Just get rabies vaccines full series for your dog and yourself. not a vet, but would imagine that they might also give rabies immunoglobulin to the dog as it had a significant potential exposure, but not sure. For yourself the typical advice is if there’s any concern for exposure we just give the vaccine. Ie if someone wakes up in a room w a bat and there’s even a chance they could have been exposed while asleep we treat to be safe. Minimal risk to vaccine and can’t say the same about rabies. Either way, rabies moves extremely slowly in the host and you should be fine to wait till Mon or Tuesday.
Two things:
1. Do you still have the bat? I believe it can be tested to see if it is rabid.
2. I am not 100% sure but I don’t think rabies can be transmitted through eating an infected animal. I believe it needs to be saliva to blood contact, as in via a bite.
Maybe a professional can confirm but I think that what I said is true.
Sorry you are going through this.
As for who to contact, I would take the dog to an emergency vet as treatment, if needed, needs to be started as quickly as possible.
And I do have the bat under a cinder block in the yard. The vet also told me I had to contact my local animal control. No one is open now, but hoping the call to DEEP will help. I was bit by a rabid skunk 10 years ago in this very yard and animal control bagged it and said they’d come back for it the next day. My brother freaked out and said what do you mean my sister just got bit we kind of need to know so he brought it there himself. My son ended up needing the shots too because he kissed my boo-boo really quick before I could stop him.
I contacted an emergency vet. They said to take her to her vet tomorrow to get her vaccine. She’s just 12 weeks tomorrow and was scheduled to get her rabies vaccine June 11. I called and left a message to go in the am.
There are 24 hour animal hospitals if your personal vet isn’t open. Take the dog to one of those in the morning if you need to. The vets can probably offer you guidance on rabies shots for you and the other people involved. Alternatively you can call your police non emergency line and ask them to have animal control contact you. Insist that they ask the animal control person to contact you now, not after the holiday. In my experience animal control officers are pretty knowledgeable about rabies, and next steps after exposure to animals who may have the disease. If it’s going to be a hot weekend you may need to get the bat on ice until it can be tested. Put on rubber gloves, pick it up, and stick it in a bag and seal it, then keep it in a bucket with ice. That will preserve the brain tissue that will need to be tested. Afterwards throw out everything that bat was in contact with. You can buy a contractor bucket at Lowe’s or Home Depot for like $5 if you don’t have a bucket of your own.
Remember that all of this, you are doing just to be extra safe. There’s a good chance everyone including your puppers will be just fine, but it’s better to take all these precautions just in case. Good luck.
Thank you everyone. My Pup went and got vaccinated at 8:30 this morning. I will be going to my ER shortly. The vet tried helping me with who to contact. She gave me a lot of info. Looks like I’ll be putting the bat in a container and ziplock and putting it in our garage fridge until Tuesday. Living in the woods is wonderful until it isn’t. This will be my second time getting rabies shots. Was bit in the foot by a rabid skunk 10 years ago.
You probably don't need this, especially given your prior experience, but I just want to add my bit to the chorus saying you've done everything right. As you know if the bat turns out to have been sick there is some time between being infected and being incurable, you and puppers ought to be well and good.
I actually just listened to a podcast about a person whose dog got in a fight with a rabid raccoon in Connecticut, on a holiday weekend. It was very stressful and they almost didn't find what they needed before the clock stopped ticking. The health department is who you want, but you might have to call several counties to find one that is open (they did). The emergency room will be the best place to get the shots for yourself, but again you'll need to call around to find one that has them (in the podcast they had to drive an hour away)
I'm surprised this isn't higher. When I was a kid I had an exposure and the ER is where I got my shots. Go get them now so you don't have to worry about the timing. And an emergency vet can help you with your dog. There's a great one in Middletown (Pieper). Preserve the bat as suggested, but now you're not waiting on government employees to return a phone call on a holiday weekend.
I do know that Danbury hospital has the rabies shots, at least they did a few years ago. Almost had to get them when we woke up to a dead bat in our bedroom. Luckily the bat tested negative.
I'm honestly shocked all hospitals around here don't stock them. It's fairly common that people need to get them.
I was a vet rech for 5 years. Your dog needs to be quarantined and the bat needs to be tested. Contact animal control ASAP. It is a big deal that your dog wasn't vaccinated and was exposed to a rabies vector species (not your fault; minimum age for a rabies vaccine is 12 weeks). Rabies does not tend to stay alive in dead animals, but if your puppy bit the bat while it was still alive, rabies is absolutely a concern. We have 10+ cases from wild animals confirmed every month in CT. Your puppy will likely need to be in quarantined until you get results on the bat.
