Bats can Give Cats Rabies?

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:39:38 -0700, bookie wrote:

rabies was supposedly eradicated form the british isles at the end of
the 19th century although every now and then and animals dies after a
showing symptoms similar to those brought on by rabies and everyone
starts to panic. it is this determination to keep rabies out which is
the reason for the strict quarantine laws regarding bring animlas into
britain, ie cats and dogs must be held in quarantine for 6 months and
the owner has to pay for the priviledge which can cost several
thousand of pounds. alternatively they can get their animals
vaccinated and carry a 'pet passport' which I think are easier to get
these days and show that the animlas has been vaccinated against stuff
like rabies etc

bookie

My cats have always been vaccinated for rabies starting when they were
first old enough to get vaccines. Because of the situation we have here
for a number of "wild" animals, and my cats have always been
indoor/outdoor, I felt better knowing that they had some protection should
they come across a rabid animal and be bitten. So, does that mean if I
showed proof of vaccination my cat would then not have to be quarantined?
I always wondered about that.

Here, all dogs MUST be licensed and vaccinated, it is required by law
although there is not a real enforcement measure being taken. In some
larger cities and areas, I suppose there is, but in the small town that I
live, I suppose a person could have an unlicensed, unvaccinated dog,
although the "tags" are supposed to be on its collar in view. Also, vets
give you a certificate showing the date of last vaccination and when the
next "booster shot" is needed, which is every three years.

Patty

On 17 Jun, 19:03, Patty wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:39:38 -0700, bookie wrote:
rabies was supposedly eradicated form the British isles at the end of
the 19th century although every now and then and animals dies after a
showing symptoms similar to those brought on by rabies and everyone
starts to panic. it is this determination to keep rabies out which is
the reason for the strict quarantine laws regarding bring animals into
britain, ie cats and dogs must be held in quarantine for 6 months and
the owner has to pay for the privileged which can cost several
thousand of pounds. alternatively they can get their animals
vaccinated and carry a 'pet passport' which I think are easier to get
these days and show that the animals has been vaccinated against stuff
like rabies etc

bookie

My cats have always been vaccinated for rabies starting when they were
first old enough to get vaccines. Because of the situation we have here
for a number of "wild" animals, and my cats have always been
indoor/outdoor, I felt better knowing that they had some protection should
they come across a rabid animal and be bitten. So, does that mean if I
showed proof of vaccination my cat would then not have to be quarantined?
I always wondered about that.

Here, all dogs MUST be licensed and vaccinated, it is required by law
although there is not a real enforcement measure being taken. In some
larger cities and areas, I suppose there is, but in the small town that I
live, I suppose a person could have an unlicensed, unvaccinated dog,
although the "tags" are supposed to be on its collar in view. Also, vets
give you a certificate showing the date of last vaccination and when the
next "booster shot" is needed, which is every three years.

Patty

Please don't take my word on this, but I would assume that if your cat
was all injected & up to date, I see no reason why you wouldn't be
allowed to.

I have a feeling that most of this all hinges on wehther or not you
have a Pet- Passport. I'm not sure how much they cost, but as long as
you do have one, you can come and go with your pet as you please as
far as I am aware. I don't know anyone personally who has a pet
passport, but I do know that as long as it is current & valid, you can
take your pet almost anywhere. I also believe that the passport has to
be updated every year once booster inoculations are done, & certified
by your vet.

I will look up pet passports for you, & get back to you about this
one.
I have a feeling that you can go anywhere in the world & take your cat
with you, but whether you are allowed back in again without quarantine
is open to debate...

We "used to have to buy a dog licence years ago," but more recently,
they have scraped that law. I have wondered why they did this for
several years- It's time to do a bit of homework on this one.

