How concerned about rabies

[Anonymous]

Would you be if trying to bring in a stray? He has a clipped ear but is older. If you managed to keep him in patio for two weeks, would you feel okay enough to touch him? We tried trapping him twice (trap, food in traps for days) on and off but he is too smart.

[Anonymous]

Just get a rabies booster shot. The you don’t need to worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Rabies in this area is incredibly rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just get a rabies booster shot. The you don’t need to worry about it.

For the cat you mean? That's the issue! I can't trap him.

[Anonymous]

Bring him to a walk in clinic and get him vaccinated today or tomorrow and a full exam.

[Anonymous]

Call a vet and ask about parasites and ticks for cats. For stray dogs, it's a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just get a rabies booster shot. The you don’t need to worry about it.

For the cat you mean? That's the issue! I can't trap him.

For yourself.

[Anonymous]

Can I ask why you are trying to bring him in? If he's clipped, it means he's considered an outdoor cat - he's been vaccinated and neutered (or spayed) already.

Does he seem to want to come inside? Or are you worried that he's too old to survive or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask why you are trying to bring him in? If he's clipped, it means he's considered an outdoor cat - he's been vaccinated and neutered (or spayed) already.

Does he seem to want to come inside? Or are you worried that he's too old to survive or something?

^ But so long as he is behaving normally, I would not be worried about rabies.

[Anonymous]

If he has a clipped ear, he’s not a stray - he’s feral. My understanding, at least in the DC area, is that means he was part of a trap-neuter-release program. He’s already been trapped, neutered, probably vaccinated, it was determined he was feral (ie, not adoptable) and so he was released back outside.

That means you should not trap him. Feeding him outdoors is fine, but he’s not going to be a house cat. He’s best off just living as he has been.

You should fact check all of this, but I remember reading about this a few years back.

[Anonymous]

That clipped ear means he has been through a time program. He has probably had at least one rabies vaccine as an adult. I would not worry about rabies unless he was obviously ill. Being a colony cat does not mean that with time and patience he could not adapt to being a house cat. It doesn't even mean that he was never a pet before. If he seems friendly enough that you can get him on your porch and are considering touching him, your chances are good. Nothing about a feral cat says 'touch me'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rabies in this area is incredibly rare.

They find rabid animals in Fairfax County every spring.

[Anonymous]

Leave the cat outside.

A feral cat belongs outside.

It is almost cruel that you are trying to capture this unwilling subject to bring him inside.

[Anonymous]

As pps have said, a tipped ear means he was/is a colony cat who went through a TNR program. The only reason to try and catch him is if he’s not safe outdoors, either because he’s no longer with his colony or because he’s too socialized/not feral. Sounds like it isn’t the latter since you’ve had so much trouble trapping him.

Yes, if you kept him confined to your patio for two weeks you can be sure he’s ok. State health department quarantine for rabies is 10 days…if he’s not showing any symptoms at that point (honestly, it’s more like he’s still alive as if he were rabid he probably wouldn’t be by then) then he’s fine. But unless you have serious concerns about his safety I wouldn’t bother trying to trap him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As pps have said, a tipped ear means he was/is a colony cat who went through a TNR program. The only reason to try and catch him is if he’s not safe outdoors, either because he’s no longer with his colony or because he’s too socialized/not feral. Sounds like it isn’t the latter since you’ve had so much trouble trapping him.

Yes, if you kept him confined to your patio for two weeks you can be sure he’s ok. State health department quarantine for rabies is 10 days…if he’s not showing any symptoms at that point (honestly, it’s more like he’s still alive as if he were rabid he probably wouldn’t be by then) then he’s fine. But unless you have serious concerns about his safety I wouldn’t bother trying to trap him.

+1 for all of this. If the cat is that hard to catch, he doesn’t want to come inside.

I live in an area with TNR colonies and one of the reasons they return the feral cats is that they have determined that cats are territorial, and if you take the cats away, more simply take their place. If you have a neutered colony, they will occupy the territory, but not reproduce.