The scenario in America is not uncommon. A healthy domestic cat enters a shelter. For some reason, and we never know the circumstances, the cat bites or scratches a shelter worker. The cat carries no identification. There is no history. The cat is unknown to the shelter for whatever reason. There is no doubt that the cat is a domestic cat because his behavior indicates socialization and friendliness around people. And there is no doubt that the cat looks healthy.
What to do? Does the shelter euthanize the cat immediately in order to test the cat for rabies? A rabies test is carried out on a cat’s brain and therefore the cat has to be killed before the test can take place. Or does the shelter hold the cat for 5 to 10 days in confinement for observation?
Under the circumstances, it would appear that the policy is to notify the local health department immediately and provide the name and address of the person bitten. The potential for rabies exposure and case management is then overseen and directed by the local health department. The department has a discretion to deal with the matter but, as I understand it, the normal procedure is to confine the cat for 10 days and observe for signs of rabies. If the animal becomes ill during the ten-day confinement, at the discretion of the local health department, they may euthanize the animal and test for rabies. This procedure is also stated by CDC.
In Minnesota it would seem that a private organization running a rescue operation can do as they see fit to protect their staff and volunteers. This would give the green light to euthanize the cat without holding him for a 10 day observation.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Federated Humane Societies said that that is incorrect and just like Animal Control a rescue organization has to hold the animal for 5 to 10 days. If the animal is physically suffering and beyond cure as assessed by a licensed veterinarian then it can be euthanized.
Also in Minnesota, impounded animals that have bitten humans may be euthanized and tested for rabies before the five day period has elapsed if demanded by the Department of Health. This is obviously a discretionary decision. What I mean is the cat may or may not be euthanized. If the cat looks healthy and domesticated it would be unreasonable to the euthanize her without a standard 10 day observation.
The point that I’m getting at is there are two courses of action when a cat bites shelter worker as an animal shelter, (1) the cat is euthanized and tested for rabies in order to protect the workers or (2) the cat is confined for 10 days for observation for rabies. In addition the local health department is notified.
It is difficult to find a very clearly defined answer using the Internet as a research tool. Obviously, in the USA what happens depends upon the laws of the state concerned. As far as I can tell there is no federal law on the subject. There appears to be a grey area were discretion can be used by the local health department. I do not think that a shelter has the discretion but there are stories of shelter management making decisions unilaterally to euthanize cats under these circumstances without criticism from the local authority. Is there a lack of clarity among shelter managers?
The decision to euthanize can be a tragedy if the cat was a beloved companion and for some unfortunate reason he found his way to a shelter where he was frightened and/or mishandled and bit or scratched in defensive mode which in effect ended his life.
The decision-making processes is complicated by the large number of cats passing through shelters, the pressure on shelter management, the fear of rabies which is fatal to humans and what appears to be a grey area in the rules which allows discretion to euthanize by shelter management when a cat bites.
I welcome the input of others but….
**NO COMMENTS BY TROLLS**
P.S. This page may be updated and amended as necessary when further information comes to light.
Sources as stated and Virginia Recommended Pet Shelter Bite Protocol.
A rabid animal is ONLY infectious to other animals and people during the last 10 days of its life. Even though the rabies virus can be incubating in their systems for up-to and over 8 months. This is why there is the international LAW agreement to quarantine any animal for 6-months (a time-frame just beyond the peak in the rabies incubation curve) when being transported to another place and it cannot be 100% proved to be rabies-free. A 6-month quarantine is still not safe, it’s just “safer” through statistics of probability.
What the CDC states is correct, a human cannot become infected by the bite or scratch of a rabid animal if it doesn’t show symptoms or die during that 10-day quarantine. But if it goes on living, without knowing if it is rabid or not, someone bitten or scratched even 1 or 2 days after that 10-day quarantine can then die from rabies.
And no, people and other animals are NOT safe if the cat does not show symptoms or die during that 10-days. That animal can still be harboring rabies and then kill other animals and humans if it bites or scratches someone else even 1 day after that precautionary quarantine. You’d have to start the precautionary 10-day quarantine all over again.
If a cat with an unknown rabies vaccination history (has no legal vaccination-history papers) bites or scratches a human or other animal, that cat, by law, must be quarantined in a government-supervised double-walled containment system for no less than 6 months to be relatively certain it is rabies free. At the average cost of $1,000 per month. Any animals that that suspected cat also came in contact with must also then be quarantined for no less than 6 months at those costs. Some homeowners have had to go into bankruptcy just to save the lives of their own pet cats that came in contact with a cat having an unknown rabies vaccination and rabies exposure history to pay for quarantining their own pet cats after the event. The only other option is to have them all euthanized and tested for rabies.
Let me know if you understand yet how rabies works and why the laws in place are required–to save not only human lives, but the lives of healthy and loved pets of any responsible pet-owners.
While the UK has not had to deal with the rabies issue for many decades, it is alive and well in countries where they still have most of their native wildlife species (unlike the UK that have driven most of their native wildlife to extinction). Just hope that your pet cats aren’t turning rabid bats, that have been blown across the borders, into their next play-toy. It is only a matter of time, with people relaxing animal-import/exportation and quarantine laws, and all cat-owners widely and wildly spreading disease misinformation on the internet, where you too will be reminded of why these laws in the US were created, and remain in place, to save lives–animal and human.
Yes, but why aren’t you addressing this to CDC:
” No person in the United States has ever contracted rabies from a dog, cat or ferret held in quarantine for 10 days.”
You say:
“A 10-day holding period can only be used to save a person from getting rabies shots if the animal doesn’t die during those 10 days…”
So if the cat does not die people are safe? And if he dies the problem is solved. Is that correct?
Thank you. 🙁 It must be a little different if the pet is known to have come in contact with an animal that supposedly tests positive. My personal opinion is that many of the people who are in charge of analyzing possibly infected animals do not really perform the test and lie about the results.
Since the incubation period for rabies is anywhere from 21 to 240 days how does a 10-day holding period prove that any unknown cat doesn’t have rabies? It can have live rabies virus in its body and not be infectious to others for over 8 months. One rare documented case proved the rabid animal was carrying rabies for over 3 years before it became infectious to others and then died from it.
You mistake the 10-days before an animal dies from rabies, and during which it can transmit the virus to others, with an animal actually having rabies or not. A 10-day holding period can only be used to save a person from getting rabies shots if the animal doesn’t die during those 10 days. A rabid animal is only able to transmit rabies during the last 10 days of its life before it dies from it. But 10-days being symptom-free in no way proves an animal is still not carrying and will eventually spread rabies to others and then die from it.
Do you understand the difference?
Thanks Susan and well said. Brilliant and very sensible. Some people are more scared than you.
It would freak me out as well just as you say. It just takes a certain chain of events to happen and within quite a short space of time your cat could be dead, euthanised at the local shelter despite being completely healthy and loved tremendously. There is a weakness in the system which allows for a discretionary decision to be made by shelter management. These decisions vary in my opinion because the policies in place are not robust enough to ensure that everybody across the USA follows the same policy. I would like to see federal policy on it but that may not be practical some reason or other. It should be clear, straightforward and 100% complied with.