I think it might not be a bad idea to think about injecting for
rabies, but only if there was good reason to... or enough worry to
warrant it. Bookie seems to be quite knowledgeable in this one. Have
you any idea why Bookie?
S;o)

On 17 Jun, 01:28, bookie wrote:
On 16 Jun, 16:13, 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)

saw something on telly a while back about some girl in america who was
bitten by a rabid bat (whilst in church would you believe! how's that
for 'testing your faith'?)and is one of the few people to have
survived rabies. One of those channel 4 cutting edge programmes or
maybe on 5ive, they do lots of stuff on medical freaks.
I cannot remember what the treatment was but it was completely new and
a bit of a longshot on the part fo the doctor who treated her, and
when it was tried again on some korean chap who caught rabies the
treatment failed.

basically it can passed from any warm blooded animal to another by
exchanging blood, saliva i think, and usually when the infected animal
bites another.
if i find a link to the story of the girl i will post it, but i know
she was left very badly scarred by it and had to relearn to walk and
talk and stuff as it really attacked her nervous system quite badly.

emily

I think I saw it too. It was on channel four.
Good program raising interesting questions as well as exposing issues
that are controversial too.
S;o)

On 17 Jun, 19:03, Patty wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:39:38 -0700, bookie wrote:
rabies was supposedly eradicated form the british isles at the end of
the 19th century although every now and then and animals dies after a
showing symptoms similar to those brought on by rabies and everyone
starts to panic. it is this determination to keep rabies out which is
the reason for the strict quarantine laws regarding bring animlas into
britain, ie cats and dogs must be held in quarantine for 6 months and
the owner has to pay for the priviledge which can cost several
thousand of pounds. alternatively they can get their animals
vaccinated and carry a 'pet passport' which I think are easier to get
these days and show that the animlas has been vaccinated against stuff
like rabies etc

bookie

My cats have always been vaccinated for rabies starting when they were
first old enough to get vaccines. Because of the situation we have here
for a number of "wild" animals, and my cats have always been
indoor/outdoor, I felt better knowing that they had some protection should
they come across a rabid animal and be bitten. So, does that mean if I
showed proof of vaccination my cat would then not have to be quarantined?
I always wondered about that.

Here, all dogs MUST be licensed and vaccinated, it is required by law
although there is not a real enforcement measure being taken. In some
larger cities and areas, I suppose there is, but in the small town that I
live, I suppose a person could have an unlicensed, unvaccinated dog,
although the "tags" are supposed to be on its collar in view. Also, vets
give you a certificate showing the date of last vaccination and when the
next "booster shot" is needed, which is every three years.

Patty

Patty, here is the information regarding Pets Passports that I said I
would try and find out for you with regard to rabies. I have given you
a couple of links to show you a couple of differing opinions with
regard to the rules and pet passports as well....
The first link is to do with passport for your pets, & the second one
is for people wanting to take their pets abroad, & others who wish to
bring their pets here too.

PASSPORTS
http://www.parksidevet.e-vet.com/petpassport.htm

GOVERNMENT RULES REGARDING RABIES
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Advanced...ullText=rabies

S;o)

"sheelagh" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 17 Jun, 03:52, Lynne wrote:
on Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:48:52 GMT, sheelagh

wrote:

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?

I don't know how far bats will travel, but I do know that rabies was
eradicated in England a long time ago, so I imagine bats don't pop over
from France. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Now I suppose a rabid animal could sneak on a ship or onto someone's
yacht
or even onto a plane and land in England, but I imagine the port
authorities are quite vigilent about that possibility. It'd be
interesting
to look into what measures are taken to keep rabies out of England.

--
Lynne


That's what I thought too Lynne, until I read Alison's post regarding
this chap who had been working for some few years with Bats. I can't
say that I am shocked, but I am surprised that we didn't get a lot
more coverage on this story.

That's Big Brother for you!

As Bookie points out, we do have a very strict regime regarding
rabies. However, not everyone is honest enough to do things by the
rules, or prepared to spend thousands of pounds to have their cats
quarantined...

In fact some people just can't be bothered period...!!
This is exactly how we will import Rabies in the future, if we don't
already have it...

