How does rabies manifest in a person after being bitten by a sick cat?

What to remember first

One important nuance should be mentioned. You should always remember that once a person develops clinical symptoms of rabies, it is no longer possible to save him.

Today, doctors cannot cure rabies after even the most “harmless” signs appear. It is for this reason that in many countries, strict penalties are imposed at the legislative level in relation to animal owners who do not vaccinate their pets.

In addition, all people who regularly deal with animals are vaccinated with rabies vaccines annually (yes, such vaccinations are given not only to pets).

Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised when dealing with cats that exhibit the following signs:

• We strongly advise that you immediately take cats that return home “scratched” and with traces of a recent fight to the veterinarian immediately.

• If a cat, recently wounded in a fight, suddenly begins to “freak out”, i.e. she exhibits strange behavior that was not previously noticed in the animal; she should definitely be shown to a veterinarian. Many people think that rabies is exclusively aggression, but this is far from the case. The cat's obsessive, overly affectionate behavior should also cause caution, especially if this has not been observed in him before.

Prevention

Considering that stray dogs are often carriers of the rabies pathogen and may encounter wild animals in search of food, first of all, efforts should be directed at catching them and placing them in special reception centers. Reducing the number of stray dogs reduces the risk of spreading infections.

Bites

Dogs that are in constant contact with a person rarely attack him, but this cannot be ruled out. Animals after puberty are especially dangerous. Dogs instinctively defend their territory, which can even lead to an attack on their own owner.

Rabies. Safety rules for children

As part of prevention, castration of animals that are not planned to be used in breeding work in the future is necessary. From an early age, a domestic dog should be taught to stay in its own yard, if we are talking about a private home. When walking, you need to take the animal to a specially equipped area. To reduce the risk of bites you should not:

• separate fighting dogs;
• approach animals while eating;
• waking up a sleeping dog;
• take puppies away from a nursing bitch.

Castration and sterilization are an effective measure to prevent an increase in the number of stray animals. To prevent bites, you should avoid places where stray animals gather. It is advisable to carry with you a special repeller, a stun gun or a gas spray, which can be used if the dog decides to attack.

What is rabies in cats: basic information about pathology

So, what is rabies in cats? Even people who are very far from veterinary medicine and medicine know that this disease is extremely dangerous, but few people know other “subtleties”:

• The causative agent of the disease is an RNA virus from the Rhabdovirus family.

• This microorganism does not demonstrate any special “miracles” of resistance in the external environment. So, direct sunlight can destroy it in 15 or 20 minutes; drying out has an equally detrimental effect on the virus. It can be removed within a couple of minutes using chlorine-based disinfectants, as well as boiling and steaming.

• On the contrary, the causative agent of rabies, no different in this regard from other viruses, demonstrates high resistance to freezing. Even when frozen in a household refrigerator, it can remain in this state for several years.

• It also has a specific feature. The point is that in the tissues of the rotting brain of dead carriers, the virus can be stored for at least one year (maximum period is up to three years). Other viruses cannot boast of such “long-lasting” behavior. It is for this reason that it is so important to report to the veterinary and sanitary-epidemiological services about all cases of discovery of carcasses of wild and domestic animals.

Routes of infection and pathogenesis

The main (and proven) route of infection is the bite. This works both in the case of cats themselves and in the case of humans.

In addition, there are a couple more “semi-theoretical” methods of infection:

• Through food and water. This route of infection is an extremely “slippery” topic. On the one hand, a cat cannot definitely become infected through meat or milk obtained from a sick animal. But in cases where a pet eats the corpse of, for example, a rat that died from rabies, and at the same time eats its head, infection can occur. But only if there are sufficiently deep scratches and wounds on the mucous membrane of the mouth or esophagus. In the stomach, the virus will die very quickly under the influence of gastric juice.

• In addition, some breeders think that the disease can be transmitted through airborne droplets. Indeed, in laboratory conditions, scientists were able to infect experimental animals. But they succeeded only after the mice spent a long time in a sealed aquarium, literally bathing in an aerosol with the rabies virus. It will not be possible to achieve this in “field” conditions, no matter how hard you try.

