Vet Notes : cats
Vaccinate Your Cats Against Rabies
While most dog owners are quite punctual when it comes to updating vaccinations, us cat owners are not quite so prompt. World Rabies Day was September 28, 2008 and its mission is to raise awareness of the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent it and to eliminate the main global sources of rabies.
In the U.S., there are more than 7,000 cases of rabies each year, mostly in wildlife. Cats are more likely to be infected with rabies than dogs (because cats are more likely to be behind on their vaccinations and because of the behaviors of cats outdoors). If your cat tangles with a wild animal that might have rabies and that animal gets away, your cat should be taken to the veterinarian right away. If your cat is not vaccinated against rabies, the only options are euthanasia or a 6 month quarantine. If you can safely capture the animal that bit your cat, this animal can be tested for rabies by wildlife officials.
Rabies is 100% preventable with vaccination. Please do the smart thing and keep all of your pets up to date on their vaccinations.
Dr. Melissa Brookshire
Veterinarian