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

This person would have been at higher risk for rabies due to the fact he had
prolonged contact with bats and he had actually been bitten by a bat. It's
really really tragic what happened to this person but it sounds like a very
unusual occurance. Unless you're handling bats (which most people shouldn't
be!) you probably don't have to worry too much about it.


This was also a different genotype of rabies (European Bat Lyssavirus 2)
than the rabies found in the US and many other parts of the world and is
fairly specific to certain species of bats. The type of rabies ("classic"
rabies--genotype 1) in the US is not as host specific and can be carried by
other mammals.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7490/491

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyssavirus



Would I be right in assuming that Rats could carry Rabies too?
If this is the case, I am shocked that we don't already have a
pandemic already. I would love to think that we wouldn't, but that
would be naive of me.


Rodents are considered to be very very low risk for rabies.


Bonnie

On 17 Jun, 14:25, Patty wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:13:36 -0700, 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)

We have a number of bats here where I live in Michigan. I've always had my
cats vaccinated for rabies. Not just because of bats, but we have lots of
raccoons, etc. which can also carry rabies. Rusty's due this year for his
update in August, and he will get it since he's a regular "bat-catcher".
As far as I'm concerned, it's just not worth the risk of losing a cat to
possible rabies, since they can't even tell if they've been infected until
their dead.

Patty

This might be a better site to go on. I read the other one through, I
realised it didn't have as much to say as I anticipated it might have.
Never mind...!!

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm
S;o)

On 17 Jun, 20:02, "22brix" wrote:
"sheelagh" wrote in message

oups.com...





On 17 Jun, 03:52, Lynne wrote:
on Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:48:52 GMT, sheelagh

wrote:

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?

I don't know how far bats will travel, but I do know that rabies was
eradicated in England a long time ago, so I imagine bats don't pop over
from France. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Now I suppose a rabid animal could sneak on a ship or onto someone's
yacht
or even onto a plane and land in England, but I imagine the port
authorities are quite vigilent about that possibility. It'd be
interesting
to look into what measures are taken to keep rabies out of England.

--
Lynne

That's what I thought too Lynne, until I read Alison's post regarding
this chap who had been working for some few years with Bats. I can't
say that I am shocked, but I am surprised that we didn't get a lot
more coverage on this story.

That's Big Brother for you!

As Bookie points out, we do have a very strict regime regarding
rabies. However, not everyone is honest enough to do things by the
rules, or prepared to spend thousands of pounds to have their cats
quarantined...

In fact some people just can't be bothered period...!!
This is exactly how we will import Rabies in the future, if we don't
already have it...

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

This person would have been at higher risk for rabies due to the fact he had
prolonged contact with bats and he had actually been bitten by a bat. It's
really really tragic what happened to this person but it sounds like a very
unusual occurance. Unless you're handling bats (which most people shouldn't
be!) you probably don't have to worry too much about it.

This was also a different genotype of rabies (European Bat Lyssavirus 2)
than the rabies found in the US and many other parts of the world and is
fairly specific to certain species of bats. The type of rabies ("classic"
rabies--genotype 1) in the US is not as host specific and can be carried by
other mammals.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7490/491

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyssavirus



Would I be right in assuming that Rats could carry Rabies too?
If this is the case, I am shocked that we don't already have a
pandemic already. I would love to think that we wouldn't, but that
would be naive of me.

Rodents are considered to be very very low risk for rabies.

Bonnie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks Bonnie, That was really helpful.

I know it is wrong, but, because we don't have to worry about Rabies,
we don't worry at all.....

It is the wrong attitude. I think it would do us all good to learn a
bit more.
No good ever comes from ignorance, does it..?!!
S)
PS: Hows life treating you all?
Well I hope!

