Symptoms of Cat Rabies

 

Rabies is a viral infection transmitted through contact with an infected animal’s saliva, usually by a bite. Rabies can be transmitted through any animal including humans. Transmission form human to human is in itself quite rare although it has been known to happen by bites, kisses, sexual intercourse or transplant surgery.

 

 

In order to detect rabies in a cat prior to fatality and transmission you need to be able top act quickly on spotting the symptoms of cat rabies. Once a cat develops rabies there is little that can be done for the cat.

 

The Symptoms of Cat Rabies

 

Symptoms of cat rabies in the early stages of the disease occur after a few weeks from infection. They include:

 

·        Flu or cold like respiratory illness.

·        Aggressive behavior

·        Drooling or frothing around the mouth

·        Partial Paralysis

·        Anxiety

·        Insomnia

·        Dehydration

 

Symptoms can take a couple of months before being visible. When symptoms do occur fatality can be in a matter of days.

 

Prevention

There is little no to use diagnosing the symptoms of cat rabies. By the time symptoms occur, it is unfortunately too late. The only way to protect your cat from this vicious disease is to prevent it with a vaccination especially if traveling abroad. To vaccinate against rabies, your cat will need two injections at least 15 days apart. You can first vaccinate your cat at the age of around 9 weeks and onwards but not before as you need to give their immune system time to develop properly. It is general practice to provide your cat with a yearly booster to top up their immunization. If you cat has not been vaccinated in over a year, it is likely the immunization has decreased far too low and your cat will need a full vaccination for rabies.

 

The Late Stage Symptoms

Symptoms of cat rabies in the later stages of infection will result in a coma, seizures and total body paralysis. However, this will result in death and there are painless methods of euthanasia that can be used in these circumstances.  In the later stages of rabies the cat can become very aggressive prior to paralysis or death. These later symptoms of cat rabies are as follows:

 

·        Paralysis

·        Coma

·        Seizures

·        Aggression

·        Depression

·        Gaping mouth

·        Tongue protruding

·        Eating unusual material such as sticks and stones

 

Rabies is a very serious disease and although rare, if contracted can cause fatality in both cats and humans. If you think your cat has rabies, do not hesitate to contact your vet immediately for advice and help. Do not try to approach your cat. If your cat lashes out and bites you, you can become infected with rabies yourself so don’t take the risk. If you can, try to isolate the cat to prevent it from leaving the house as it could infect others. If you notice the early

symptoms of rabies, take your cat to the vet immediately

.