Rabies among other things

[E.B]

I have been dealing with this all my life. I am 38 male and it seems to be getting worse. I have had rabies 20 times, any bump is something wrong, back in high school it was aids.. just seems to be getting worse. I am attempting therapy to see if it works and am taking med.

The latest was yesterday. I have stopped for years to pet a dog, feed it, on my way home or to work every once and a while. To combat my rabies phobia i stopped to see him. In petting, i touched and noticed he had a wound of some type or scab. I immediately started to panic, what ifs, now it became what if he had just been in a fight with a rapid animal, and saliva was still present. I have no open wounds on my hand, but i do have a piece of skin up a bit near my nail that could possibly bleed if picked.

I even stopped by and asked the owner and he said the dog had been picking at skin starting late Sept, early Oct, itching type thing,that made me content for a while, but then it will be well what if the owner was lying, etc

This morning i wake up thinking of how he had part of his ear off. According to the home owner around the same time something nipped him there. I asked when that happened. He said couple days ago. I decided to go speak to my doc, and he basically said i could get shots if i wanted, started by saying well you may want to, you could. He also said if it was him he probably wouldn't...He suggested i go to the health dept. I went there and they gave me the telephone number of a lady who was a rabies specialist, and i told her everything over the phone. She said i was fine especially with the over 2 hour timeline of saliva being dry. Of course i am asking what if the owner is lying, or doesn't know, etc. He also said the dog is,due for it shots but he is sweet as can be.

It seems to be worse lately. I am actually of the opposite who fears GOING to the doctor.. The doc wasn't that helpful but i don't know if he really,listened. The lady says im fine. Even if it had been less then two hours and it was a rapid animal. I don't see how salivia could of gotten in the tiny little area up near my nail.

Just like everyone else, some more confirmation im ok would be great.

 

[E.B]

And I went back to talk to someone at health dept and they said even if went to er they wouldn't give shot.

 

[mia23]

Funnily enough, monkeys came into my kitchen today and stole bananas and i freaked out about rabies thinking I'd get it just by being in close proximity of them. Its not quite the same as your situation but i can understand your fear and worry perfectly. If that woman told you you're fine then you're fine. Just calm down and distract yourself

 

[triceps]

Hi and welcome E.B. If your neighbor was going to lie to you he would have said the dog was up-to-date on it's rabies shot. You really have nothing to worry about and I've heard that those rabies shots are very painful. Try to remember all of those 20 other times where you thought you had rabies and were fine. Good luck getting past this one more time. You really are fine.

 

[E.B]

Thank you for the replies. Was doing better then happened to look down and see a scratch that i know happened today, but then i say "how do i know" then i say it doesn't matter because of the timeline the owner told me "well what if he doesn't know" then I say even if it just happened and put my hand in saliva with any kind of opening it would be a miracle for anything to get transmitted...dont think it's actually ever happened before.. And i even had the lady look and say do you see any open wounds, and she quickly said no...Can someone provide some closure to this for me?

 

[Cuchculan]

If that dog had rabies or anything similar I would be guessing the dog would be either dead or close on dead by now. It wouldn't just seem like any average dog. It would be a crazy acting dog. In animals these things hit hard and hit fast. You are over thinking the whole thing.

 

[E.B]

Funny the dog isnt even bothering me, its the wound/skin area that may of had salivia on it. The lady said if i went to er they would not give me a shot. But you know how myself types are.

 

[Cuchculan]

In ER they would want to know why you think you are infected. If you told them, they would just send you home and tell you there is nothing wrong with you. Anxiety can be a bitch at times. This is just one of those times.

 

[triceps]

Hi E.B. You know how your types are. It's really up to you to put some closure on it. You have shown to yourself and we have shown you that all of the evidence points to your being fine. You're the only one that can accept the reality that rabies is not a possibility.

 

[E.B]

One minute im content and ok and in an instant it's like i was never ok mentally. I've emailed my doc who has reccomended me increasing my meds about how i should go about it. Thank you for trying to help assure me. I have been dealing with these worries forever and every time they feel real.

 

[Cuchculan]

The worries are real. What the worries are about is what is not real. So sorting out the reasons why you worry is what will help fix things up for you.

 

[E.B]

How can i come to a definite conclusion that what the owner said is true about when whatever happened? Do i just need to believe him? I know he has no reason to lie and honestly he probably hasn't even phathomed worrying about whatever happened.

 

[E.B]

Anyone?

 

[triceps]

You answered your own concern. "Do I just have to believe him?" Yes.

 

[E.B]

Would you believe him triceps?

 

[Cuchculan]

I would believe the owner. Ask yourself, if a dog had rabies, would the owner have kept the dog? That would be putting himself at risk. He wouldn't do that.

 

[E.B]

I don't mean the dog. I mean whenever the incident happened that caused dogs ear wound scar issue.

 

[E.B]

I really got to get a grip and im not sure how. Now im thinking how i rough house with my dog and his teeth hit my skin sometimes like today that maybe he has rabies. I know hes due for his shots since the summer but its still ridiculous. I keep thinking how this morning his tooth hit my skin, didn't see any blood, im thinking how he paws me, first it was my other dog earlier in the summer, then my cat scratched me a while ago in the summer, now my other dog. I have had rabies 20 times in the past couple months.

On a side note the lady from the health dept acted as if just having the initial rabies vaccination was a big part of preventing rabies. Is that accurate?

 

[Miasara]

I share your fear or rabies. Had a post on here back in June. That fear consumed my entire summer. And guess what- here it is- almost November and I don’t have rabies. I don’t know what it is about this one particular disease but it’s they only one I have major anxiety about. Here’s the thing- that dog doesn’t have rabies and neither do you. The owner didn’t seem worried and he lives with the dog! Even if dog’s rabies shot expired it still offers protection. Do you think on day 3 years and one day suddenly dog isn’t protected anymore? Also I did major research on rabies at the height of my fear. It doesn’t last long at all on any surface. Think about it- you touch things outside all day long and you are perfectly fine. Lastly you really need to be bitten and have a wound to be at risk. When I was consumed by my fear I thought often how very rare this disease is. There are people who work with wild animals all day long and don’t seem to contract this disease. So why do you think you have it just by petting a dog?

 

[E.B]

Thank you very much for your response and i share your feelings as well.

Am i correct that the animal has to be showing symptoms to transmit rabies?