Rabies??? Please help! I was licked by a lost dog!

[Roosterruby]

Hi there!!
I am completely new to this site but I feel a lot of kinship with other posters, as I have had severe health anxiety for almost all my life and I am only 20! Bummer, right? Multiple visits to the ER a month and constant panic are not fun things to deal with and I'm sure many of you can relate to that!
Anyway, yesterday I was walking through my college campus, and a very cute small dog comes running at me and my friend from a wooded enclosure! He approaches us and is very friendly and energetic. We see that he has a collar on with his owner's phone number and his name, and his owner is nowhere to be found, so we suppose he is a lost dog! We pet him and he licks us both numerous times! Why I worry is because I have several small cuts on my hands (because I am an artist and accidentally scratch or nick my hands with my tools all the time!) and I'm almost sure this little dog licked them! Also, I picked him up and he scrambled quite a bit (because he was FULL of energy) and so I could have gotten some minor scratch somewhere? Some campus police came and took the dog and said they would find his owner. I don't know if he was found or is up to date on his rabies vaccine or what! I am terrified that I have contracted rabies. Is this possible?? Please help!!

[ServerError]

You would need it to have sunk its teeth into you. And you'd have noticed something was seriously wrong with the dog.

Rabies is phenomenally rare in the United States. You don't have it.

[paranoid-viking]

I read that there is about 2 people annualy in the entire United States; in a population of 300 million people unfortunate enough to get rabies; and the ilness is virutally non-existing in developed countries. Still; if you are worried you may ask your GP if they think it would be nescesarry to take shots for it.
Again; rabies is only infectious after the dog has developed symptoms and NOT during the incubation period. So if the dog looked healthy yu are absolutely safe.

[Fishmanpa]

A dog with an owners name and number means it's been vaccinated (by state law). There is no possible way you're at any risk whatsoever (.) period.

Positive thoughts

[ServerError]

Most of the unfortunate handful of people in the US who do get rabies are bitten by bats, not dogs. If that helps.

[Roosterruby]

Thank you, you guys!! You have alleviated so much of my anxiety! I have a doctors appt on Monday for a different condition so I will ask them about the dog then! Do you think that would be proper/safe? I am still a little panicky because my neck really hurts today! I think it's just because I slept at an angle but you know how health anxiety goes!

[ServerError]

Whether you mention it to your doctor is up to you. But you don't need to. The circumstances you describe just wouldn't result in rabies. A rabid dog is not like any cute, cuddly dog you usually see. It's a raging, bitey, foamy monster. The reason rabid dogs bite is because the virus is making it act that way in order to get passed on. So if a dog isn't acting that way, it isn't a rabies risk.

If it was me, I wouldn't ask the doctor, but I will obviously leave that up to you.

If you're prone to anxious thought, catastrophising, or if you suffer regular anxiety/panic attacks, you would be wise to bring that up with your doctor and get referred for some therapy.

[paranoid-viking]

Whether you mention it to your doctor is up to you. But you don't need to. The circumstances you describe just wouldn't result in rabies. A rabid dog is not like any cute, cuddly dog you usually see. It's a raging, bitey, foamy monster. The reason rabid dogs bite is because the virus is making it act that way in order to get passed on. So if a dog isn't acting that way, it isn't a rabies risk.

If it was me, I wouldn't ask the doctor, but I will obviously leave that up to you.

If you're prone to anxious thought, catastrophising, or if you suffer regular anxiety/panic attacks, you would be wise to bring that up with your doctor and get referred for some therapy.

Ypu are absolutely right. A healthy and cute dog does not have rabies. I had a rabies scare in 2003 and I got all the "symptoms" due to my paranoia and all the "symptoms" i found on the net. It was no "google" I think in 2003; I used other search monitors but it was frightenly enough. So please do not google rabies symptoms.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's a raging, bitey, foamy monster.

I think I've been out with her too...

---------- Post added at 05:29 ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 ----------

Thank you, you guys!! You have alleviated so much of my anxiety! I have a doctors appt on Monday for a different condition so I will ask them about the dog then! Do you think that would be proper/safe? I am still a little panicky because my neck really hurts today! I think it's just because I slept at an angle but you know how health anxiety goes!

The anxiety is something to discuss with the doctor as Server says. All your doctor will do in regards to the rabies is reassure you because they will know there is absolutely no chance of it.

Sounds like a lovely little friendly dog who was glad to see you. He just wanted help and was grateful for it.

[Roosterruby]

Thank you!!! You have all calmed me so much!