What happens after the virus gets into the wound? If the “landing” is successful, the pathogen begins to actively move towards the nearest nerve trunks. Having pierced their shell, the virus moves to the brain, and the speed of its “travel” in any case does not exceed three millimeters per hour. In addition, the microorganism settles in the salivary glands, causing the sick animal to become infectious even before the appearance of pronounced clinical symptoms of rabies.

Why is a bite from a sick cat dangerous?

We have already written above about the dangers of a bite from a sick cat. The saliva of a sick animal contains huge amounts of the rabies virus. If the fangs of a sick pet have damaged the skin and reached the muscle layer, the person can be considered infected with almost 100% probability.

There is an important nuance that you must always remember. We are talking about the relationship between the incubation period (when a person can still be cured) and the localization of the bite site.

Since the final target of the microorganism is the brain, bites in the head and neck area are the most dangerous option.

Cases have been recorded where, after being bitten on the nose by rabid cats, people fell ill by the end of the first day, and in this case it was not possible to save them (many of the victims simply did not have time to get to the hospital in time).

Doctors and veterinarians strongly advise following the simplest rules for handling unfamiliar cats:

• You should not stroke them, “squeeze” them, or play with the animal in other ways. Even if a cat is not rabid, it can seriously injure a person (tearing an eye with its claws, for example).

• You should never kiss or smack kittens, even if they look extremely cute. Firstly, a bite from a mad kitten on the lips is an almost guaranteed pass to the cemetery, since the brain is close, and the lips themselves have a lot of nerve endings (which makes it extremely easy for the virus to “work”). Secondly, we should not forget about the possibility of infection not only with rabies, but also with “banal” helminthic diseases, toxoplasmosis, chlamydia, etc.

• If you see a cat on the street behaving strangely, you should not approach it. If the animal behaves at all “boldly” and aggressively, you should not think: if possible, you need to run away (and better yet, into the nearest building with doors).

Treatment of rabies

If signs of rabies, like tetanus, have already appeared, nothing can help; doing anything, including administering a vaccine, is pointless. That is why speed of response comes to the fore, only this can save the life of the victim.

The serum is administered to the victim according to the following scheme: on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and also three months after the last injection. The volume of the administered vaccine is 1 ml, injections are performed intramuscularly.

It is important to complete the full course of vaccination without missing deadlines or injection sessions. Only in this case can you fully count on the destruction of the virus and the production of antibodies. Otherwise, the remaining pathogens can multiply and cause severe damage to the body and death, from which there is no salvation.

If clinical manifestations have already taken place, the only thing modern medicine can do is provide the opportunity to leave this world calmly and relatively painlessly. The patient is given powerful painkillers and sedatives, placed on a ventilator and placed in a quiet, shaded place where he can die without the terrible agony that accompanies death from hydrophobia.

How to recognize a sick cat: visible signs of disease

In part, we have already talked about this a little higher: when you see a cat that is clearly behaving inappropriately and aggressively, you do not need to run to it and try to cuddle the unfortunate “fluffy”. On the contrary, you need to run away from it. And quickly. This, as well as all the following symptoms, relate to the violent form of rabies:

• The cat shows pronounced aggression towards people and animals.

• A rabid animal attacks suddenly, without warning. At the same time, something between a dull growl and a guttural groan escapes from his mouth. This happens because rabies causes paralysis of the laryngeal muscles.

• Mad cats (and other animals with this disease) are panicked by the sound of running water and cannot drink.

• In addition, rabid pets completely lose their usual food preferences. They begin to eat completely inedible things, including bags, branches, broken glass, soil, etc.

• A typical sign of a violent form of rabies is the complete or partial sagging of the lower jaw, while saliva is released profusely from the animal’s mouth.

On the contrary, with a silent form of rabies, the cat’s behavior may not look threatening. He becomes apathetic, lethargic, some animals with this form of the disease show obsessive sociability and become unusually affectionate.

With atypical rabies, there may be no behavioral changes in the animal at all, but the sick cat will suffer from uncontrollable, profuse diarrhea.

Finally, in the terminal stage of any form of rabies, sick animals are “broken” by severe paralysis, from which the pets ultimately die. Before complete paralysis, a sick cat is inactive, it drags its paws, and can move “jumpily.”

What to do if a dog bites a child?