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:14:38 -0700, sheelagh wrote:

On 17 Jun, 14:25, Patty wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:13:36 -0700, 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)

We have a number of bats here where I live in Michigan. I've always had my
cats vaccinated for rabies. Not just because of bats, but we have lots of
raccoons, etc. which can also carry rabies. Rusty's due this year for his
update in August, and he will get it since he's a regular "bat-catcher".
As far as I'm concerned, it's just not worth the risk of losing a cat to
possible rabies, since they can't even tell if they've been infected until
their dead.

Patty

This might be a better site to go on. I read the other one through, I
realised it didn't have as much to say as I anticipated it might have.
Never mind...!!

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm
S;o)

Thanks, sheelagh, that is very informative.

Patty

0
"sheelagh" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 17 Jun, 20:02, "22brix" wrote:
"sheelagh" wrote in message

oups.com...





On 17 Jun, 03:52, Lynne wrote:
on Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:48:52 GMT, sheelagh

wrote:

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?

I don't know how far bats will travel, but I do know that rabies was
eradicated in England a long time ago, so I imagine bats don't pop
over
from France. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Now I suppose a rabid animal could sneak on a ship or onto someone's
yacht
or even onto a plane and land in England, but I imagine the port
authorities are quite vigilent about that possibility. It'd be
interesting
to look into what measures are taken to keep rabies out of England.

--
Lynne

That's what I thought too Lynne, until I read Alison's post regarding
this chap who had been working for some few years with Bats. I can't
say that I am shocked, but I am surprised that we didn't get a lot
more coverage on this story.

That's Big Brother for you!

As Bookie points out, we do have a very strict regime regarding
rabies. However, not everyone is honest enough to do things by the
rules, or prepared to spend thousands of pounds to have their cats
quarantined...

In fact some people just can't be bothered period...!!
This is exactly how we will import Rabies in the future, if we don't
already have it...

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

This person would have been at higher risk for rabies due to the fact he
had
prolonged contact with bats and he had actually been bitten by a bat.
It's
really really tragic what happened to this person but it sounds like a
very
unusual occurance. Unless you're handling bats (which most people
shouldn't
be!) you probably don't have to worry too much about it.

This was also a different genotype of rabies (European Bat Lyssavirus 2)
than the rabies found in the US and many other parts of the world and is
fairly specific to certain species of bats. The type of rabies
("classic"
rabies--genotype 1) in the US is not as host specific and can be carried
by
other mammals.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7490/491

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyssavirus



Would I be right in assuming that Rats could carry Rabies too?
If this is the case, I am shocked that we don't already have a
pandemic already. I would love to think that we wouldn't, but that
would be naive of me.

Rodents are considered to be very very low risk for rabies.

Bonnie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks Bonnie, That was really helpful.

I know it is wrong, but, because we don't have to worry about Rabies,
we don't worry at all.....

It is the wrong attitude. I think it would do us all good to learn a
bit more.

I think the big thing about this tragedy is that the man acquired rabies
from "local" bats--in other words this form of rabies is already in Great
Britain. So far it's found only in certain species of bats and it seems to
be present at a very low level. Best advice--don't handle bats, especially
if they seem sick or are flying around during the daytime. If exposed seek
medical attention right away.


No good ever comes from ignorance, does it..?!!
S)
PS: Hows life treating you all?
Well I hope!

Tortle is fat and sassy--she's gained over 1 1/2 lbs since she came from
the hospital and now weighs about 8 1/2 lbs! I don't have to give her
fluids any more unless she becomes dehydrated. She's periodically
terrorizing Sophie and Clover (two of my other cats), both of whom weigh
about 2 pounds more than she does! She chases them, screaming, down the
hallway. It was more peaceful when she was sick! She's also more
affectionate. She has a funny half meow, half purr "mmrrraghhh" sound she
makes when I pick her up. I'm so pleased with her progress!

