Rabid raccoon?
Small Game
I got a phone call from a neighbor last night that said that they had a raccoon in their yard that wasn't acting "normal". They have three huskies and one of them had treed a raccoon the day before. and had a bloody muzzle (don't know if it was his blood or raccoon blood). I drove over and shot the raccoon through the heart/lungs to kill it (can't shoot them in the head if you want to test for rabies, I'm told). I suggested that they might want to have the animal tested for rabies, even though it is wintertime, and rabies isn't common in winter months. They said that their dogs all had rabies shots within the last couple years. Just wondering if anyone knows how long those shots are good for....and if checking the animal is still warranted?
I would have the animal checked for sure.
If it wasn't the dogs first shot, most folks would tell you the shots are good for 3 years.
Most likely distemper. Could be rabies but coons are highly susceptible to distemper. When I used to trap them alot, it was easy to tell, the fat would be watery and yellow as opposed to firm and white. And the eyes would be very watery as well.
First shot is good for one year, after that three years. Honestly after the second one most dogs will carry immunity for life but conservative policy is three years. If the raccoon tests positive they will be REQUIRED by law to confine their dogs for 45 days strict isolation even if they have current vaccibes If it were MY dogs and they were up to date on rabies shots I would NOT test the raccoon I used to do enforcement protocol on this
"Honestly after the second one most dogs will carry immunity for life "....yep...
"Most likely distemper. Could be rabies but coons are highly susceptible to distemper"
Am not a Vet, but did hold a nuisance animal control license and totally agree with buckeye... When they act lethargic it's likely distemper which they are highly susceptible... With rabies they act aggressive, and was told freezing temperatures kill the rabies virus and animals already affected...
"First shot is good for one year, after that three years. Honestly after the second one most dogs will carry immunity for life but conservative policy is three years"
Yep fuzz, was told the same thing by a supplier that sold Canine Rabie vaccine... Used to be you could buy one dose of the vaccine, but now regulations require to buy 10 doses, and the shelf life is only like 6 months for it... So if you don't have a kennel full of dogs, probably cheaper to just take it Vet for a booster...
if there was no human exposure and the dogs are current on rabies vaccination our health dept wont spend the $ for testing.Assume the dogs are exposed quarantine for 10 days and revaccinate.Everything changes if the dogs are not vaccinated at all or if they are overdue.
I was told by a Veterinary Immunologist at a Vet meeting that immunity is most likely lifelong from 1 vaccination in terms of actually contracting rabies from exposure to a known positive animal.BUT as we all know most vaccinations nowadays are against lawyers or to protect your rights and options.
4nolz - Is it true "freezing temperatures kill the rabies virus"?
the virus is in the infected animal not in the cold.For the virus to survive it has to spread before the host dies which in most animals is 100%,spread by direct contact same as distemper is.It may live for a certain # of hours after the host dies but not long enough to be a significant means of spread.
So after freezing temperatures in northern states rabies can still be contracted? I had assumed after the first hard frost in the fall rabies was no longer a threat...
You get it directly from the animal it doesn't matter what the temp is.They usually die within 72 hours of illness the 10 day thing is to be safe.Sick animals probably die in rough weather hopefully before spreading it.
"They usually die within 72 hours of illness"
Wow, hadn't realized that, thought it took like a week or longer to show symptoms... Thank you much sir for the education...
It depends if the virus got in your little toe or your eye.It travels up the nerves to the brain.
Don't confuse dying of clinical rabies(and being contagious) with exposure/onset of illness.
A friend with a farm in Kansas had a bunch of raccoons acting weird a decade ago....it seems it was an outbreak in distemper and they do crazy things.
Best to thin them out....he set up a feeder under a light 100y from his back deck and we took turns shooting them at night- just piling them up.
A lot of misinformation in the last few posts. The virus can incubate for weeks after an exposure. After symptoms start the animal only lives a few hours. Transmission does require a bite or direct introduction of fresh saliva to mucus membranes. 10 days is supposed to be an observation period of a biting domestic animal (dog, cat or ferret) after a bite to a human. If the animal was contagious at the time of the bite it will be obviously sick or dead within 10 days. It takes more than 10 days for a human to begin the active stage of infection. The idea is you can confine and observe a pet after a bite rather than kill and test every pet that bites someone. 10 days confinement after exposure of the exposed animal serves no useful purpose. 45 days is the protocol
The link below has some basic information and will lead you to the Compendium. It's a large pdf so I won't post it as a comment
Nothing I posted is misinformation fuzzy.Please clarify.
Don't conflate clinical illness with exposure
4 nolz, the freezing Temps primarily. Ambient air Temps have no effect on rabies virus since it doesn't survive outside the host. The 10 days observation is an often misunderstood issue but has no relationship to incubation period. It takes quite a bit longer than 10 days after exposure to active infection.
If a dog/cat/ ferret is exposed to a rabid animal 45 days is a minimum observation period.
Yeah I said you get it directly from the animal it doesn't matter what the temp is.
I have told this story on here before. But you will get to hear it again. And a lot of you probably won't agree with what I did. But I have no regrets.
I lose track of time. But this happened probably 6yrs ago. We had a farm dog that was never penned or chained. His house and food/water were on our back porch. He was the best most gentle kind hearted dog there was. One night I heard him out the most awful moan/yelp I have ever heard. I ran to the back door and opened it up to see him walking around the porch still moaning and yelping dragging along a skunk that had a mean bite on one of his back legs. There was a shovel on the porch that I got a hold of and knocked him off. Went back in to get a 22lr. He was still on the porch and fighting mad. I shot him in the body and called the vet. Was told told to put him in a bag inside a cooler and drop it off in morning. They sent it off and in 2 days got the call that it had rabies.
I asked him about the dog. He looked him up and he was around 11 months overdue for a rabies booster. He said the protocol was to quarantine for a long time. His recommendation was to just put him down. He said even if he would have been current on the vaccine he would still recommend putting him down. My kids played with that dog every day. The vet said he gives vaccines every day and believes in them. But no way would he trust a vaccine for rabies (even though they are very effective) when his kids lives were at risk. He said there are no do-overs with rabies. He didn't really care if I did it myself or took him in to be put down. But stressed that was the best option.
So we put him down. Bad deal all the way around.
Ksrancher unfortunately I've had to be "that guy" to give the order for 6 month strict isolation on dogs many times. About half the owners opt for euthanasia. A reasonable decision in my opinion but I always felt bad about it. I'm sorry for your loss.
Brings "Ole Yeller" to mind....just about the first movie that I can remember watching.....
Yeah me too Jake, that is why the 3-day death caught me off-guard...
"unfortunately I've had to be "that guy" to give the order for 6 month strict isolation on dogs many times"
fuzzy, are you a Veterinarian?
No I worked for the State Health Department. Human Rabies prevention investigation and enforcement falls under the State or Local Health Department
I got a call from our health department the day after we got the positive results from K-State. They went over the whole ordeal to see if they thought there was any human exposure. They felt confident that there wasn't, so nothing was done.
