Today I had to go help out in clinic for a few hours. A man from Pakistan came with a cat to be neutered (this is very RARE thing) we never see foreigners. I was not there when he dropped the cat off, but noticed the name while doing paperwork. When he came to pick him up, he kept asking about the rabies vaccine...like overly paranoid about it. I assured him like 3 times...YES we gave him the vaccine. He stared telling me about his daughter finding the cat and they have kept it locked up because they were not sure if it was safe. I told him the cat looks great. He started to get a little juicy eyed and told me his cousin died from rabies, and that is why he was so nervous. He said it was the horrific way to die. about 2 years ago I was bitten by a wild wild cat, that was in bad health, dehydrated, and really vicious. My finger swell up and I had to have surgery... the Arab had the cat's head cut off and sent to the CDC to test for rabies. I was stuck in the hospital for week with infection, had to have a pic line put in... sent home to do my own IVs and crap... had to go back because I could move my arm... they said I had a staph infection from my pic line...blablabla.. anyway. The infectious disease doc told me I really should get the rabies vaccinations because of my work. He also said in America we have more rabies cases then tetanus...he also told a few horror stories. well after I got over the infection, got back to work... then got pregnant..so I never got the vaccines. Monday I plan on setting an appointment to get them. When I looked into after the cat bite... my insurance did not cover it... but damn it the Arab will. I have gotten myself freaked out. We do have rabies in the USA, (not as much as other countries) few years ago I had seen a horse with it, and 2 dogs. I was the one that got the fun job of rushing a HORSE HEAD to CDC. We called the news a few days later when it was confirmed, and they came out and interview us.... The vets were all excited..because they knew this get a shit load of people in to do vaccines. BUT while they were out shooting our footage, That Brian Nichols thing went down... the guy that killed all the people in court in Atlanta. SO that was pretty much the only thing on the news. I think everyone has a list of ways they do not want to die... well I added rabid to my list, I got stuck thinking about rabies and ended up on Youtube... OMG... I cried seeing the poor kids with it, tied to a bed, in pain... and they cant do anything about it. I would hope that if it happened to someone here, they would just keep them deeply sedated, induce a coma till the person dies. On one video there was a little girl that had not gone into the crazy stage yet , and they gave a glass of water.. and she tried to mind her parents and drink it... and she freaked out and screamed... saying it made pain. So sad
Damn, I didn't know it was that common. I remember a few years ago I feed raccoons at my old apt. I had about 8 or so each night. And one night I was feeding my favorite one that I named Poopy (because he smelled like poop) in my apartment and he was reaching down for his food and I was shoving it closer and he accidentally scratched my hand. It was totally my fault. Poopy didn't have rabies. He was as sweet as he could be, but I got myself scared and went to the ER. They wanted to know where the raccoons were and I wouldn't tell them because I was afraid that they would cut their heads off. All I got was a tetenus (sp) shot and sent home. I fed my raccoons until I moved away (although Poopy did disappear). I still miss them. Then a few years ago, the cat that my neighbors didn't take care of got his ass beat in a fight with something and he came to my house all fucked up and I took him to the vet. They talked about putting him down since I didn't know what he fought with. I was like, "hell no." And the the vet went on to talk about how rabies wasn't really that common around here and that the shots lasted a lot longer than every so many years that you have to get them. I was under the impression that people hardly ever got it. Guess I was wrong. Wow. I hope my neighbors get it. They treat animals horribly and that would be a fitting end for them.
it is very rare in the US for a human to get it, but seeing the animals with it... if I got bit.. just dont want to risk it. Yeah I have fed racoons before... and oposums...and deer.
I thought I had Rocky Mountain spotted fever once. I get biten by ticks a lot. They love me and one of my dogs. Even with Frontline. Mosquitos love me too. I am allergic to their spit and I get golf ball sized welts from them.
