Devil strikes again

[Double_Rainbow]

I have 2 issues bothering me right now. People, please, say something. This rabies fear is so damn hard to deal with.

1. I am feeling sick today like a head cold, congested, body aches a bit etc. Not too bad as of yet. It has been nearly 5 weeks since the pet rabbit bit me at the daycare, and I am mortified that these are the first symptoms of rabies. The rabbit was fine 15 days post-bite and after that I didn't see it.

2. A few days back someone's puppy licked my and my kids' hands at the store while we pet it. I have no idea where that puppy or his owner is, and I am mortified that it could have given me rabies. It looked like a puppy, wasn't fixed, and IDK if it even had its shots! I didn't have open wounds that I could see, however I bite my cuticles so I always have some scabs around my nails. Some of these might have been fresh enough to transmit the virus. Frankly, I feel trapped, there is no way for me to follow up on the dog or get the rabies vaccine. I feel like I am left to develop rabies and die! Please help!!!

[KK77]

If you have no open cuts/wounds, there is no chance of contracting anything, let alone something you know is extremely rare anyway.

[Double_Rainbow]

If you have no open cuts/wounds, there is no chance of contracting anything, let alone something you know is extremely rare anyway.

I know but that's my concern, I bite my nails and cuticles, so I often have some minor abrasions on my fingers. I didn't remember seeing any fresh ones but I can't be 100% sure. The dog didn't lick me on the fingertips, it licked me on the top of the hand and the wrist, but you know how it goes, my mind is convincing me that while I washed my hands it might have gotten into it somehow. I am so mad at myself for touching that dog, I want to chop my hands off!!!

This is pure hell, what is going on with me. I grew up in the third world country, where animals weren't vaccinated against rabies, I was constantly around all sorts of pets getting licked, scratched, and bit, and I never worried about that stuff. Now it is impossible to function, rabies seems to be everywhere. Idk how to deal with this madness???

[SnowyGreen]

Luckily I live in Australia, we don't have rabies here.
How many people in your country get rabies yearly? Is it common?

[textsfromthemoon]

Luckily I live in Australia, we don't have rabies here.
How many people in your country get rabies yearly? Is it common?

If their little flag flair is accurate they currently live in the US, rabies is insanely rare in the US, 1 or 2 cases a year if that in humans, I'm pretty sure we've had some years with no cases at all as far as humans go.

Rainbow, I understand how you're feeling, I've been trying to cope with my own rabies fear right now, it's been a few days short of four weeks since my recent "experience" (experience in quotes because I have to keep reminding myself that nothing happened).

I can almost promise you that the dog did not have rabies, a rabid dog would be very sick and acting very strangely, it wouldn't be wanting to be petted, acting friendly etc., it just sounds like a friendly puppy wanting some attention, try to distract yourself and I hope your cold is better soon, its been going around in my workplace lately too blech

[SnowyGreen]

If their little flag flair is accurate they currently live in the US, rabies is insanely rare in the US, 1 or 2 cases a year if that in humans, I'm pretty sure we've had some years with no cases at all as far as humans go.

That's what I was trying to get them to see. How rare it actually is in the States.

[Double_Rainbow]

That's what I was trying to get them to see. How rare it actually is in the States.

Yeah, there have been 3 human cases in 2018 in the US. It sounds very remote, I know! But it is in the news all the time, that rabid animals are found, I live in Florida and in my county there are multiple reports a year of rabid animals and rabies alerts. These animals attack humans (or pets, luckily pets are vaccinated, or should be) and humans get the shots, that's why humans don't get sick. That's where the devil anxiety is leading me to, trying to convince that I need the shots.

All that aside though: yes, it is rare. Yes, in 99% of the possible cases of infection is it obvious that there is high risk. Most of the time it is someone who got bit by a sick animal and didn't seek treatment. So I guess you are right, there is no reason to worry.

---------- Post added at 13:09 ---------- Previous post was at 13:03 ----------

If their little flag flair is accurate they currently live in the US, rabies is insanely rare in the US, 1 or 2 cases a year if that in humans, I'm pretty sure we've had some years with no cases at all as far as humans go.

Rainbow, I understand how you're feeling, I've been trying to cope with my own rabies fear right now, it's been a few days short of four weeks since my recent "experience" (experience in quotes because I have to keep reminding myself that nothing happened).

