Ahhhhh. Worried about animal illnesses.

[kimberley95]

Dogs- Worried about getting rabies as my dog bit me by accident when he was playing, there was no blood though only have a small bruise. But he has been a bit off recently, but I think he is jealous of the new puppy because he still loves his two hour long walks and surely if he had rabies he would be showing signs??
Birds- Worried about getting bird flu as we have a few poorly chickens, mum says they just have a cold.
Pigs- Worried about getting swine flu and they are not even ill. !!!!!!!!
This is ridiculous as I have so many animals and it is not normal to think they are going to make you ill!! Help need reassurance. xx

[quickman]

Stay away from Google - self diagnosing is one of the most dangerous things I've found i my short 'awareness' of anxiety etc. The media doesn't help either. If your dog had rabies, they'd be showing symptoms. As for the chickens, same. I think your mum is right on this score. :)

- Doug

[cuppycake]

I think UK is clear from rabies. They are pretty good at keeping rabies out and have really tight restrictions with animals coming in and out of the country.

I'll be honest I'm really sceptical about bird flu and swine flu, they don't seem any worse than seasonal flu.

[kimberley95]

That's the weird thing. I haven't googled for ages because my CBT person banned me. haha just what you hear about people dying from bird/ swine flu and rabies i dunno about but... It's so hard.

[quickman]

Yes but were they in UK/Europe? I think I know what ews report surfaced a week or so ago...but it was nowhere near here, seriously ;)

[cuppycake]

You wont get rabies, its very rare in the UK.
Besides which you would know if your dog had it.

With the flu, the media blow these things well out of proportion. People die of seasonal flu every year, when a new one comes along its on the news, no more or less worse than the normal flu. No point in worrying about it, if you get flu you treat it.

[kimberley95]

Probably not. It's just like I always have to worry about something. If it's not animal related it my heart/ throat/ chest etc.

[mikewales]

Rabies basically doesnt exist in the UK, plus the dog would have to have rabies in the first place, which would be pretty obvious.

Also bird and swine flu are nothing to worry about

[nojmac]

Hi,

I had EXACTLY the same panic issue a few months ago cos my dog licked a cut on my hand. I did the worst possible thing and googled Rabies!!! Stupid of me.

Let me try and put your mind TOTALLY at rest - you do NOT have rabies. if your dog had it you would definitely know in advance, and it has been eradicated in the uk anyway.

I find that the best way to respond to this type of health anxiety is not to look at the symptoms yourself. What i did was describe what i was feeling to a trusted friend, then ask them to look at the symptoms. The person i asked reported back that there were several things that were essential to any diagnosis of the disease that i hadnt mentioned at (of course she didnt tell me what these were).

Take it from me, you are fine.

Neil

[Stormsky]

Dogs have yearly jabs for all sorts, so yours will not have rabies im sure!
Also being brought up around all sorts of animals, you probably have a strong immune system, as being exposed to pets/animals builds up anti bodies to all sorts of things.