rabid racoon in my back yard!

[lbaker]

Dogs found it Sat. morning and chased it up a tree in the back. We gather dogs up and bring inside. Call Animal Control and explain situation. As I am on the phone I say "well dogs are now inside but the 'coon looks rather sick, just stumbled off the back fence" They don't seem too concerned.. 3 hrs later the coon is back wobbley down the back yard with FIVE DOGS in the back yard. Coon is either reeeeally stupid or sick/rabid. Too late. Dog grab the coon. Can't tell animal control about the particulars or it's a 6 mo. quaranteen, but they have current shots!! What a dilema. Now son (who ended up having to kill the coon by stabbing it but it was coming towards me with no fright at all.).. I had pup Lucy by the collar.. The danger is the slobber or spit by the coon. Blood is not contageous but the saliva is. So now we two leggers have to call the doc and probably go through the shots thing. Took dogs to their doc and he gave them boosters "just in case". Doc said he would try to keep it "under the wire", which means we can try to keep this not an EPISODE. We did tell all our neighbors. I am sooo confused over the right thing to do Please don't report me to the Feds... let us deal with this. Our dogs don't run out of the fence. Please?

[IRescue452]

I don't think anybody's gonna report you. Since the dogs are up to date and got new boosters and you two-leggers are gonna go through the fun too I think you'll be alright. I know everybody on this board would be worried sick if their animals got thrown in quarentine. At my college there were two rabid raccoons on campus my first year that had to be shot.

[Karen]

If the doc thinks your dogs will be fine, I'd just worry about you two-leggers getting your shots - which are not fun, but better than dying.

[lbaker]

Well that's blunt, but truthful isn't it? Oh dear. Now to get us all in and getting us all to have to go through this Vet bill = $650.00 Guess I won't be going on a vacation this year but at least I will have my family, two leggers and four leggers. That's worth more than money. Oh sigh.

[Cinder & Smoke]

"The danger is the slobber or spit by the coon.
Blood is not contageous but the saliva is."

"Can't tell animal control about the particulars or it's a 6 mo. quaranteen"

Now to get us all in and getting us all to have to go through this

Vet bill = $650.00

Oh sigh.

This whole event doesn't make a lot of sense!

* HOW did 5 Dog-Boosters wind up costing $650.00 ??
$130.00 for a Rabies shot is a bit MUCH!

* Keepin it all a "secret" from the Authorities accomplishes what?
I Can't believe an MD that obtains Rabies Antidote Veccine can "not report" that
he's giving Antidote shots to a Human!

* WHY exactly are you wanting to take the Rabies Antidote Shots???
Was anyone actually BITTEN by the creature?
Was the creature ever captured and then TESTED by a LAB to see if it was Rabid?

Not so sure a Human can be infected by the "spit" of a Rabid creature ...
unless the Human has an open wound or plays kissy-face with the critter.

I'd sure be having a long, serious talk with a good MD *before* I paid for
and took the Rabies Antidote Shots!

Try to review the WHOLE Situation before you start to react to it.

GOOD Luck!!!

/s/ Phred

[buttercup132]

* HOW did 5 Dog-Boosters wind up costing $650.00 ??
$130.00 for a Rabies shot is a bit MUCH!

Maybe because you can't just walk into a vet and say give my dogs this shot...they need a check up first which alone cost like $70 and she had 5 dogs.

* WHY exactly are you wanting to take the Rabies Antidote Shots???
Was anyone actually BITTEN by the creature?

To be safe?

That is really scary. I don't know what I would do. I would never be able to actually kill it.
Good luck

[lbaker]

Phred, I do not want to get toooo specific but the racoon was tested by animal control and was positive for rabies. The two-legger doc can report the incident with humans but does not have to mention dogs or cats being involved. I have been to the CDC Web site and done much research since Saturday. At the vet there were exams, rabies boosters, wound treatments (yes, wounds from the coon) antibiotic injections, Mometamas 30 gr, Amoxitabs 400 mg and tritop ointment. All that for follow up treatment at home. One does not have to be bitten to need the care, it's the saliva from the coon itself or from the dog fur when there was contact. My son had direct contact but Jenny & I were holding dogs back and perhaps had indirect contact. Jenny is calling the two-legger doc this morning. Thank you for caring. The amount due at the vet included my multi-pet discount AND my "old lady" discount *being old does have some advantages*

[lute]

hmmm....This is a sticky situation. I'm not one to judge or get on to someone. I understand you feel you have to handle things your own way. Although a 6month quaranteen sounds like a small price to pay. What about all the other dogs in your neighborhood that don't have responsible owners that aren't vaccinated? If you don't report the racoon it may get someone elses beloved pet...and then possibly bite them or their children.

