Ok, well I feel silly typing this, but I
really just need some advice.
I live in a neighborhood where there are
alot of stray cats and for a while my
family started to feed a few of the cats
and we noticed after a few weeks they
would alway go to this one house and
someone would let them in. So, obviously
they belonged to these people and we
stopped feeding them. They would still
come over once and awhile just to visit.
Well, a year or so has gone by and one of
the cats I particularly like showed up
thids Saturday evening. Although I'm
slightly unsure if it was the same cat,
because it looked smaller. I was sitting
on the back step of our porch and it was
meowing and rubbing up against, acting
completely normal.
I'm not writting b/c the cat bite or
scratched me, but I was wearing a tank top
and long pants, but the lower part of my
back has horrible acne and I had recently
(around 10 mins) tried to pop and break
them, thus breaking the skin and the cat
was rubbin all up against my back and such
and I'm not sure if it liked me, I'm
second guessing myself on this one, but
worse case scenario lets just say if it
did. My question is I know you can get
rabies from not having a bite or scratch
but if the saliva gets into broken skin.
I know rabies isn't something you mess
around with and it seems kind of difficult
to head to a doctors and say "well I think
I might have contracted rabies from a
neighborhood cat..." and explain something
like this when they probably look at e
cross eyed. I also want to be cautious.
What should I do?
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young Girl
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13932 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-23-07 12:52pm
yes if the saliva got into broken skin
they can give you rabies
however if a cat has rabies they would
have foam comming from their mouth
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spicegirl03
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 3
Posted: 07-23-07 21:29pm
is it necessary to go see a health care
provider then? b/c they may not think it
would be necessary for me to recieve the
vaccination if I can't really remember if
the cat licked me, but only rubbed up
against me.
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Stelcon
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 1
Posted: 08-07-08 18:30pm
Saliva into broken skin is considered a
potential exposure. Not all animals will
foam at the mouth when rabid. Sometimes an
animal can have rabies and act normal. I
would talk to your doctor to be sure. If
it's someone's pet and has been vaccinated
long enough before your exposure you are
ok.
