Rabies

                    I walked around the corner of my block and saw a dog barking at me. He looked crazy. He drooled and seemed aggressive. And every once in a while he started biting at imaginary figures. He seemed sick, so I got closer knowing that I should take a look at the dog’s name and his owner’s phone number. As I did, the dog’s head turned around and bit my hand. Although my hand throbbed it felt normal. My Border Collie at home always bit me. A few days later, there was a tingling, prickling, and itching feeling around the bite area. I also had flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and tiredness. When I visited the doctor she said that she had talked to the owner of the dog and when she talked to his veterinarian she found out that that dog was rabid…..and now so was I.

Now, don’t go screaming “Oh my gosh what if my lizard is going to have rabies!!!” Relax. Only mammals can get rabies, mammals with fur like dogs, cats, and horses, and also include humans. Humans are mammals too! About 90% of rabies comes from the wild. Mostly animals like skunks, foxes, bats, and raccoons. If you see a stray dog or cat don’t pet it.

Only about 1% of dogs get rabies due to the law that makes us vaccinate our dogs to prevent rabies. If you see a dog that acts aggressively; stay away. If it’s drooling more than usual or has foam appearing in his mouth, they probably have rabies. A lot of animals may not show any signs of illness, so try to stay away from wildlife. Including baby animals. (I know how tempting it is but would you rather face an angry mother and maybe get sick or be safe!) 

Most of the time there are ways to help protect our furry friends. One way is to vaccinate your pets from rabies. Other ways are to neuter and spay, remove wild animals from or near your house, or keep your pets away from wild animals.

“So for rabies—don’t wait, vaccinate!”  Quote from aaep.org.

You can call an animal control officer if a wild animal seems to act strange or unusual. Some unusual signs or symptoms things to look for are:

• An animal that seems fearful
• An animal that has more than the usual amount of foam in his mouth
  
• An animal that seems aggressive
  
• An animal that excessively drools
  
• Difficulty swallowing
  
• Staggering
  
• Paralysis
  
• Seizures
  
• General sickness
  
• An animal that bites at imaginary objects (sometimes called “fly biting”)
  
• An animal that appears tamer than you would expect
  
• An animal that’s having trouble moving 
  
• A bat that is on the ground
  
• Though you don’t have to worry too much about this disease. Don’t wait, vaccinate!!!!

 https://youtu.be/EAhqjbWpLSI