Blog

RABIES! Yes, it’s something to be scared of!

My subject this month is human complacence. I know, I’m supposed to write about animals, but if we humans don’t do our part animals can get in trouble too. Just recently one of our vets, Dr. Steven Shirley took a phone call about a one-year-old cat acting strange and “howling” in a strange manner. Immediately he suspected rabies and asked that the cat be brought into the clinic very carefully without any more human exposure. Upon examination inside a carrier the animal was humanly euthanized and the public health department was called. Guess what? It was positive for rabies. The Tennessee State Public Health Vet officer took over and spoke with the owners; they had to take rabies shots. The state also called me to see if any of our staff was exposed to the positive suspect. I told them that thanks to quick thinking on the part of Dr. Shirley, that only he and one very experienced animal tech, Kim Profitt were the only ones that dealt with the suspect and both of them were up on their human rabies shots that we “animal people” must take.

So far this situation seems to be under control, but in the last two years. We have had 2 rabid dogs in the clinic, this cat and a horse last year!!! “Good night,” people get your animals vaccinated against rabies! If a person gets exposed to rabies virus through a cut on a hand or a bite wound from a rabid animal that person must take prophylactic shots before its too late. Once symptoms set into a person it’s too late, you die in a very bad way. Yea, that’s right I do mean to scare you. Rabies is something to be scared of!! but the cool thing about it, proper animal vaccination of your pets will prevent it and save people’s lives and the pain and extremely huge cost of human rabies shots. So, if you don’t do anything else to your pet at the vets, please give your dogs and cats and everyday horses an annual rabies shot.

Until Later,
Doc