Rabies in Animals: 2025 Vet Insights by Dr Duncan Houston 🐾🩺

Hello! I’m Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc. Rabies is an ancient and tragic disease—a viral infection that affects the brain and spinal cord, and once symptoms appear, it is nearly 100% fatal. In this 2025 guide, you’ll find essential information on how rabies spreads, what to monitor, how to protect your pets, and life-saving steps if exposure occurs.

🧬 What is Rabies?

Rabies is caused by a virus in the Lyssavirus family, affecting mammals worldwide. It is primarily transmitted through bites from infected animals—especially wildlife such as bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes—and enters the nervous system via local nerves in the bite wound. While the incubation period ranges from weeks to over a year, symptoms once they begin progress rapidly and tragically.

🐶 Transmission to Pets & People

• Major Wildlife Reservoirs: In the U.S. Northern Hemisphere—bats are most common, followed by raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes.
• How It Spreads: Usually through bites; saliva from fresh wounds is a critical risk vector.
• Incubation Period: Dogs: typically 21–80 days; Cats: 28–42 days; but it may take up to a year depending on bite location and viral dose.

⚠️ Clinical Signs & Disease Course

Rabies infection unfolds in stages:

• Prodromal Stage (2–3 days): Personality changes, facial twitching, excessive licking, throat spasms
• Excitative Stage (1–2 days): Aggression, hallucinations—many animals skip this stage
• Paralytic/Dumb Stage (2–4 days): Weakness, inability to swallow, drooling, eventual paralysis of breathing muscles leading to death

Death usually occurs within 10 days of symptom onset—no effective treatment exists once clinical rabies begins.

🚨 Diagnosis

• No antemortem test exists—diagnosis is clinical.
• Observation of the biting animal for 10 days is standard. If it survives, rabies was not transmitted.
• Brain tissue at necropsy is tested via fluorescent antibody assays.

🛡️ Prevention in Pets

Prevention is the only effective strategy against rabies:

• Core Vaccination: Killed-virus rabies vaccine after 12 weeks, then booster at 1 year, then every 3 years. A recombinant canarypox vaccine is also available for cats.
• Reduce Wildlife Exposure: Supervise pets outdoors, secure pets indoors if bats are detected, use wildlife-proofing measures in sheds and garages.

🩹 Post‑Exposure Steps for Pets (“PEP”)

If an unvaccinated pet is bitten by a wild animal:

1. Administer immediate rabies booster vaccine under vet supervision
2. Restrain for 90 days isolation, per the Texas Post‑Exposure Rabies Protocol
3. For vaccinated pets, booster and shorter quarantine (typically 30 days)

Always inform your local animal control or health department. Laws vary regionally—contact rabiesaware.org or your vet for specific guidance.

💉 Post‑Exposure Protocol for People (PEP)

If you've been bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal:

• Immediately wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water—this alone dramatically lowers infection risk.
• Seek medical care: Human PEP includes immunoglobulin at the wound site and a 4-dose vaccine series over 14 days.
• Rapid treatment—before symptoms—is critical; once symptoms begin, survival odds are extremely low.

📜 Legal Aspects

Regulations vary by state/county. In nearly all areas in the U.S.:

• All dogs (and many cats) must receive rabies vaccination.
• Bites are required to be reported; suspect animals quarantined or euthanized for testing.
• Travel or relocation—e.g., to rabies-free areas like Hawaii or the UK—often requires microchipping, rabies titer testing, vaccine documentation, and enforced quarantine.

🧭 Quick Reference Table

🔍 Take-Home Points

• Rabies is hopeless once symptoms emerge—prevention is essential.
• Vaccination and minimizing wildlife contact save lives.
• If bitten—wash the wound; vaccinated? Get boosters. Unvaccinated? Strict protocol follows.
• Human bites need immediate medical scrubbing followed by PEP.
• Always follow local public health authority requirements.

📲 Ask A Vet—We're Ready

If your pet has been bitten or exposed to wildlife, use the Ask A Vet app right away. Get professional vet advice instantly—know what actions to take, when to visit the clinic, and how to protect your family and pets.🩺🐾