Stray kitten raises alarms about rabies
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Adorable is the best way to describe the stray kitten brought to our office last week by good clients who found her in the neighborhood. She was calm, friendly -- and paralyzed.
She had deep wounds of unknown origin along her back. Radiographs showed rib fractures, most likely from a bite wound, and she possibly had spinal cord damage. Although she would eat for us, she could not pass urine or defecate. She had evidence of a previous eye infection with deep scarring. Unfortunately, she did not have a microchip that might have found her owner if she ever had one.
When I stopped on my usual late-night check of the patients in the hospital, I read through the kitten's record to see what the other veterinarians had done for her. Stray kitten, acting calm when she should be scared, wound of unknown origin and neurological issues are all signs of possible rabies. If it did turn out to be rabies, then most of my staff had been exposed. Staff members were instructed to limit contact with the kitten, and I would care for her myself. However, this directive was mostly ignored as everyone wanted to comfort her.
With a very poor prognosis and no response to treatment, she was humanely euthanized to prevent her suffering. The Allegheny County Health Department called a few days later and told us she was not infected with rabies.
Rabies is common in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. As reported in the Post-Gazette last week, Allegheny County was tied with Lancaster County with 26 confirmed cases, while Westmoreland County had 25 cases. Lancaster has a very high density of agricultural acreage and a very high number of production animals. Chester County had the most, 29 positive cases. The actual numbers in the report could be higher as not all dead animals are tested if there is not a human exposure.
Rabies is spread by wildlife, and raccoons pose the biggest problem followed by skunks, foxes and bats. Cats are the most common carriers among domestic animals. Of all the functions of a veterinarian, vaccinating pets for rabies prevention has to be one of the most important of our public health responsibilities.
First Published February 4, 2012 12:00 am