Often children from 5 to 14 years old encounter rabid animals, who do not know the signs of the disease and cannot quickly orient themselves and leave a potentially dangerous place. Children under 5 years of age are less likely to encounter sick dogs.

If a child is bitten, the wound is thoroughly washed and treated with aseptic solutions. If the animal does not have obvious signs of rabies, it should be isolated if possible. Children who have been bitten by dogs must be taken to the emergency room for professional treatment of the wound.

Often, in case of severe damage, not only external treatment of the wound with immunoglobulin is performed, but also sutures are applied. To reduce the risk of contracting rabies, children, like adults, may be eligible for rabies and tetanus vaccinations.

Incubation period for rabies in humans

Typically, the incubation period for rabies in humans is at least two weeks. “Canonical” is considered to be the case that occurred with Smolensk peasants at a time when the creator of the first rabies vaccines, Louis Pasteur, was still alive. This happened in 1886 (it is believed that in February). A group of workers in the forest was bitten by a rabid wolf and a local doctor, after examining the unfortunate people, rendered a disappointing verdict.

But it was he who told the depressed people that a miracle doctor lived in France who could help. And 19 people set off. Within two weeks they were able to reach France (the same doctor and several philanthropists donated money).

As a result, the great Pasteur managed to save 16 people. It should be taken into account that three died in whom symptoms of rabies began to develop while on the road: one had a broken wolf fang subsequently removed from a deep wound in his side, the other two were literally covered in bites from the enraged animal (including the arms and neck). The rest of the “pilgrims” received no more than two bites on their legs, and within two weeks they did not develop any signs of the disease.

Thus, the average incubation period is about two or three weeks. But there are cases when the incubation period took from several months to three years.

In particular, one American farmer was bitten by a rabid raccoon on the finger of his hand, which several years earlier had been severely injured and was not working well. It took the virus three years, but in the end it was able to get through the dilapidated nerve trunks, as a result of which the person died.

The rabies virus as it is

The rabies virus (in Latin Rabies virus) is very insidious and easily passes into the human body from the saliva of affected animals - for this it only needs damage to the skin, inevitably received by a person through a bite or for some reason previously.

The virus multiplies in nervous tissue and migrates along nerve pathways from the site of infection to the brain at a speed of about 3 mm per hour. Therefore, particularly dangerous places for bites are the hands and head, from where the virus can very quickly penetrate the brain. Having reached the spinal cord and brain, it causes severe inflammation with the death of tissue areas.

Photo of rabies virus

Symptoms and first signs of rabies in humans

Unlike animals, people can speak. And therefore (but doctors don’t have much joy from this) medicine knows what a sick person feels:

• People become excited, as if something is “pushing” them from within , they are able to walk from corner to corner for a long time, but are unable to work, since concentration and composure are critically reduced.

• A couple of days after this, hydrophobia develops. A person literally shakes at the sight of water, but with their eyes closed and ears plugged, patients can drink (if this does not help, the liquid is administered intravenously). In rare cases, the same inadequate reaction develops to fresh air; the slightest draft leads to uncontrollable panic.

• Paralysis gradually develops, control over the limbs is lost , etc. Death occurs from respiratory failure (sick people are physically unable to breathe).

Symptoms that appear after a rabid dog attack

Development of rabies in humans

A rabid dog bite is rarely a single bite. In most cases, the animal cannot be driven away, but it attacks again and again. Even if a small amount of saliva gets on the damaged skin and the wound is treated, this does not guarantee that the victim will not get sick. The first signs of rabies in a person do not appear earlier than 10-15 days after the bite.

The risk of developing rabies after being bitten depends on the person's age, the nature of the skin damage, the location of the bites and the amount of virus ingested. In some people, the disease does not develop, while in others, all manifestations of rabies develop in just a month, and in the shortest possible time, respiratory arrest and disruption of the functioning of other organs due to damage to the central nervous system are possible.

What to do and how much time there is from the moment of the bite to the development of the first symptoms

So what to do and how much time does a person have after being bitten by a rabid animal? What to do is simple - immediately go, drive, run to the hospital. The sooner a person does this, the sooner they will begin to inject him with an autoimmune serum that will save his life. But with exactly how much time is left until the first symptoms appear, everything is much more complicated.