I can almost promise you that the dog did not have rabies, a rabid dog would be very sick and acting very strangely, it wouldn't be wanting to be petted, acting friendly etc., it just sounds like a friendly puppy wanting some attention, try to distract yourself and I hope your cold is better soon, its been going around in my workplace lately too blech

Thanks for your support, textsfromthemoon! I am mentally wrestling with my anxiety about this ALL the time. Of course the odds of that puppy (who was friendly and ate our treats) having rabies are very remote at best. Yeah, the cold is going around, people are sick everywhere. It's THAT time of year. I hope you don't get sick!

---------- Post added at 13:14 ---------- Previous post was at 13:09 ----------

I've been trying to cope with my own rabies fear right now, it's been a few days short of four weeks since my recent "experience" (experience in quotes because I have to keep reminding myself that nothing happened).

Is this when you went outside and thought that bat bit you? Do you still think about that? It is amazing how persistent this irrational fear can be...

[textsfromthemoon]

Hey how are you doing? I definitely think you’re safe, like you said the puppy was friendly and eating treats which is definitely not rabid behavior, plus in the US rabies cases in domestic animals are pretty rare because of how strict they are with vaxxing them, lots of states require pet owners to have rabies liscensea, my boyfriend and I have rabies tags for our cats and they don’t even leave our apartment!

And in regards to my rabies scare, it’s more that I went outside to take trash out at work and when I got inside I saw two marks on my hand that my mind convinced me were “bat bites”, I never actually saw a bat LOL I’ve started to recognize now it’s irrational, it definitely still creeps into my mind at times but it’s been a month since it “happened” this past Wednesday so I’ve been doing better with getting the thought out of my mind. Sometimes it almost helps to have more logical worries to think about, were about to have a snow storm where I live and I actually realized yesterday id been so busy thinking about snow I actually went several days without thinking about rabies at all!

[Double_Rainbow]

Hey how are you doing? I definitely think you’re safe, like you said the puppy was friendly and eating treats which is definitely not rabid behavior, plus in the US rabies cases in domestic animals are pretty rare because of how strict they are with vaxxing them, lots of states require pet owners to have rabies liscensea, my boyfriend and I have rabies tags for our cats and they don’t even leave our apartment!

That's true, my dog is also vaccinated. But you know how anxiety works. My brain keeps finding the "reasons" why that puppy might not have been vaccinated, maybe it was too young for a shot, and he wasn't even fixed so who knows if he was ever taken to the vet. His owner looked a bit like... ummm... a homeless guy? Not totally like that but sorta. So I keep thinking if he ever bothered to get it vaccinated. The dog was very well taken care of though, looked very clean and behaved friendly, so I guess it is all just my made up stories. The reality is that there have not been any human cases of rabies transmission from pets (especially dogs) in the US in forever.

And in regards to my rabies scare, it’s more that I went outside to take trash out at work and when I got inside I saw two marks on my hand that my mind convinced me were “bat bites”, I never actually saw a bat LOL I’ve started to recognize now it’s irrational, it definitely still creeps into my mind at times but it’s been a month since it “happened” this past Wednesday so I’ve been doing better with getting the thought out of my mind.

I definitely recognize the irrational OCD-type thinking. Not only you didn't see a bat, but I recall you said it was below freezing outside, so it wasn't biologically possible for a bat to be there. It was too cold for them to exist outside, let alone bite you. But as I said above, I bet your mind keeps finding irrational excuses of why the bat might have been there despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Sometimes it almost helps to have more logical worries to think about, were about to have a snow storm where I live and I actually realized yesterday id been so busy thinking about snow I actually went several days without thinking about rabies at all!

This is so very true, I noticed this as well. When I am busy, my anxiety fades away. I am trying to keep myself occupied as much as I can, but eventually these thoughts creep back in. What can you do? One day at a time...

[textsfromthemoon]

I completely get what you're saying about your brain always trying to keep going with the "what ifs", I was definitely there a few weeks ago too when I had my supposed "rabies incident", you have to find what works for you in quieting those thoughts and not letting your brain run away with them, do you have certain things you enjoy doing, any hobbies that could be distracting? One technique I actually learned from another thread on this site was when you start feeling yourself spiral into these thoughts tell yourself "lets worry about this later" and then force your brain to move onto another thought, it takes some practice but its helped for me in terms of stopping the spiraling.