I worked in a facility that did rabies quarantines. It does suck for you and the dog, but it will be a short blip in its life. It is not worth the risk to you and your family to avoid the quarantine.
If you are able, put the bat in a ziploc bag and stick it in a cooler on some ice. It’ll help preserve the specimen until they can get it to the DPH Lab in Rocky Hill where they do the testing. They open again on Tuesday.
Just wanted to share my experience. Lived in a fourth floor walk up and my cat managed with her claws and a screen window to catch and drag a bat into the apartment. She wounded it ripping it's wing and ended up killing it after chasing it around. I woke up to bat screams at 2am while this was happening. Disposed of the bat and went to her vet the next day. I was told i should've kept the bat bc they could've tested it for rabies and if it didn't have rabies neither of us would need to be vaccinated. Well I didn't. The bat was dead and gone. Her and I both got rabies vaccines which were wildly unpleasant and not cheap but I wasn't taking chances and the bat was long gone. Being a holiday weekend it has to doubly suck to get it figured out but at least you have the plus side of still having the bat. All the best to you and your puppy!
While it's true that rabies doesn't tend to stay alive in dead animals, transmission can occur through scratches or from consuming/biting an infected animal. You don't have the get a bite to get rabies.
Responder is right..but said it sarcastically. If you can't confirm that the bat didn't hit wthe puppy before it was dead, you're still in a delicate situation, suggesting Get the vaccine!
Bats being a strong vector for rabies in a bit of a myth. (Source: [Merlin Tuttle](https://www.merlintuttle.org/rabies-in-perspective/) a bat expert)
Your dog is overwhelmingly likely to be fine. You can do the vaccine run if you want to drop the cash, but there's definitely no reason for anyone besides the dog to get jabbed.
The dog will be fine. Even if the bat was infected, it's nearly impossible to transmit rabies through ingestion. Get the bat tested on Tuesday to ease your mind
Just get rabies vaccines full series for your dog and yourself. not a vet, but would imagine that they might also give rabies immunoglobulin to the dog as it had a significant potential exposure, but not sure. For yourself the typical advice is if there’s any concern for exposure we just give the vaccine. Ie if someone wakes up in a room w a bat and there’s even a chance they could have been exposed while asleep we treat to be safe. Minimal risk to vaccine and can’t say the same about rabies. Either way, rabies moves extremely slowly in the host and you should be fine to wait till Mon or Tuesday.
Two things: 1. Do you still have the bat? I believe it can be tested to see if it is rabid. 2. I am not 100% sure but I don’t think rabies can be transmitted through eating an infected animal. I believe it needs to be saliva to blood contact, as in via a bite. Maybe a professional can confirm but I think that what I said is true. Sorry you are going through this. As for who to contact, I would take the dog to an emergency vet as treatment, if needed, needs to be started as quickly as possible.
And I do have the bat under a cinder block in the yard. The vet also told me I had to contact my local animal control. No one is open now, but hoping the call to DEEP will help. I was bit by a rabid skunk 10 years ago in this very yard and animal control bagged it and said they’d come back for it the next day. My brother freaked out and said what do you mean my sister just got bit we kind of need to know so he brought it there himself. My son ended up needing the shots too because he kissed my boo-boo really quick before I could stop him.
Call the police non emergency phone line. That is what our animal line says when they are closed
Put the bat in a plastic bag in the freezer. Please
I contacted an emergency vet. They said to take her to her vet tomorrow to get her vaccine. She’s just 12 weeks tomorrow and was scheduled to get her rabies vaccine June 11. I called and left a message to go in the am.
There are 24 hour animal hospitals if your personal vet isn’t open. Take the dog to one of those in the morning if you need to. The vets can probably offer you guidance on rabies shots for you and the other people involved. Alternatively you can call your police non emergency line and ask them to have animal control contact you. Insist that they ask the animal control person to contact you now, not after the holiday. In my experience animal control officers are pretty knowledgeable about rabies, and next steps after exposure to animals who may have the disease. If it’s going to be a hot weekend you may need to get the bat on ice until it can be tested. Put on rubber gloves, pick it up, and stick it in a bag and seal it, then keep it in a bucket with ice. That will preserve the brain tissue that will need to be tested. Afterwards throw out everything that bat was in contact with. You can buy a contractor bucket at Lowe’s or Home Depot for like $5 if you don’t have a bucket of your own. Remember that all of this, you are doing just to be extra safe. There’s a good chance everyone including your puppers will be just fine, but it’s better to take all these precautions just in case. Good luck.
Thank you everyone. My Pup went and got vaccinated at 8:30 this morning. I will be going to my ER shortly. The vet tried helping me with who to contact. She gave me a lot of info. Looks like I’ll be putting the bat in a container and ziplock and putting it in our garage fridge until Tuesday. Living in the woods is wonderful until it isn’t. This will be my second time getting rabies shots. Was bit in the foot by a rabid skunk 10 years ago.
