Rabies Information for Your Pets

"Rabies is a virus that's spread through saliva in animal bites or scratches into mucus membranes. So it has to go from the saliva of the affected animal through a wound or the mucus membrane of a non–infected animal," Dr. Amanda Bruce, Veterinarian at PetCare of Duluth explained.In Minnesota and Wisconsin, the number one and two carriers for rabies are the skunk and the bat."Domestic animals do make up about 10% of rabies cases a year nationally. That would be dogs, cats, and cows are the most common domestic animals that would come in contact with bats and skunks that could give them rabies," Dr. Bruce said. If you're walking in the woods with your dog and you come across these animals, Dr. Bruce has advice to avoid contact with them."Having a good what we call recall where your animal can come when it's called. Having something distracting on you whether that be a squeaky toy or treats is a good idea as well," Dr. Bruce suggested. But it's not only out in the wild you should be worried about your encountering these animals."So cats, many of us think that they're just strictly indoor pets and we don't need to vaccinate them, but if you think about where humans and pets come into contact with bats, it tends to be in that indoor environment," Dr. Bruce said. Bat bites can be so minute they can't be detected at times and whenever a bite happens, gaining information on that animals rabies status is important."So anytime there is a wild animal bite, the best case is to try and obtain that animal for rabies testing," Dr. Bruce suggested. If you notice your pet has been bit, contact your veterinarian who will put you in contact with the Board of Animal Health. "The Board of Animal Health for each state actually makes the final recommendation for if and for how long an animal has to be quarantined. That's going to depend on if the animal has been vaccinated for rabies before, or if it's never been vaccinated. Then what animal it was exposed to and if that animal was submitted for animals rabies testing or not," Dr. Bruce explained. Rabies tends to take two forms, an aggressive or a lethargic form with neurologic signs. If an animal comes down with rabies, it's fatal. So be sure to get your animals vaccinated."The initial rabies vaccination for dogs and cats can be given any time after that animal is 12 weeks old. The first vaccine that they get has to be boostered in one year and then after that there are rabies vaccines that are licensed for up to three years," Dr. Bruce said. This time of year your animal is more likely to come into contact with skunks, raccoons and bats and keeping areas safe your dog uses most is important. "Around the yard, doing things like keeping trash in places where your animals and those animals can't get to it, keeping areas under decks blocked off so those animals can't get under there," Dr. Bruce said.