Rabies

If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because I
could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes in
the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot. He
is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but I
can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

Thank you so much.

Ginger-lyn
shattered

Ginger-lyn Summer wrote:
If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair
ball. I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very
dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone
number of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six
months. They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are
allowing Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of
rehab on Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because
I could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes
in the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot.
He is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but
I can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.


Lots of purrs and prayers for your nerves but do try not to panic. What are
the chances that your cats are infected by this bat? Probably minimal?
UK is fortunate, we do not have rabies here, probably because of our strict
policy of 6 months quarantine but that's been relaxed recently if pets can
prove they've been vaccinated against rabies before they come here.

Hmmm, I hope the vaccine works, the last thing we need in the UK is rabies.

Tweed

Ginger-lyn Summer wrote:

If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

Oh god, that sounds really nerve-wracking! But *five months*?? Why can't
your cats get rabies shots now? Now seems like the time to do it, before
any possible exposure to the virus has a chance to do any damage.

I'm so sorry. I would be alarmed about this, too. Do you know if one
of the cats killed the bat, or if it died on its own, and the cats were
just sniffing at it, etc? If the latter, then the chances of one of
your cats getting sick is fairly small. Was the lab able to tell exactly
how the bat died? That would probably be good information to know.

Joyce

--
I want freedom, the right to self expression, everyone's right to
beautiful radiant things. -- Emma Goldman

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:42:24 +0000 (UTC), "Ginger-lyn Summer"
wrote:

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure.

Check with the health department. I think all states cover the cost
of the vaccine post exposure.

Bud

wrote in message
...
Ginger-lyn Summer wrote:

If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

Oh god, that sounds really nerve-wracking! But *five months*?? Why can't
your cats get rabies shots now? Now seems like the time to do it, before
any possible exposure to the virus has a chance to do any damage.

I'm so sorry. I would be alarmed about this, too. Do you know if one
of the cats killed the bat, or if it died on its own, and the cats were
just sniffing at it, etc? If the latter, then the chances of one of
your cats getting sick is fairly small. Was the lab able to tell exactly
how the bat died? That would probably be good information to know.


Plus, rabies is spread via saliva. It should be easy (maybe!) to see if any
of the cats have a bite from the bat.

"Ginger-lyn Summer" wrote in message
.46...
If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because I
could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes in
the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot. He
is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but I
can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

Thank you so much.

Ginger-lyn
shattered


Oh. My. Gawd-- Ginger-lyn, there are no words. Purrs aplenty for this all
to have a good outcome.


--
Theresa and Dante

Stinky Forever: http://pets.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

Purrs are on the way.

--
Joy

Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you
can stop people talking. -- Clement Atlee

"Ginger-lyn Summer" wrote in message
.46...
If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because I
could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes in
the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot. He
is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but I
can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

Thank you so much.

Ginger-lyn
shattered

Ginger who ever told you 6 months is full of ****. It is 10-45 days

They get a rabies shot ASAP When was the last time they had one if it has
been in the last 2 years
You should be fine. as for you if you did not have a cut or open sore did
not wipe your eyes or mouth the chance is so slim next to none

If they to try to take the cats Tell them to **** off and MAKE THEM GET A
COURT ORDER


"Ginger-lyn Summer" wrote in message
.46...
If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because I
could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes in
the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot. He
is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but I
can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

Thank you so much.

Ginger-lyn
shattered

I never heard of such a thing. I always thought Rabies showed up with in
two weeks, not six months. You need to look this up further and call around
to a couple of vets. Six months, that is crazy. I am almost positive it
was 10 days to two weeks.
"Ginger-lyn Summer" wrote in message
.46...
If I wrote my autobiography, people would think it belonged in the
fiction section. Not all these things could *possibly* happen to one
person -- except for me.

Last Monday, I stepped out into the hall to find a group of the cats
surrounding something that looked to me like a weird double hair ball.
I looked closer; it wasn't a hairball, it was a bat. A very dead bat.

I grabbed a paper towel and put it in a grocery bag. Then I used the
paper towel again to put it in a zip-lock bag.

I called around, and my vet's office found the address and phone number
of the place they send questionable animals.

I called them. They gave me their courier's phone number, who told me
how to package the bat and send it to the lab.

The Health Department called yesterday.

The bat tested positive for rabies.

My cats are under "house arrest" (quarantined) for the next six months.
They must get a rabies vaccination in five months. They are allowing
Floyd to return home with his daddy, who is getting out of rehab on
Monday.

The Health Department guy is coming Monday to observe/check out my
cats.
I do not know what he will do or what he is looking for. There is a
lot I don't know or understand.

I talked to my vet, terrified I would not be able to get veterinary
care if one of them got sick in the next six months. She said I could
bring them in. But they've said they won't touch a cat without a
rabies shot, and I cannot get them rabies shots for five months. I am
terrified Internet will end up dying horribly painfully here, because I
could not take him to the vet to be euthanized, if that time comes in
the next six months. I also don't want him to have a rabies shot. He
is so weak, I am not sure the shot itself wouldn't kill him.

I am afraid for myself, too Even though the vet and the employee of
hte Health Department said that it wasn't likely I was exposed, they
didn't sound 100% sure. I did handle the bat without gloves or tongs
I don't know if I had any open cuts or bites on my hands at the time.
I usually have at least a scratch. I don't think I had anything, but I
can't remember for sure. I am trying to reach my doctor to ask
questions, and/or I may talk to a doctor at the Health Department.

I am scared I am just this side of having a nervous breakdown. If
anyone looks cross-eyed at me, I feel like I will turn into a little
pile of jelly.

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

Thank you so much.

Ginger-lyn
shattered

Ginger-lyn Summer wrote:
snip

Please, please, you wonderful, caring people: I need your purrs and
prayers badly that all my cats and myself will be okay.

That is horribly scary. Many purrs on the way. Wish there was something
else I could do.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.