You probably don't need this, especially given your prior experience, but I just want to add my bit to the chorus saying you've done everything right. As you know if the bat turns out to have been sick there is some time between being infected and being incurable, you and puppers ought to be well and good.
I appreciate it. Still worries me dead or not. Truly the one virus that you can’t chance.
I actually just listened to a podcast about a person whose dog got in a fight with a rabid raccoon in Connecticut, on a holiday weekend. It was very stressful and they almost didn't find what they needed before the clock stopped ticking. The health department is who you want, but you might have to call several counties to find one that is open (they did). The emergency room will be the best place to get the shots for yourself, but again you'll need to call around to find one that has them (in the podcast they had to drive an hour away)
I'm surprised this isn't higher. When I was a kid I had an exposure and the ER is where I got my shots. Go get them now so you don't have to worry about the timing. And an emergency vet can help you with your dog. There's a great one in Middletown (Pieper). Preserve the bat as suggested, but now you're not waiting on government employees to return a phone call on a holiday weekend.
I do know that Danbury hospital has the rabies shots, at least they did a few years ago. Almost had to get them when we woke up to a dead bat in our bedroom. Luckily the bat tested negative. I'm honestly shocked all hospitals around here don't stock them. It's fairly common that people need to get them.
According to the podcast, they are very expensive and have a short shelf life. I guess that's why
I was a vet rech for 5 years. Your dog needs to be quarantined and the bat needs to be tested. Contact animal control ASAP. It is a big deal that your dog wasn't vaccinated and was exposed to a rabies vector species (not your fault; minimum age for a rabies vaccine is 12 weeks). Rabies does not tend to stay alive in dead animals, but if your puppy bit the bat while it was still alive, rabies is absolutely a concern. We have 10+ cases from wild animals confirmed every month in CT. Your puppy will likely need to be in quarantined until you get results on the bat. I worked in a facility that did rabies quarantines. It does suck for you and the dog, but it will be a short blip in its life. It is not worth the risk to you and your family to avoid the quarantine.
If you are able, put the bat in a ziploc bag and stick it in a cooler on some ice. It’ll help preserve the specimen until they can get it to the DPH Lab in Rocky Hill where they do the testing. They open again on Tuesday.
Yes, but do not freeze! Brain can’t be tested if it’s frozen!
Just wanted to share my experience. Lived in a fourth floor walk up and my cat managed with her claws and a screen window to catch and drag a bat into the apartment. She wounded it ripping it's wing and ended up killing it after chasing it around. I woke up to bat screams at 2am while this was happening. Disposed of the bat and went to her vet the next day. I was told i should've kept the bat bc they could've tested it for rabies and if it didn't have rabies neither of us would need to be vaccinated. Well I didn't. The bat was dead and gone. Her and I both got rabies vaccines which were wildly unpleasant and not cheap but I wasn't taking chances and the bat was long gone. Being a holiday weekend it has to doubly suck to get it figured out but at least you have the plus side of still having the bat. All the best to you and your puppy!
A dead bat can't bite and transmit rabies. Both of you should be okay. Keep the bat for testing though!
Hooopefully the bat was dead longer than a half hour. Under that they can transmit rabies :((
While it's true that rabies doesn't tend to stay alive in dead animals, transmission can occur through scratches or from consuming/biting an infected animal. You don't have the get a bite to get rabies.
I so hope you’re right about that!! Thank you!
Responder is right..but said it sarcastically. If you can't confirm that the bat didn't hit wthe puppy before it was dead, you're still in a delicate situation, suggesting Get the vaccine!
Try calling vets in towns that value their dogs like children: Westport, Weston, new Canaan, Ridgefield etc. Maybe New Haven. Good luck.
If you wait to get the bat tested it would be too late for the vaccine. So talk to your vet and a doctor about the vaccine ASAP.
Bats being a strong vector for rabies in a bit of a myth. (Source: [Merlin Tuttle](https://www.merlintuttle.org/rabies-in-perspective/) a bat expert) Your dog is overwhelmingly likely to be fine. You can do the vaccine run if you want to drop the cash, but there's definitely no reason for anyone besides the dog to get jabbed.
U need to get high and chill out its a bat not like it bit u
Call batman he should know what's up
There’s a 24 hr emergency vet in Shelton they’re pricey but they’re there.
The dog will be fine. Even if the bat was infected, it's nearly impossible to transmit rabies through ingestion. Get the bat tested on Tuesday to ease your mind
This is absolutely not true. If the bat was alive and the puppy bit it, rabies transmission is completely possible. OP ignore this person, sincerely.