My Rabies Shots Experience

In November of 2014 I was, as silly as this sounds, attacked by a feral cat.  I was walking my papillon, Kitsune, at the time, when the cat ran towards us from under a car and started biting my legs.  Luckily I was wearing long pants, and none of the bites got through my pants.  However, Kit was with me and when the cat decided to turn it’s attention to Kitsune, I reached my hand down to protect him.  Stupid move, perhaps, but my instincts kicked in and I wanted to protect my little buddy.  The cat quickly latched onto the knuckle area of my right hand.  It bit my thumb and pointer finger on that hand. Ouch!  Kit and I hurried away, stupid move number 2, but my hand hurt and I didn’t really want to risk Kit or myself getting bitten again.

Photo via James Arup Photography. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Apparently, what I should have done, was try to capture the crazy cat.  We could have had it scanned for a microchip to see if we could track down an owner.  The cat could have been quarantined for 10 days to see if it had any symptoms of rabies.  Unfortunately, at the time of my bite there were confirmed cases of rabies in the local feral cat population.  The animal control officer tried to find the cat that bit me with no luck.  On their advice, I ended up in the local ER to receive post exposure rabies treatment.  Basically, I had to get a series of rabies shots.

A Stressful Experience!

This post was originally published in Jul of 2015.

At the time of my cat bite, I had recently changed jobs.  My insurance situation was a mess.  Tell me you live in the US without telling me you live in the US am I right?  Figuring out how I was going to pay for really expensive hospital bills was super stressful.  But I figured that bankruptcy would be slightly more fun than potentially dying of rabies.

Time for My Rabies Shot!

The first time I went into the hospital, the day after my cat bite occurred, I received two shots, one in each thigh, of rabies immunoglobulin.  Basically, from my understanding, the immunoglobulin starts protecting you from rabies right away.  I also received my first rabies vaccine, which takes a bit longer to start protecting you.  This is why, depending on your situation, it’s recommended you get the immunoglobulin along with the first vaccine.  I also had to get a tetanus shot.  Along with all the shots, I was started on a course of antibiotics.  Cats can carry some nasty germs in their mouths and we didn’t want my hand to become infected.

One Down, Four to Go!

After that first trip I had to return another 4 times for additional rabies shots.  I learned that, for whatever reason, regular doctors offices/clinics don’t carry/administer rabies vaccines, so I had to return to the hospital each time I needed another shot.  Not cool, since of course going to the hospital, even if it’s just for a quick shot, costs more than going to a regular doctors office.

Luckily my bites healed up well, without any infection.  Eight years later, and I do still have small scars where my bites were.  Luckily they are small and not very noticeable unless you are looking for them.

The Worst Part…The Cost!

Everything all said and done, my medical bills totaled a whopping $37,000.  No, that’s not a typo.  Thirty seven thousand dollars!  Not cool.

But, big sigh of relief, I didn’t end up having to pay out of pocket.  My very new, at the time, insurance company did end up covering most of my bills.  And I didn’t die of rabies, so there’s that.

Not So Bad!

My Kitsune, who I was walking when I got bitten by a feral cat.

People seem to like to tell horror stories about rabies shots.  About needed shots with huge needles into the stomach and such.  Maybe that was true in the past, but it’s not anymore.  My rabies shots weren’t any worse, really, than any other vaccine I’ve gotten.  In fact, the tetanus shot I got at the same time as my first rabies shot and immunoglobulin ended up making me more sore than any of the rabies shots did!  If anyone is wondering, the rabies shots themselves were just given in my upper arms, basically the same as any other vaccine.  I received 5 rabies vaccines total, in alternating arms each time.

I guess that’s pretty much my story.  As far as I know, the cat that bit me was never found.  There continued to be reports of cats with rabies in the area that summer, though, so I don’t regret my decision to get the shots.  I have to admit, I’m a bit more weary of outdoor/feral cats since my experience.  I love all animals, but I personally never understood why outdoor/feral cats are so accepted in US cities.  No other type of domestic animal would be allowed to run around the city streets, getting hit by cars and causing havoc.  Not to mention how horrible cats are for native animal populations!

Comment below!  Have you ever had to deal with a medical issue brought on by an animal?  I’m very glad that my situation turned out well in the end.  I didn’t have to go bankrupt, and (more importantly) I didn’t die of rabies!