Planning for Feral Cats & Rabies Risk

[Nora B]

So I usually work with orphaned kittens, bottle babies, failure to thrive cats & the like but trapped my first feral for TNR, got my first nasty set of bites and start rabies shots tomorrow.

Made me wonder, of all the people on here who work with ferals, are most people vacinated ahead of time? Do you just wait to see if it comes up?

For me the point is moot - everything went from easy to complicated pretty quick, I feel like 3 kinds of an idiot and I'm curious how others have managed?

[lyle]

Or "shoot first" if you will. All the ferals I come in contact with on a regular basis have been TNR'd and vaccinated for among other things, rabies. I've been to the ER early on for a pretty good bite before I discovered that cats are psychopathic, but just got a regular "cat-bite" shot.

Personally, I wouldn't try to pickup/touch/etc a feral. Especially one I didn't know. So unless one chased me around the yard and leaped on me from behind I don't think about it much. No preventive measures like shots, just watchful. Oh yeah, and a bottle of alcohol and iodine in the garage within reach. If you are down in the trenches with honest-to-goodness ferals on a regular basis I guess I'd say shots would be a good thing to get and you have my deep respect and admiration. I didn't know that you could get pre-exposure rabies shots.

Sorry about your misfortune. Good luck with your shots and please accept your "Purple Heart" for pain and injuries suffered as well as the pain to come

[Nora B]

Originally Posted by lyle

Good luck with your shots and please accept your "Purple Heart" for pain and injuries suffered as well as the pain to come

Thanks - So today I learned about immuno globulin - turns out that a big part of the whole to do is that how much you need post exposure is based on weight - yikes and then when they do the math it's only possible to inject up to 3ml in each spot so before we even got started on the rabies vaccine itself I was 5 shots in - bless the nurses, 2 worked at once on me, it wasn't so bad & I'm blessed with decent insurance so, meh.

Now if the kitty purple heart could make my teens clean up their junk & maybe help make some dinner life would be good - thanks for the good wishes.

& yes picking up a feral is stupid - I don't usually deal with the traps & psychotic kitties - don't plan on doing it again but I'm just not good at saying no when help is needed.

[lyle]

picking up ferals was stupid. Sometimes the situation may demand it. My wife, who's oblivious to adverse consequences, does it and hasn't been bit, yet. I don't, but I'm a coward. The psycho cats can sense that.

You're the hero. Tell that to your kids and show 'em the scars to prove it. You might also kind of hint that this proves you're fearless, a little imbalanced, immune to pain, and somewhat rabid and therefore someone to fear and obey

I kind of wondered why they gave rabies shots in multiples. Interesting.

[Nora B]

CYou're the hero. Tell that to your kids and show 'em the scars to prove it. You might also kind of hint that this proves you're fearless, a little imbalanced, immune to pain, and somewhat rabid and therefore someone to fear and obey .[/QUOTE]

So that is kinda how my students once refered to me - unfortunately my guys don't believe it for a second, they figure if i go that far out of my way for a cat then they are golden.

Originally Posted by lyle

I kind of wondered why they gave rabies shots in multiples. Interesting.

Yeah today's is the temporary passive immunity - tomorrow they start with the actual vaccine. It was fairly impressive when the docs explained it, first they give a whole bunch of injections - the immunoglobulin which is basically premade antibodies,
then at intervals they inject the dead virus to force your body to make it's own antibodies at intervals 1,3,7, and 28 days - the science geek in me is facinated - the rest is itchy and sore. The nurses were all working from notes and texts -apparently not such a common thing this, thank goodness.

[Mitts & Tess]

Sorry this happened to you. I wish you had someone coach you on ferals and TNR. Do more reading before you attempt to TNR again. Let us coach you a bit here too.


A true feral is a domestic cat gone wild. Normally they flee from you and are totally afraid of any human close contact. Just carefully handle the traps. I've never been scratched or bitten. I have had young kittens swing around my scruffing and launch off my hand back in a kennel. I didn't seek medical treatment. I just kept the wound clean. It healed quickly. Kittens had happya endings, they are now in forever homes!

[Nora B]

An Update:

I've gone through my serries and the kitty was cleared and released (neutered and vaccinated)...all in alll I couldn't have asked for better, it was a hard go of it to convince animal control not to insist on having him put down but in the end paying to board him was enough to satisfy them.

To top it all off he and I have both had our shots. LOL. That's what i call a happy ending

[BotanyBlack]

Originally Posted by Nora B

An Update:

To top it all off he and I have both had our shots. LOL. That's what i call a happy ending

At least you don't need a booster for quite while.

[lyle]

Gotta love a happy ending!

[Ritzpg]

Nora B, how did the cat bite you if it was in a trap? I ask because I trap cats on a regular basis, usually cats who have joined the community cat colony I take care of, and I've never been bitten. I have trapped a few cats I'd never seen before. I cover the trap, and pick up the trap by the handle. Luck, maybe. (Most of the cats were at one time owned by a human or had some exposure--good or bad--to people.) Thanks.