Jackie Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Our old frail house cat, he is not allowed outside, showed he was still quick enough to catch a small bat that got into our bedroom last night. He dropped it and I took it outside where it may have recovered as it seemed a bit shell shocked but it did walk around a bit on its elbows and fluttered its wings. No corpse was found this morning where I had left it. We have a small colony of these bats behind our shutters each year and this is only the third time one has got into the house in 7 years.We examined the cat and found no sign of blood in his mouth so I don't think that it bit him but one can never be sure. Bearing in mind that there have been a few cases of bat transmitted rabies here in France and that our cat has not had rabies vaccine we wonder if we should have him examined by a vet. Don't really want to put him through trauma any more than necessary as he is quite frail with kidney problems. I don't know if there have been any cases here in Deux Sevres but there was one in the Vendée last year I believe..................................J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 There was indeed a case in the Vendée last year. If it were me I would get the beastie checked over and vaccinated. Transmission is rare, but nonetheless possible and the disease is endemic in bat colonies all over Europe, even in the UK where bat handler died of the disease a few years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks for the reply and I am sure you are right it is just that he is so frail with kidney disease and other problems a rabies shot might finish him and I would like to be sure it is really needed but I guess that is something only a vet could advise on..............................J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Would a rabies shot do any good after contact anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Having consulted a vet I understand that it would be too late now to have our cat vaccinated as vaccinating him now will not make a difference. Most vaccines take 7-21 days to produce immunity. The likelihood of him having caught anything is pretty small and cats catch bats quite frequently. We will of course take him to the vet should we see anything that gives cause for concern........................................J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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