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Toddlers: 24 Months+
What do you know about rabies?
DS and I went outside to play just before it got dark. We had the garage open and DS saw his tonka truck in there and wanted it to play with. I got it out and when I turned around DS was about 3-4 feet away from me (our driveway is super long). Anyway, a pitt came around the back of my car (which was parked outside) and went for DS. By the time I set down the truck and made my way over to DS without appearing like I was going to attack the dog, the dog got 3-4 LICKS in. The stupid dog didn't have a collar and we have no clue who it belongs to since we know most of the people in our neighborhood. Anyway, I'm paranoid about rabies transmission even though it was only through saliva IF anything. The dog licked him in the face (where it is most likely contracted if it is by saliva). So of course, I feel sick. I called animal control and they didn't seem concerned since he wasn't bitten. They are calling in the AM to discuss.
I can't even begin to expressed how peeved I am over this dog being loose with no collar- especially with it clearly being a pitt...I'm just thankful it didn't bite him because I would have had no mercy on the thing...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: What do you know about rabies?
it's highly unlikely the dog would have transmitted rabies by just licking ds unless he licked an open wound.. so if ds had a fresh cut/abrasion/incision where the dog licked... then maybe.. .but unlikely.
If you're concerned, your best bet is to contact your local pedi (oncall) or ER to see if they would even treat. But if the dog licked closed skin, like his cheek, you most probably have nothing to worry about.
https://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00484.html?
There is a risk, but it is very minimal. ?Was the licking eyes/nose/mouth or just somewhere like his cheek? ?I would *try* not to worry...I don't blame you for being freaked out though! ?How scary!
Highly unlikely that your son is going to get rabies through a dog licking him.
But regardless, there's not much that you can do at this point. Had you been able to contain the dog, your local animal control could have come and picked it up and held it in quarantine to see if it developed symptoms of rabies. But if the dog is gone, there's nothing that the ER can do. They're certainly not going to start your son on rabies shots with such a miniscule risk of transmission, and there isn't any test that they can do to see if he has it. Might as well do everything that you can to push this out of your mind and stop worrying about it.
And the dog being a pitt has nothing to do with it's potential to carry rabies, btw.
I wasn't implying that only pitts carry rabies.. I added that in my story so that others can realize that outdoors isn't always so safe. I NEVER thought of a dog coming in my driveway to go to my son regardless of the dog attacking or not. It came out of no where. It just made me realize I need to be more alert of my surroundings and random pitts scare me more than most other dogs because of how powerful they are.
Thanks for all the comments, I do feel better and I'm not going to get him the post rabies series.
Update:
They found the dog this AM and I identified it as the drive by licker. They are taking it for 10 days to observe for signs of rabies and will let me know what they come up with. They DID say that those with young children should watch out for this kind of incident since young children are suseptible and it can be transmitted through saliva. I get conflicting answers on how contagious it is but all I know is that this dog better be fine. Thanks for your replies.