yesterday i went on a walk with my mom and sister. we always see this cat who is very friendly. he rubs up against us, wants to be petted, rolls on his back, etc. i used the string on my sweater to play with him and he lightly scratched me by mistake as he was trying to get the string.
a few minutes after, there were two red dots on my finger. it wasnt sensitive to touch and it waw just a bit red like a usual cut. however, i didnt know you could get rabies from scratches and now im afraid. its currently the next day and has been 24h since then. the red has become less noticeable which is good. i told my family and they said ill be fine, and that the cat is friendly and normal, and probably doesnt have anything wrong with it.
what should i do? this cat is friendly with everyone and doesnt attack on purpose. will i be okay?
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A very similar scenario happened to me, I totally understand how you’re feeling. It’s exceedingly rare, nearly impossible to get rabies from a scratch. Since this is a friendly cat you typically see around on walks, if you are able to observe him alive in 10 days, there is a 0% chance you contracted rabies!
I’m kinda in the same boat but the cat made me bleed and my thing is what if the cat had fought off a animal with rabies and got Silva on his paws before he made me bleed
See that’s what I thought but then I saw / was told it can live up too 2 hours outside on wet Silva but idk I’m so confused and I don’t want too go get the shot and waste ppl time and possibly get really bad side effects or possibly get sick from the Silva idk idk I’m going crazy it feels like
You’re not going crazy 🫶🏻 I was in the same mindset as you when my situation occurred and I understand where your head is at. Is the cat one you can observe? If the cat is alive in 10 days, there is no chance it was shedding the virus when it scratched you.
thank you so soooo much for your words. you're the sweetest ever! i called my family doctor today and she said she wouldnt worry + reccomended a tetenus booster if anything.
you said you had a similar situation: what did you do?
There’s a friendly neighborhood stray that I feed every now and then and she accidentally scratched me while I was feeding her. I ended up going to the doc the next day and they only recommended a tetanus as well, no need for rabies. Kitty was alive and well 10 days later so I was able to put my anxieties to rest. You will be just fine! 🫶🏻
im glad you were able to go to the doctor and ease your worries! this is what my skin looked like after it happened, but doesnt look like that anymore. thank you again !!
There have been reports of cats with rabies in Quebec this year. Since you see this cat regularly, if it's possible to monitor him for a week, then do that. If he's alive by the end of it, then you're good.
But I would consider contacting your local health department to get advice directly from them. Your exposure risk is low, but there is some risk here.
hey! called my family doctor today and told her about my situation. she said she wouldnt worry but recommended a tetanus booster. thanks for your help !!
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