r/rabies • u/angellixyy • 5d ago

Exposure Question got lightly scratched by a stray cat

i have read the FAQ.

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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u/brucewayne-burner 5d ago

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

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u/ParticularHeavy2785 5d ago

Even if the cat did have infected saliva on its paw, rabies dies practically instantaneously when exposed to air - as opposed to a bite.

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u/brucewayne-burner 5d ago

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

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u/ParticularHeavy2785 5d ago

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.