Bonnie

On 17 Jun, 19:44, sheelagh wrote:
On 17 Jun, 19:03, Patty wrote:





On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:39:38 -0700, bookie wrote:
rabies was supposedly eradicated form the British isles at the end of
the 19th century although every now and then and animals dies after a
showing symptoms similar to those brought on by rabies and everyone
starts to panic. it is this determination to keep rabies out which is
the reason for the strict quarantine laws regarding bring animals into
britain, ie cats and dogs must be held in quarantine for 6 months and
the owner has to pay for the privileged which can cost several
thousand of pounds. alternatively they can get their animals
vaccinated and carry a 'pet passport' which I think are easier to get
these days and show that the animals has been vaccinated against stuff
like rabies etc

bookie

My cats have always been vaccinated for rabies starting when they were
first old enough to get vaccines. Because of the situation we have here
for a number of "wild" animals, and my cats have always been
indoor/outdoor, I felt better knowing that they had some protection should
they come across a rabid animal and be bitten. So, does that mean if I
showed proof of vaccination my cat would then not have to be quarantined?
I always wondered about that.

Here, all dogs MUST be licensed and vaccinated, it is required by law
although there is not a real enforcement measure being taken. In some
larger cities and areas, I suppose there is, but in the small town that I
live, I suppose a person could have an unlicensed, unvaccinated dog,
although the "tags" are supposed to be on its collar in view. Also, vets
give you a certificate showing the date of last vaccination and when the
next "booster shot" is needed, which is every three years.

Patty

Please don't take my word on this, but I would assume that if your cat
was all injected & up to date, I see no reason why you wouldn't be
allowed to.

I have a feeling that most of this all hinges on wehther or not you
have a Pet- Passport. I'm not sure how much they cost, but as long as
you do have one, you can come and go with your pet as you please as
far as I am aware. I don't know anyone personally who has a pet
passport, but I do know that as long as it is current & valid, you can
take your pet almost anywhere. I also believe that the passport has to
be updated every year once booster inoculations are done, & certified
by your vet.

I will look up pet passports for you, & get back to you about this
one.
I have a feeling that you can go anywhere in the world & take your cat
with you, but whether you are allowed back in again without quarantine
is open to debate...

We "used to have to buy a dog licence years ago," but more recently,
they have scraped that law. I have wondered why they did this for
several years- It's time to do a bit of homework on this one.

I think it might not be a bad idea to think about injecting for
rabies, but only if there was good reason to... or enough worry to
warrant it. Bookie seems to be quite knowledgeable in this one. Have
you any idea why Bookie?
S;o)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

what, you mean "do i have any idea why i am so knowledgeable about
this topic"? as far as i was aware i was not knowledgeable in the
slightest, no more than your average person in the street or pet owner/
slave.

anyway, back to pet passports etc, I don;t knwo much about them, i
think you have to go to your vet and get the relevant injections up to
date for you animal and get the ecrtifictaes and then maybe send them
off with some form or other (probably available at your local post
office, if it hasn;t been closed down aleady like ours) to some
government office that deals with that sort of thing, dunno which one
though, DEFRA maybe? go to www.gov.uk.org and see whether it has any
relevant links there on how to go about gettign one for your dog or
cat.

i just know a few people whose animals (couple of dog owners and one
cat owner) whose pets have them but never really been that bothered to
ask much more abuot them because i am unlikely to go abroad much as
can;t afford it, or if i did i wouldn;t want to inflict foreign travel
on my furry companions. I have heard too many horror stories of cats
getting out of containers at airports and going missing thank to
cretinous baggage handlers throwing them around like they were just
any old package and that puts me right off. The only way i would
consider taking my cats away with me would be to another destination
in England (greatest country on the planet btw) or somewhere not to
far across the channel where I could transport them with me by car so
i could keep them with me at all times, eg cross channel ferry. Any
further than that might freak them out and it woudl be no holiday for
them woudl it?

If i had a dog i would go further with it as i think they get less
freaked by journeys and see them as an adventure, but again i would
only go a far as I go go by car and ferry, would never trust my
beloved animals to dip**** baggage handlers or have them go in the
hold of a plane.

bookie