Bats can Give Cats Rabies?

I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...570.xml&coll=8

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)

On Jun 16, 8:13 am, sheelagh wrote:
I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...s-11/118191511...

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)

Sheelagh,

I live on Vancouver Island and during our first visit to the vet we
were advised that the bats here are high incident carriers of rabies.
As we live by the water, we did not want to take any chances with our
little Houdini... Our vet indicated that one of his cats had brought
a bat present in one day...

Suki was fine with her rabies shot - slept a lot the day after - but
bounced right back the next day.

Suzanne

On 16 Jun, 16:32, Suzanne wrote:
On Jun 16, 8:13 am, sheelagh wrote:

I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...s-11/118191511...

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)

Sheelagh,

I live on Vancouver Island and during our first visit to the vet we
were advised that the bats here are high incident carriers of rabies.
As we live by the water, we did not want to take any chances with our
little Houdini... Our vet indicated that one of his cats had brought
a bat present in one day...

Suki was fine with her rabies shot - slept a lot the day after - but
bounced right back the next day.

Suzanne

I had no idea they carried rabies!

If this is the case, I would imagine bats everywhere would carry it,
or is this the wrong assumption to make? The reason I ask is because
we have bats in the UK, but no one has ever warned me that we needed
to be vigilant for this problem.

I have to admit that I know hardly anything about Bats, other than
they are nocturnal, work with sonar & fly. If you have bats with
rabies, then surely with bats in France where there is rabies, could
swim that channel & it would be a threat to us too?

Interesting.
Thanks for that, I am going to go and search now
S;o)

Yes, bats in the US can carry rabies, as can all mammals. I believe you do
not have rabies in the UK (in bats or any other mammals).
Gil
"sheelagh" wrote in message
ups.com...
I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...570.xml&coll=8

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)

On 16 Jun, 17:09, "Gail" wrote:
Yes, bats in the US can carry rabies, as can all mammals. I believe you do
not have rabies in the UK (in bats or any other mammals).
Gil"sheelagh" wrote in message

ups.com...



I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...s-11/118191511...

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks, I couldn't find anything either. I wonder if it is merely a
question of time until we do. Not a nice thought really, but it would
certainly make all of us think very differently if this were the case.
Normally we let our cats out when and where they wish to. however, if
this were to happen, it would change things irrevocably.
S;o)

"sheelagh" wrote in message
ups.com...
I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...570.xml&coll=8

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)


There have been very few incidences of rabies in the UK but a few years
ago a man died in Scotland after being bitten by a bat

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm

*A man has died after contracting Britain's first case of rabies for 100
years, hospital bosses have confirmed.
David McRae, a 56-year-old conservationist from Guthrie, Angus, Scotland,
failed to recover from European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL), a type of rabies
found in several northern European countries.

Mr McRae, who was licensed to handle bats, was bitten by one of the
creatures on at least one occasion. *

Some people have died in the UK after being bitten abroad and there have
been a couple of cases of dogs developing rabies after their six months
quarrantine.


Alison
http://catinfolinks.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/
http://doginfolinks.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/
http://petinfolinks.mysite.orange.co.uk

On 16 Jun, 18:47, "Alison" wrote:
"sheelagh" wrote in message

ups.com...

I found this story rather surprising. I have never heard of bats
carrying rabies before now, but then again, we don't have rabies
here...(Yet!)

http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/...s-11/118191511...

Is this a common problem, or a one off incident?
S;o)

There have been very few incidences of rabies in the UK but a few years
ago a man died in Scotland after being bitten by a bat

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm

*A man has died after contracting Britain's first case of rabies for 100
years, hospital bosses have confirmed.
David McRae, a 56-year-old conservationist from Guthrie, Angus, Scotland,
failed to recover from European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL), a type of rabies
found in several northern European countries.

Mr McRae, who was licensed to handle bats, was bitten by one of the
creatures on at least one occasion. *

Some people have died in the UK after being bitten abroad and there have
been a couple of cases of dogs developing rabies after their six months
quarrantine.

Alisonhttp://catinfolinks.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/http://doginfolinks.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/http://petinfolinks.mysite.orange.co.uk

That was rather shocking!
I really do feel for those affected by this.
I don't know all that much about rabies, other than it is not a very
pleasant disease &somewhere @ the back of my memory, is telling me
that it causes a fear of water?
By the look of this report this is something that should be far more
in the spotlight over here. I am assuming that most people are not
very knowledgeable because we don't, or rather haven't had to deal
with it here as a common problem.

I think it is high time we did though!!
If anyone has anything interesting to post regarding this issue,
please do & we can spread the word.
The more people that become aware of this problem, the more people
will try to protect their animals. Thank you for posting that Alison,
S;o)

sheelagh wrote:
On 16 Jun, 16:32, Suzanne wrote:

On Jun 16, 8:13 am, sheelagh wrote:



I have to admit that I know hardly anything about Bats, other than
they are nocturnal, work with sonar & fly.

They also eat lots of insects - most species do anyway.


If you have bats with
rabies, then surely with bats in France where there is rabies, could
swim that channel & it would be a threat to us too?

Interesting.
Thanks for that, I am going to go and search now
S;o)

"sheelagh" wrote in message
ups.com...

That was rather shocking!
I really do feel for those affected by this.
I don't know all that much about rabies, other than it is not a very
pleasant disease &somewhere @ the back of my memory, is telling me
that it causes a fear of water?

I haven't done much research on it myself(I just make sure the pets get
vaccinated), but I believe affected animals do get an aversion to water,
hence rabies also being referred to as hydrophobia(I might be wrong on this,
feel free to correct if I'm wrong)

"Lilah Morgan" wrote in message
nk.net...
"sheelagh" wrote in message
ups.com...

That was rather shocking!
I really do feel for those affected by this.
I don't know all that much about rabies, other than it is not a very
pleasant disease &somewhere @ the back of my memory, is telling me
that it causes a fear of water?

I haven't done much research on it myself(I just make sure the pets get
vaccinated), but I believe affected animals do get an aversion to water,
hence rabies also being referred to as hydrophobia(I might be wrong on
this,
feel free to correct if I'm wrong)

Actually, I'm pretty sure that hydrophobia is a _symptom_ of rabies and is
not the same thing as the disease itself.

I wouldn't be surprised if hydrophobia is a symptom of other diseases that
are not related to rabies. But I have no experience or training in this
matter so I'm really just speculating that other diseases can also call
hydrophobia.

--
Rhino