Depends on the location of the bite:

• It is worst for people with bites to the head, neck, or face. Even in the best cases, they have no more than three days left.
• For bites on the legs, the process can take up to a month or more.
• Bitten arms and torso give about a week (up to two or more).

Thus, there is only one rule: if you are bitten, immediately drop everything you are doing and get to the nearest doctor.

Even at night you need to call an ambulance and go to the infectious diseases department of the hospital. And the sooner all this is done, the greater the chances of being saved from a slow and extremely unpleasant death.

Signs of infection

After a cat bite, you should listen to how you feel and pay attention to the condition of the wound. This safety requirement will make it possible to identify pathology at the initial stage and relieve the victim of painful symptoms and life-threatening complications.

Note! If a cat bite causes suppuration and severe swelling of the injured area, the infection can “leak” into the periosteum, joint or bloodstream.

Swelling

Any cat "mark" will swell and swell, whether it's a deep bite or a superficial scratch. It happens that the swelling surrounding the wound turns red and hurts. This indicates the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms under the skin. Provided the bitten area is thoroughly treated and the victim follows hygienic requirements, the swelling will disappear in a few days.

Fever

When a cat is bitten, the temperature may rise to subfebrile levels (37.1 - 37.7 C°) and not subside for 1-2 days. If the mercury column has jumped to 38 C° or higher, and the inflamed area of ​​skin literally “boils” - this is an alarming symptom indicating a serious inflammatory process. In this case, without qualified medical assistance, the victim’s condition will only worsen.

Redness

Human skin responds to any damage with irritation and redness. When there is a cat bite and the wound becomes infected, severe redness is accompanied by overheating of the injured area. Purulent discharge may appear.

Important! A cat bite is more dangerous than a cat bite. Males disappear on the street for days, communicate with relatives, and can have a snack in the trash heap for company. As a result, cadaveric poison, which is extremely dangerous for humans, remains on the animal’s teeth.

Vaccinating cats against rabies: when to vaccinate

There is no cure for rabies. The only way to avoid the disease is timely vaccination. The vaccination is given to a kitten at the age of 3 months.

The animal must be healthy. 2 weeks before the injection, the kitten must be given anthelmintic drugs.

Vaccines that have proven positive:

• Rabikan;
• Quadriket;
• Leucoriphenin;
• Nobivak.

Be sure to read:

How to identify rabies in a cat at an early stage, the first signs

They are easily tolerated by cats and do not cause discomfort. Before the first vaccination, contact of the animal with sick individuals should be avoided.

It is not advisable to let your cat outside. Vaccinations in Russia are provided free of charge in state veterinary clinics.

How can a person avoid infection?

Rabies is a disease that is easier to prevent than to treat.

To avoid infection, you must:

• vaccinate pets in a timely manner;
• keep an eye on your pet during a walk, do not allow contact with wild and stray animals;
• catch stray dogs;
• do not touch street cats;
• do not hand feed squirrels in the park;
• When traveling to other countries, check the level of rabies and, if necessary, get vaccinated.

First aid for a bite

The first thing to do if you are bitten by a dog is to thoroughly wash the affected area with regular soap with a minimum amount of aromatic additives and dyes. The rinsing should be very intense and last for 10 minutes. If the wounds are deep, you need to wash them with a stream of soapy water; to simplify the procedure, you can use a catheter or syringe. It is not recommended to cauterize wounds with improvised means and stitch them up. The best solution is to go to the nearest trauma center immediately after a bite.

The doctor will examine the patient and prescribe vaccination. Previously, it was necessary to give 40 painful injections, but now the problem is solved with just a few injections. When talking with your doctor, you should provide the following information:

• general description of the animal;
• appearance features;
• behavior;
• presence of a collar;
• the circumstances under which the incident occurred.

Based on these data, the doctor will decide on further actions. Most often, the patient is given a vaccine and sent home, and then the injections are repeated about 5-6 times. If the condition of the bitten person is extremely serious, he may be left for hospital treatment. The same applies to situations when the patient is vaccinated again, suffers from diseases of the nervous system or from allergic pathologies. Pregnant women, as well as people who have received other vaccinations in recent months, should also be under close medical supervision.