Worried about rabies and freaking out.

[bumberbeven]

I have myself so worried over rabies!

On Mother’s Day, May 10th, I helped take care of a dying kitten.

It wasn’t foaming/salivating or acting aggressive. It was around 6 weeks old, was found in a trailer court with it’s siblings. It was kept with it’s siblings who are still alive (one of them was even cleaning it). I held it and it didn’t bite me or anything. We were able to get some formula in it’s mouth, but some spilled out from the syringe so we wiped it off. It did drink some though. We used the same syringe for the others. It did move it’s legs and it mainly just slept, it would perk up every once in awhile and meow, it was alert for that but then would lay it’s head back down. Didn’t really move it’s paws much. No twitching or anything. It passed that night. It did have a small wound on its foot but it was healing.

Since I was wiping it’s mouth I’m afraid I touched it’s saliva one point and touched my mouth. I pick my lips, so that’s what is freaking me out the most. I also touch my lips a lot when anxious. I kept washing my hands but I did probably touch my drink or clothes at some point without washing them. I’m so worried I’m going to get rabies. I wasn’t the only one to touch it, 4 other people did. Also it’s been almost 3 months, but my anxiety is just ramping.

I can’t stop freaking out.

Video of kitten, looks like it swallows after meow, its the one laying down.

 

[greenelephant]

Hey, I think you are okay. If the kitten had rabies they wouldn't be okay with being touched or groomed by their siblings. If the kitten was born infected, that would mean the mother had rabies and all the siblings would also be infected. Additionally, if the kitten was attacked by a rabid animal after birth, there would be a wound or some evidence that the animal was bitten.

This cute lil guy's behavior doesn't look consistent with a rabies diagnosis at all. it looks like he had Fading Kitten Syndrome which can be caused by hypothermia, a multitude of diseases, or other unexplained causes. I lost a six-week-old kitten to this syndrome and his behavior looked exactly the same. I hope you are feeling better

 

[bumberbeven]

Hey, I think you are okay. If the kitten had rabies they wouldn't be okay with being touched or groomed by their siblings. If the kitten was born infected, that would mean the mother had rabies and all the siblings would also be infected. Additionally, if the kitten was attacked by a rabid animal after birth, there would be a wound or some evidence that the animal was bitten.

This cute lil guy's behavior doesn't look consistent with a rabies diagnosis at all. it looks like he had Fading Kitten Syndrome which can be caused by hypothermia, a multitude of diseases, or other unexplained causes. I lost a six-week-old kitten to this syndrome and his behavior looked exactly the same. I hope you are feeling better

Thank you for the response! It does make me feel better, yeah I thought about it possibly having fading kitten syndrome. It did had a small wound on its back paw that was healing, it was just one puncture wound. My sister is a vet nurse and she said if it was attacked by a rabid animal it wouldn’t have lived long enough for the wound to start healing but it still freaked me out. It’s insides felt hard which was consistent with it being dehydrated, it’s gums were white.

 

[greenelephant]

Yes, I also saw that with my kitten.

Health anxiety is so frustrating because it take the evidence that lines up, even if it's only a little bit and it's a stretch, and ignores everything else to the contrary, which could be a whole mountain of logical reasoning against it. Last night I about had a panic attack thinking I had rabies, all because my dog licked my arm, lol. Fun times.

 

[bumberbeven]

Yes, I also saw that with my kitten.

Health anxiety is so frustrating because it take the evidence that lines up, even if it's only a little bit and it's a stretch, and ignores everything else to the contrary, which could be a whole mountain of logical reasoning against it. Last night I about had a panic attack thinking I had rabies, all because my dog licked my arm, lol. Fun times.

it sucks so bad! I am now past the three month mark, was three months yesterday so I’m pretty much in the clear but then you hear horror stories of it showing up years later. And for the past week my thigh muscle hurts and burns and is causing my shin and foot to hurt, which is probably sciatica but it freaks me out too.

 

[greenelephant]

I feel this so hard! I had a bout thinking I had rabies and/or other scary but extremely rare diseases: wound botulism, tetanus, brain eating amoebas, etc. and always had timers going off in my mind like "if I hit three weeks or [insert date range here] without symptoms that means I'm fine!" which leaves me on edge the whole entire time, and then the anxiety creates symptoms, plus normal physical aches and pains. It really sucks. At the moment, I'm keeping all my animals indoors and watching for behavioral issues. I suppose that's all I can do for now.

 

[bumberbeven]

I feel this so hard! I had a bout thinking I had rabies and/or other scary but extremely rare diseases: wound botulism, tetanus, brain eating amoebas, etc. and always had timers going off in my mind like "if I hit three weeks or [insert date range here] without symptoms that means I'm fine!" which leaves me on edge the whole entire time, and then the anxiety creates symptoms, plus normal physical aches and pains. It really sucks. At the moment, I'm keeping all my animals indoors and watching for behavioral issues. I suppose that's all I can do for now.

Yeah. It also helps to know how rare rabies is, it’s incredibly rare but I was a mess the week leading up to Monday, I was panicking and just terrified. But I ended up getting lexapro and started yesterday, I feel a bit better and it could be placebo but I don’t care. As long as I feel better lol.