Hysterical mom here re: rabies..

[T&D2005]

So tonight was a beautiful temp. I decided to hurry up and get DS outside while it was still light out. I got him in an outfit and slapped shoes on. We go outside and DH was working in the garage on his car. DS saw his toy truck in the garage and wanted it to play with. He was right next to me. I reached in the garage about 2 feet and grabbed the toy. As I turned around, a PIT came around my car and went for my son who was now about 3-4 feet from me (he is 18 months). I had the truck in one hand and by the time I saw the dog and looked at my son, the dog was already IN his face licking him all over. I put down the truck and lifted DS up in the air as I called for my DH (knowing not to make any sudden movements). Mind you, this all happened in like 3 seconds.. you better believe the truck went to the ground super fast and he was up in the air.

Anyway, no collar so my DH followed the dog down the street. No one knows who this dog belong to and we know most of the people in the neighborhood. The dog appear well groomed and *seemed* healthy. He only licked DS all over the face no bite, no scratch ect.. I don't know if my son stuck out his tongue or closed his eyes when the dog was licking him because it was one of those licks that surrounds your whole face and it's so fast you can't breathe. Anyway, the dog got about 3 good licks in before I got to him.

So I looked up rabies transmission and it said it is very rare that you can get it through contact with saliva but it does happen. I feel sick to death and I would appreciate any advice and any links to research this topic..

[bri276]

what state are you in? if you don't want to say so online, look up your state's rabies statistics for this year. I was surprised to find no cases in my state this year, which is usually crawling with it.

overall, I would not worry at all about a friendly, apparently well cared for dog having rabies.

if you can't locate the owners to prove rabies vaccination, the only solutions are pretty awful. Trap the dog and kill it to test its brain for rabies, or give your son precautionary rabies vaccines. I don't think either is warranted or necessary at all; and I'm very paranoid about rabies!

[T&D2005]

I'm in FL and thanks for the tip I'm looking for the stas now.

[T&D2005]

Actually, I wish I was looking at the stats but I can't find any for this year.. I called the animal control and the rabies person is going to call in the AM- I hate waiting..

[QueenOfThePride]

You can chill. Rabies is extremely rare in domestic dogs. Most are vaccinated. And dogs with rabies don't act all friendly like that.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

I think you would know if the dog had rabies. It wouldn't be friendly and licking. I would not worry about a strange dog licking ds.

[rik8144]

If he did have Rabies there would be no licking involved. Poor pittie! He was probably far from home and saw a nice place to stop and say hey.

[My*Scorpio]

Try not to worry. I volunteered with animal rescue for 5 years and never saw a case of rabies. It's also highly likely that if the dog ever had a rabies vaccine, he would be immune.

Wild animals do not walk up to people and give them "kisses." They are extremely skittish and standoffish.

[mamakay]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about that at all. Not a bit.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by QueenOfThePride

You can chill. Rabies is extremely rare in domestic dogs. Most are vaccinated. And dogs with rabies don't act all friendly like that.

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

I think you would know if the dog had rabies. It wouldn't be friendly and licking. I would not worry about a strange dog licking ds.

Originally Posted by rik8144

If he did have Rabies there would be no licking involved. Poor pittie! He was probably far from home and saw a nice place to stop and say hey.

Originally Posted by My*Scorpio

Try not to worry. I volunteered with animal rescue for 5 years and never saw a case of rabies. It's also highly likely that if the dog ever had a rabies vaccine, he would be immune.

Wild animals do not walk up to people and give them "kisses." They are extremely skittish and standoffish.

Originally Posted by mamakay

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about that at all. Not a bit.

:


Rabies wouldn't even be on the radar after a friendly doggie lick.

-Angela

[T&D2005]

Thanks for the comments- I AM feeling more confident now after some further research. I wonder what the cases of contracting rabies is from saliva anyway? I got worried because they said usually mean dogs become friendly and friendly dogs become mean when infected and it is possible. My mom tried to talk me down and she pointed out how many more times my kid would come into contact with an animal with no tags *thanks mom*. I shutter to think about it. So many dangers out there. I'm so thankful this pitt didn't attack even though most pitts I know are friendly. DS's face was the perfect height to be mauled. It could have been so much worse.
I'm okay with treating diseases that I know aren't always a fatality when contracted.. but rabies scares the crap out of me since it's so deadly.