[lbaker]

We DID report it. Twice, the first time it came into the yard and several hours later when it returned. It was animal control that came to pick it up. We have already alerted all our neighbors and it will be printed up in the weekly Gazette under "Animal Reports". I have been on the phone with animal control. They are the ones that called me at work to report the postive results and that we had the follow up call about. We DID report it immediately. I said in my first post that we called animal control at the first sign of this poor, sick racoon.

[Callie]

It is well that the rabid animal was dispatched to a better place BUT rabies doesn't 'just happen' to an animal. It is quite possible that this is just the first notice to humans that rabies may be reaching epidemic proportions in the wild...and that means trouble for humans and pets.

Where do you suppose the raccoon got the rabies? Any warm blooded animal (including humans) can carry the disease and pass it on. To protect everyone, the source of this should be investigated in the local area and then rooted out as much as possible.

Bats are a frequent carrier and you do NOT have to be bitten to be infected. Simply going into an attic (for example) where rabid bats have been and breathing in the dust from their droppings can be deadly. This being so, the search should NOT be done by uninformed, improperly prepared, individuals.

I know whereof I speak...we found a rabid bat on our living room carpet one morning. It was promptly dispatched and taken to the health department. I had had a 'dream' about something trying to bite me during the night so I went through a thorough magnifying glass inspection stem to stern. Found nothing. I opted to wait (because of allergies) for 3 weeks. Pure hell!

We discovered the bats had invaded our attic. We threw mothballs up there to drive them out and stood outside firing away as they exited. Then we closed up every vent, hole, crack, etc we could find. No more bats in the attic.

I do wish you all the best but the job isn't done until the source of the infection is isolated as much as possible. Your health department should be following up to make sure innocent others were not inadvertently infected before your situation occurred.

You'll be in my prayers.

Callie

[lbaker]

You are exactly right Callie, reading up on rabies through the CDC web site is a real eye opener. Very scary but very informative. Animal Control is very thorough in this county. Between Animal Control, word of mouth and the write up in the Gazette we are all hoping to make our "neighborhood watch" do more than watch for suspicious two-leggers this time.

[Ginger's Mom]

I, too, was very confused by your initial post, thanks for clearing that up for us. I will pray that no one suffers any ill-effects from this encounter (other than having to take the shots, ugh!), and that there are no other rabid animals found in your area. And as far as I am concerned all I can say is I am glad that none of the dogs were in the yard at the time.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Rabies Information *links* >>>

A private information site - that gives citations for many of its information points >
http://www.rabies.com/html/welcome.html


The US CDC (Center for Disease Control) site >>>
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/prevention&control/preventi.htm

From the CDC page:
"Postexposure prophylaxis
Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is indicated for persons possibly exposed to a rabid animal. Possible exposures include animal bites, or mucous membrane contamination with infectious tissue, such as saliva. {For more information on types of exposures, see Human Rabies Prevention - United States, 1999 Recommendations of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee (ACIP).} PEP should begin as soon as possible after an exposure. There have been no vaccine failures in the United States (i.e. someone developed rabies) when PEP was given promptly and appropriately after an exposure.

Administration of rabies PEP is a medical urgency, not a medical emergency. Physicians should evaluate each possible exposure to rabies and as necessary consult with local or state public health officials regarding the need for rabies prophylaxis.

Postexposure prophylaxis regimen
In the United States, PEP consists of a regimen of one dose of immune globulin and five doses of rabies vaccine over a 28-day period. Rabies immune globulin and the first dose of rabies vaccine should be given as soon as possible after exposure. Additional doses of rabies vaccine should be given on days 3, 7, 14, and 28 after the first vaccination. Current vaccines are relatively painless and are given in your arm, like a flu or tetanus vaccine.

What to do after a possible exposure
If you are exposed to a potentially rabid animal, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, and seek medical attention immediately. A health care provider will care for the wound and will assess the risk for rabies exposure."

/s/ Phred

[Twisterdog]

If your dogs were current on their rabies vaccinations, why would they be quarantined at all? Is that a state law? Yikes.

My state law says that if you can show lifetime proof of rabies vaccinations, your dog will not be quarantined, killed, etc. if they are bitten by a rabid animal or if they bite a person or another animal. If you cannot prove they have had rabies vaccinations, they will be killed.

One of my employees was bitten by a stray cat. The cat ran away and they could never find it. So she had to get the shots. Painful, and expensive! Sorry you have to go through that!

[TamanduaGirl]

no vaccine is 100% effective. They are worried about human health risk. Most states, and i think CDC recommends a quarantine for an animal bitten by an animal suspected for rabies. My state used to require any dog bitten by a wild animal be killed and tested! They now allow a quarantine if bitten and vaccinated a longer one if not vaccinated and you are willing to pay the price if not then killed and tested too.