Rabies is an acute viral infection. Rabid animals usually stop eating and drinking, and may appear to want to be left alone. Because it can be fatal, rabies should be considered extremely dangerous. Therefore, it is important to prevent exposure to the rabies virus whenever possible. In Europe the virus is mainly carried by the fox. Each year a few people die of rabies in the United States. Most deaths occur because the person didn't seek medical assistance. People are most often infected by the bite of a dog, bat or monkey.

Cat rabies has three common stages of symptoms. The first is podromal, which causes the cat to be nervous and withdrawn. The second stage is known as the furious stage, because this is when the cat becomes aggressive. At this point, the cat will exhibit a number of warning signs, including irritability and intense excitement. The final stage is known as paralytic and it's name pretty well sums up what your cat would experience at this stage of the illness.

What Gram and I like to do is find a topic for discussion and then pick it to death. Mostly we talk about "dog things," but once in awhile we will wander off on other interesting subjects. Today we started talking about the bats that are flying around our house in the evenings and that led us to a conversation about rabies and this is a result of our conversation.

Animal bites can be very frightening, and someone who receives an animal bite may be forever scarred, both physically and mentally. Although the event itself is scary, one real thing that people must worry about, especially with wild animal bites, is the transmission of the rabies virus. Rabies is a brain illness that causes death when not caught and treated immediately.

Both wild and domestic animals have been known to leave their marks on people. Even beloved pets can cause an accident. For example, your dog might love you and serve as your protector, but certain things can trigger a dog to bite its master. This includes extreme fright, as well as possessiveness and even playfulness. Your dog may not mean to hurt you, but its teeth can sink deep into your skin, possibly breaking into a major blood vessel and causing nerve damage as well.

The virus that causes feline rabies is carried in the saliva of animals. These infected animals can transmit the disease to other mammals by biting them. This is the most common method of transmission. However, cats may also become infected if they have an open cut that allows the virus to enter their body. Some cats get the disease when they eat an animal that has the disease.

All pet owners should know that rabies is a disease that is caused by a virus that is transmitted from animal to animal and animal to human via a scratch or bite that causes a break in the skin. The virus is in the saliva of an infected animal. Because rabies is fatal to the animal or a human who contracts it, it is vitally important for pet owners to have their vet vaccinate for rabies with either a one year or three year vaccine. In certain regions and/or states with high levels of rabies reports, such as Texas, Virginia, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania (1), you must vaccinate with rabies shots at least once a year.

Following the bite, urgent steps of treatment, i.e., care of the wound, etc., including vaccination are required to be taken, so that the disease does not manifest itself in clinical form. Once the clinical manifestations appear, the patient dies within seven days. However, the following symptomatology of the disease is required to be known to all so that those who are still ignorant can be helped, and necessary early steps of treatment can be taken, with the hope of saving the life of the afflicted person.