[AurorasMommy]

I agree. I am not positive how a RABIE animal would act, but would it be common for them to come up and lick a babies face?

I know my dog MANY MANY times slips out of her collar. I go outside to let her in, and all she has left behind is her leash and collar! And she is out about roaming... I am sure licking and playing with the neighbor kids down the road!

I dont think you have to worry!! I got scared at first reading your post... We owned an AMAZING pitbull for 9 years. He was the MOST gentle, LOVING dog ever! I thought you were going to say your son got malled by the dog! My stomach was in knots at first!

GLAD to know your son didnt get hurt!!!!

[becoming]

No way would a rabid pit bull be licking a small child. Your son is fine.

My DS was nipped in the face by an unvaccinated dog about a year ago, and I, being worried about rabies, called the vet to ask what I should do. They basically told me it would have to be a large, gaping wound or a very deep puncture wound for there to be any real chance of contracting rabies. Usually rabies is contracted from deep bite wounds to the head or abdomen.

[becoming]

Here is the thread I posted when my son was bitten. There is some good info about rabies there, if you can wade through all the off-topic stuff about dogs!

[angie7]

Rabies wouldn't even be on my radar with a friendly, licking dog...And since you capitalized the fact that this dog was a "PIT", is that why you felt the need to get all worked up about rabies over a friendly dog?

[T&D2005]

Originally Posted by angie7

Rabies wouldn't even be on my radar with a friendly, licking dog...And since you capitalized the fact that this dog was a "PIT", is that why you felt the need to get all worked up about rabies over a friendly dog?

No. I have friends with pits and they are really sweet dogs (although I don't trust them for a second). In the first second I saw the dog, I thought he was going to bite DS so that's why I was so worked up about the pit but it wasn't an attack.. it was a "drive by" licking. I had read on a site that the dogs attitude could change after contracting rabies and since I didn't know how it acted before, I didn't know if it was out of character for this specific dog (not this specific type).

[T&D2005]

Update: Did i shoot myself in the foot?

Animal control called back today and asked a bunch more questions. I was informed by them that they are opening a case since DS is so small and it is possible he could have gotten rabies if the dog was infected (because of his teething ect?) Anyway, we found the dog this AM and animal control took it for quarantine. They said they will keep it for 10 days and on the 14th, they will call me to tell me it has been released (what is this an ex con?) Anyway, they will be looking for signs of rabies during that time and notify me if anything comes up.

But, they mentioned before we found the dog, that the health dept will be notified in 5 days if no dog is found. When the health dept steps in, isn't that like an automatic post rabies series in the works? I'm 100% against vaccines BUT if my kid did get exposed to it I would have to do the vaccine since it's deadly and I'd bend the rule for that. I don't even want to think of the politics involved with that. So some think I might have overreacted by calling animal control to report a stray dog with no collar but I'm torn over my decision. I love animals and I don't want it to be hurt. I also love my son more and would do whatever to make sure he wasn't exposed. I hope I didn't open a can of worms with the county and everything works out for the better.

[cadydid]

Don't feel bad for a second. It was the owner's responsibility to keep the dog contained.

If this had not been a friendly dog, your child could have been seriously hurt.

[QueenOfThePride]

Animals with rabies have seizures, muscle tremors, really excessive drooling, confusion (like running into walls). GTG

[ktbug]

a) your son did not get exposed to rabies, no way, no how, i'd bet my breasts on it. unless your child has open sores on his cheeks, i'm quite positive there's no danger here. a rabid animal would be aggressive, confused, and not at all friendly, especially to something its instinct identifies as a prey animal (i.e., small human, defenseless).

b) the involvement with animal control, the fact that it's an alarm breed, and that a small child was involved makes it very likely that the dog will be destroyed.

c) you're not up for a court-ordered post rabies series. DON'T let anyone tell you that you are. there's no police report of the "licking incident" and no way to prove that it happened, so no one can try to prove it did. if i were you, i would stop talking about it to officials and say i was mistaken if anyone asked me about it, both for your son's sake and for the dog's sake. that's me, though.