day, it was pouring down rain. When I went out onto the porch to feed her, she ignored the food and went straight for the door. I broke down, went out to my shed and got the cage. And I brought her in, keeping her completely separate from my own cats. Nine days later her owners found me and she went home.

When I went for my last rabies shot, they were amazed that I not only managed to keep her close, but got her and found her owners. That doesn't happen very often.

 

[Delfure]

Something similar just happened to me a few weeks ago, except that this one was definitely a stray and not a feral. I was busy posting her pictures on social media and not paying attention. Her wet nose brushed my arm and I jerked away and she nipped me, just enough to draw blood.

I work for a large urban health department and I've done raccoon rabies baiting, so off to the hospital I went without hesitation. I opted to get the rabies shots. I would advise you to do the same. You just don't know with ferals. At the very least you should have a course of antibiotics.

I fed the kitty for 5 days just to keep her close so I knew where she was. On the 5th day, it was pouring down rain. When I went out onto the porch to feed her, she ignored the food and went straight for the door. I broke down, went out to my shed and got the cage. And I brought her in, keeping her completely separate from my own cats. Nine days later her owners found me and she went home.

When I went for my last rabies shot, they were amazed that I not only managed to keep her close, but got her and found her owners. That doesn't happen very often.

Hi, thanks for your response. I actually did end up going to the doctor yesterday. After the story and an exam she said she wouldn't recommend the shots unless the cat became sick/died. I did end up getting a tetanus shot because mine was out of date apparently. It did make me feel better, but I still might go back and insist on the shots. I'm not sure, this all has just made me very paranoid. She actually prescribed be anti anxiety meds because I seemed so on edge. I also dont know if its just past that point now. Its been about three weeks since the cat scratched me with her teeth, and since then she's seemed fine, more playful than before even. Its progressed to the point where I don't even think she leaves my house anymore. I feel like I'm chasing ghosts here, but i also don't want to be that crazy case of rabies no one expected.

 

[surya]

Rabies is very rare in cats. I don't think you have rabies. I think you need to focus on what you can do to deal with your stress. A nice walk in the sunshine helps me. Or maybe a hobby you enjoy, to take your mind off of things might help.

 

[Willowy]

It's impossible for you to get rabies from an animal that isn't shedding the virus. And they always die within 10 days of shedding the virus. Listen to the doctor! The CDC has done a lot of research so you can be confident in that.

If it makes you feel better, you can get the pre-exposure rabies vaccine, which will protect you for at least 5 years. They prefer to save it for vets and animal control workers, but you can get it if you're willing to pay for it (it's not covered by insurance). Rabies is rare in the US so the doctors will probably look at you funny .

 

[WoodstockGirl]

It's impossible for you to get rabies from an animal that isn't shedding the virus. And they always die within 10 days of shedding the virus. Listen to the doctor! The CDC has done a lot of research so you can be confident in that.

If it makes you feel better, you can get the pre-exposure rabies vaccine, which will protect you for at least 5 years. They prefer to save it for vets and animal control workers, but you can get it if you're willing to pay for it (it's not covered by insurance). Rabies is rare in the US so the doctors will probably look at you funny .

It depends on where in the US you live. Locally, it's mainly raccoon rabies, but other locations have different carriers and vectors, like skunk and foxes. We bait raccoons with rabies vaccine to keep it from spreading West and that mission has been accomplished. As of right now, the far western boundary for raccoon rabies is just west of here in eastern Ohio. The next phase is to push the western boundary back east further and further until it is eradicated. The hospital staff when I went most certainly did not look at me funny and advised me to get the series. More and more people here are opting to get the vaccine even if it turns out to be unnecessary. I opted to get them because I knew that there had been a rabid cat in our county just a few weeks before--we're up to 17 known rabid animals this season.

Since 1960, 93% of rabies cases occur in wildlife and the remaining 7% are from domestic animals with the majority of those cases being cats. So for goodness sakes, even if you have indoor cats, vaccinate them against rabies. You never know when they might get out. For every rabid animal we know about, there are many more we don't know about because they don't live long enough for us to find.

 

[Delfure]

Hi everyone, thanks again for the advice. I live in Texas, almost directly in between Austin and Houston. I think the main worry for my location would be bats? I'm not sure, I've never actually seen a racoon or fox in this area, but I know Austin has a massive bat problem. I might just try to relax and put my faith in the ten day observation. I was talking to the doctor and I brought up that maybe the cat was bit by something with rabies the day I met it, it licked the wound and then scratched me with its teeth, and I think that's when she started looking at me funny and the conversation switched to anxiety. I'm going back in for blood work soon(she wanted to rule out an enlarged thyroid) and I might ask about it one more time, though I'm worried that might just get me sent straight to a psychiatrist haha.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Hi everyone, thanks again for the advice. I live in Texas, almost directly in between Austin and Houston. I think the main worry for my location would be bats? I'm not sure, I've never actually seen a racoon or fox in this area, but I know Austin has a massive bat problem. I might just try to relax and put my faith in the ten day observation. I was talking to the doctor and I brought up that maybe the cat was bit by something with rabies the day I met it, it licked the wound and then scratched me with its teeth, and I think that's when she started looking at me funny and the conversation switched to anxiety. I'm going back in for blood work soon(she wanted to rule out an enlarged thyroid) and I might ask about it one more time, though I'm worried that might just get me sent straight to a psychiatrist haha.

IMO they're being a little lackadaisical about this, but that's probably because it's Texas and your laws are different. I think it's mainly skunk and fox in Texas, but bats are a carrier as well. I will say this: In Pennsylvania, if a unvaccinated domestic animal bites someone and there is any reason to suspect rabies (bites of unknown origin, etc.), they're quarantined for 180 days. If they have been vaccinated, it's 90 days.

PA leads the nation for rabid cats and we're #2 in overall rabies cases, so we tend to take these things very seriously.

 

[Delfure]

Thanks for your advice. Trust me, I'm not taking it lightly. The second one of my doctors agrees with it, or if I ever see any symptoms from the cat, I'll go for the series. The cat (Karma, ill just use her name now) still seems perfectly fine, and hasn't show any symptoms. Actually the eye dilation deal has gone away too; during the day they're slits and even at night unless we're playing they're almonds, i rarely see the giant moons I encountered her with at first. I'm trying to be as careful as possible here.