Help! Dog bitten by a wild animal

[f1ea]

Hello all,

This is my first post here, but i'm in kind of an emergency:

We have a 14 month old puppy (Basset Hound - Labrador mix). She's pretty healthy and basically the spirit of our home....

The other night, being an avid hunter and searcher... she decided to pick a fight with a wild mongoose (eventually she killed it) but the mongoose got to bite her on the mouth. I saw the event but was not able to split them before she had already been bitten. She got her rabies vaccine a little less that 1yr ago, but the mongoose is probably the main rabies reservoir here in the caribbean. So we have her quarantined for observation at her vet's... waiting (and hoping!) not to have any signs of a rabies infection.

Now, the biggest complication is that my wife is 7-1/2 months pregnant, so we are really not in a possition to take any risks; however it would be devastating to have to sacrifice our beloved puppy.

The questions i have are:

- What post-exposure medication could we be able to give our puppy in hopes of containing a highly likely exposure to rabies (36hrs ago)?

- What precautions can we take around the house to make sure we're not risking ourselves and the baby? (so far we washed all bed clothes, pillows; did a thorough house cleaning with a bleach solution; bagged and threw out all her chewing toys and washed and brought outside her bed and blanket)

- How long could we be expecting her to be quaratined for, and when should we any signs to develop?

- How can we (the vet actually) improve her quarantine conditions so that she doesnt get over stressed/unhealthy? (She's being kept in an open cage about 3x her size, inside a solitary room/hallway)

Thanks in advance for any of your advices in this really difficult situation.

 

[stardogs]

Honestly, a lot of the questions you have about quarantine are going to be best answered by your local health department or department of ag/state vet (dunno how things are organized governmentally where you are). I believe that rabies may be able to incubate for up to 6mo, but am not positive.

Your dog was vaccinated for rabies already - that's the best prevention there is. I'm not sure that dogs are ever given post-exposure vaccines like humans are, but some vets may recommend a re-vax - that's another thing a state vet or someone similar would be the best resource for.

As for keeping her happier during quarantine, I'd do many of the same things that people recommend for dogs on crate rest (you should be able to search the board here), though you'll have to minimize human contact I would guess. Toys that dispense food are probably going to be of great help (e.g. kongs, busy buddy toys, buster cubes, tricky treatball, Treatstik, etc.), as would finding a way to have her in a larger kennel, *especially* if they insist she be quarantined for the full 6 months.

Being confined in her current space could very well negatively effect housetraining, not to mention the severe restriction of exercise.

 

[stardogs]

Here's a link with some info you might find helpful:

Rabies in Dogs: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment & Vaccination

eta: North Carolina's response to rabies exposure in domestic dogs/cats:

http://www.rabies.ncdhhs.gov/epi/rabies/pdf/exposed_dog_cat_flow_chart.pdf

^note that they recommend revaccination within **72 hours** of exposure!!

 

[bubbatd]

With the vaccine taken a year ago , I wouldn't worry but I'm glad that the mongoose is being checked .

 

[Grab]

Did you take the body of the mongoose in for testing? If it was free of rabies, you'll have no need to worry.

 

[f1ea]

Did you take the body of the mongoose in for testing? If it was free of rabies, you'll have no need to worry.

Unfortunately... we couldnt bring the mongoose for testing. After the event we couldn't find it. But mongeese (??) are the largest rabies reservoir in the caribbean... so, not very encouraging.

I am going to check the re-vaccination link, because although the vet says its better not to re-vaccinate, as it would further expose her to the virus... i'm not too content with this response. I'm almost certain a re-vaccination works (its used on humans and another vet friend of mine told me it should work). We still have some hrs left to figure it out....

As for the quarantine, the vet has told us it should be between 30-60 days. Specially with my wife's pregnancy. He's also following local regulations accordingly...

Thanks for the reponses!

 

[bubbatd]

My bad ..... I thought you had the mongoose in for testing .

 

[f1ea]

EDIT:
A bit of relieveing news: yesterday, our vet decided to give her some post-exposure treatment... keep her for observation for a few more days, release her and then just closely monitor for the next few weeks.

This because he has all her records, and her vaccine should be able to do the job; so we can have a little bit less worry despite a highly probable exposure.

Thanks again! will keep you guys posted as we have more progress...

 

[Ratboy]

I doubt you have too much to worry about. This area is loaded with Raccoons and Skunks, and a lot of them are rabid, but I've never heard of any of the many many dogs that have tangled with them dying of rabies. The worst problem I'm aware of is one of the big killers, a Lab/Border Collie mix got a bad infection on her face from a bite. She was ok though.

 

[f1ea]

Has anybody had any experience or knowledge about POST-EXPOSURE treatment on dogs??

According to our local Rabies Control Center we should give her 3x doses (spread 3 days apart) because she has been previously vaccinated. The first one was given within 60 hrs of contact, while the 2nd will be administered today; the 3rd one tomorrow.

However, I have some concerns as i feel this is a bit excesive. I know in humans treatment consists of dosis at 0,3,7,28... days. But i have not seen any info regarding animals. She is not a toy dog, but she is still about 14 months old; so i want to make sure this 3x doses treatment is safe for her...

 

[JessLough]

yah 3 times seems about right. It is all about how the drugs will work. As you said, in humans, they give it 4 times, unless you have been given the pre-exposure to rabies vaccine, then you get it 3 times. I have learned that they give them 3 times, it has something to do with the fact that 1 time, the dose is not strong enough to fight off everything.

 

[FoxyWench]

it works the same way as in humans, with a pre-exposure shot (whcih is what she got when she got her rabies the first time) if exposed you get 3 doses...

if she hadnt had the pre-exposure shot she could need up to 6 doses.

rabies unfortunatly is a tough virus and it can take a few readmins for the cells to build up full immunity and be "re-awakend"

i would keep benadryl (or other good anti-histamine) handy though in case of an allergic reaction.

rabies is essentially an "std" in all senses, in order to catch rabies the saliva must come in contact directly with the blood stream/mucus membranes.
its HIGHLY unlikely to catch rabies form a scratch for example, but a rabid animal bite (or a rabid animals saliva in the eye) can transmit the disese, a rabid animals blood splashing into the eye or into a cut (like HIV) can also transmit the virus.
because of this you are NOT at risk from her toys, bedding ect, outside of the body the visur is incredibly delicate and cannot survie long at all and its not contracted through skin to item/skin contact unless theres open wounds involved...

ive got my fingers crossed for a safe and swift recovery.
i would also begin teaching her aversion training for mongoose if shes an instigator, she needs to learn to stay away from them (or at least come imeediatly when called/leave it) so this doesnt happen again...

 

[f1ea]

Ok, so the 3 doses are not out of the ordinary. I thought it might be too much for her, so i wanted to get some insight. But yes, this was suggested by our Rabies center, so they should be well knowledged...

Thanks for your thoughts, we are also hoping for her swift recovery, for she is a very charismatic and affectionate puppy. Her real problem is basically associated with her breeds, she really is a hunter and will follow a scent relentlessly... she would chase and hunt down everything from crickets, lizards, butterflies to crabs, chicken and even horses.

I guess we gotta work on her composure and teaching her when to stay put. Hopefully i will get some helpful hints from this forum as soon as she gets better