Rabies is the rare disease where the whole story is decided before it begins. It is preventable at almost no cost, and it is untreatable once it takes hold. Pakistan sits among the countries worst affected, with thousands of human deaths a year, most of them children, and almost all of them traced back to a dog bite.
For a pet owner that cuts two ways. Your own animal needs to be protected from catching it, and your household needs to be protected from the strays and wildlife that carry it. Both are handled by the same simple habit: vaccinate, and act fast after a bite.
How it spreads
The virus lives in saliva and passes through a bite, or through a scratch or a lick onto broken skin. It then travels slowly along the nerves toward the brain, which is why the gap between the bite and the first symptom can be weeks or even months. That slow march is also the opening: treatment given during it can stop the disease entirely.
Once the first neurological sign appears, rabies is effectively one hundred per cent fatal. Everything that saves a life happens before that moment.
Protecting your pet
- Vaccinate every dog and cat against rabies, starting the course as your vet advises and keeping boosters current for life
- Include indoor cats; a single escape or an intruding bat is enough
- Keep your pet away from strays and from any animal behaving oddly, and do not let it roam unsupervised
- Keep the vaccination certificate somewhere you can find it, since it matters urgently if your pet ever bites someone
- Report and avoid stray dogs that seem sick, overly aggressive, or unusually tame and disoriented
If a person is bitten or scratched
- 1Wash the wound at once with soap and running water for a full fifteen minutes; this alone removes a large part of the virus
- 2Apply an antiseptic such as povidone-iodine if available
- 3Go to a hospital or clinic the same day for post-exposure vaccination, and for immunoglobulin if the bite is deep or on the face, hands or a child
- 4Do not close the wound with stitches first, do not apply chillies, oil or other home remedies, and do not wait to see whether the animal falls ill
- 5If you can do so safely, note or confine the animal so its health can be observed, but never handle a suspect animal with bare hands
Recognising a suspect animal
Rabies does not always look like the snarling dog of films. It comes in a 'furious' form with aggression and restlessness, and a quieter 'dumb' form with drooping, wobbliness, an inability to swallow and heavy drooling. In both, an animal that was normal changes over a few days and then deteriorates. Treat any such change in an unvaccinated animal, especially after a possible bite, as a genuine emergency and keep everyone away from it.
The reassuring part is how much control you actually have. A vaccinated pet, kept away from strays, is at very low risk, and a bite washed and treated in time almost never becomes rabies. The tragedy of this disease is that it is still common here despite being one of the most preventable illnesses we know.
Common questions
My indoor cat never goes out. Does it still need the rabies vaccine?
Yes. Cats slip out through doors and windows, and a bat or a rat that gets indoors can carry the virus. The vaccine is cheap, safe and lasts a year or more; the disease has no cure. It is not a risk worth taking to save one visit.
What are the signs of rabies in a dog or cat?
There is no single look. Some animals become unusually aggressive or restless; others go quiet, withdrawn and wobbly. Common signs include a change in temperament, drooling or trouble swallowing, a changed bark or cry, and paralysis that spreads. Any unvaccinated animal behaving strangely after a possible bite should be treated as a suspect and never handled with bare hands.
A stray bit me or my child. What do I do first?
Wash the wound immediately with soap under running water for a full fifteen minutes, which physically removes much of the virus. Then go to a hospital or clinic the same day for post-exposure vaccination and, for deeper bites, rabies immunoglobulin. Do not stitch the wound closed first, and do not wait for symptoms in the animal.
My pet bit someone. What happens now?
The bitten person should get medical care regardless. If your pet is vaccinated and healthy, keep it confined and observed for ten days; if it stays well, it was not shedding the virus at the time of the bite. Tell the treating doctor and your vet honestly about the vaccination history, because that decides the person's treatment.
Can rabies be cured once symptoms appear?
No. In animals and in humans, once neurological signs begin the outcome is almost always death. Everything about rabies is prevention: vaccinate before exposure, and treat fast after a bite but before symptoms. That is why the vaccine is not optional.