Quickly handling a 'rabid cat'?
- Thread starter MikeGoob
- Start date
Deaf Smith
New member
FrankenMauser
New member
In the two 'big' cities in this area, air rifles are treated the same as firearms, when it comes to discharging within city limits. So, if there's risk of a violation and fine, one might as well go with a rimfire (assuming there's a good backstop for either option, of course).
When I lived in the Salt Lake City area, one of my neighbors didn't want to use a pellet rifle or rimfire to take out problem animals, due to poor backstops and city ordinance. Though still prohibited, he opted for a 'weak' crossbow, instead.
I don't advocate violating local ordinance. But, sometimes, people choose to do so for various reasons (up to and including Animal Control refusing to do anything).
I live in a pretty small "rural suburb" where discharging an airgun inside city limits is a citable offense.
Prior to that, I lived in a city in a rural county of TX where discharging an airgun inside city limits was the identical offense to discharging a firearm inside city limits.
Laws don't have to make sense.
Prior to that, I lived in a city in a rural county of TX where discharging an airgun inside city limits was the identical offense to discharging a firearm inside city limits.
Laws don't have to make sense.
Handling aggressive cats and/or dogs.
I understand that this will take some prior planning and prep. I was a youngster on a paper route that required the paper to be delivered onto the porch or into a container on the porch. Some people on the route had aggressive dogs that they refused to confine. I found that a small spray bottle filled with a bit of household ammonia in water, about half and half, was an extremely effective deterrent. I was only bitten once on that route, but never again after deploying the ammonia. Even the most aggressive dogs went into the back yard when i came around.
Just a tip....if you encounter a skunk in the daytime it is most likely rabid. Rabies is very common in skunks.
I understand that this will take some prior planning and prep. I was a youngster on a paper route that required the paper to be delivered onto the porch or into a container on the porch. Some people on the route had aggressive dogs that they refused to confine. I found that a small spray bottle filled with a bit of household ammonia in water, about half and half, was an extremely effective deterrent. I was only bitten once on that route, but never again after deploying the ammonia. Even the most aggressive dogs went into the back yard when i came around.
Just a tip....if you encounter a skunk in the daytime it is most likely rabid. Rabies is very common in skunks.
FireForged
New member
Good lord people.. do you really need a gun to deal with a cat. There is no way I am going to discharge a firearm in a neighborhood to deal with such a minor nuisance.
I used to have a German Shepherd, he wasn't huge but I can't imagine any domestic cat giving him a serious challenge, rabid or feral. When I lived in a rural area I kept a single shot 12 gauge with a stock mounted shell holder full of #4 stashed in the garage mostly for rabid animals and aggressive loose dogs.
Thanks for all the feedback.
My friend took a broom to this cat and it just got worse trying to bite claw anything it could. Rolling around on the ground, playing dead in the gutter. Many of her friends who heard about it suspect the animal was rabid.
Rabies shots are no picnic for humans -- I heard there is a high risk for brain damage? This is pretty much the reason I don't want to try to beat one with a broom, and would rather try something with less personal contact. I have pepper spray/gel would a rabid animal care about pepper spray?
My friend took a broom to this cat and it just got worse trying to bite claw anything it could. Rolling around on the ground, playing dead in the gutter. Many of her friends who heard about it suspect the animal was rabid.
Rabies shots are no picnic for humans -- I heard there is a high risk for brain damage? This is pretty much the reason I don't want to try to beat one with a broom, and would rather try something with less personal contact. I have pepper spray/gel would a rabid animal care about pepper spray?
Any medication carries some level of risk. The more serious risks from rabies shots appear to be roughly similar to that of flu shots but so unlikely that no clear connection can be established. I can't find any sources that suggest a "high risk" of any serious side effect for rabies shots.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/rabies.html
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/specific_groups/doctors/adverse_reaction.html
Cosmodragoon
New member
Please be careful around potentially sick animals. Rabies is just one of a variety of illnesses that can potentially be spread to human beings, not just by scratches and bites but also from exposure to bodily fluids or even inhalation of aerosolized tissues. (People have actually caught tularemia from inhaling the mist after running over rabbits with a lawnmower.) You should not approach a "sick" animal unless it is absolutely necessary. If you have to dispatch one, proper precautions should be taken for cleanup. Having a professional handle it is sound advice when possible.
Mannlicher
New member
ammo crafter
Here in fairly rural N. Central FL, I dispatch feral cats, (and roaming domestic felines) with my trusty Remington 721t bolt .22 rifle. Simply deadly. I can't abide a cat in my yard.
ain't that the truth?
Here in fairly rural N. Central FL, I dispatch feral cats, (and roaming domestic felines) with my trusty Remington 721t bolt .22 rifle. Simply deadly. I can't abide a cat in my yard.
Veterinarian here.
The best diagnostic sample needed to diagnose rabies is a certain part of the brain. Try to keep the head intact when you are dealing with such a situation.
Bite wounds are the primary means of transmitting the rabies virus, because the virus reaches the brain and the salivary glands at about the same time. Other transmission would require somewhat fresh saliva on a part (like a claw) that punctured the skin.
Rabies is a virus that does rapid brain damage in somewhat random parts of the brain, so almost any symptom of brain damage can be rabies. The vicious animal is prototypical, but so-called "dumb rabies" - decreasing responsive that progresses to coma and death - is quite common, and, in some studies, more common that the aggressive form.
In recent decades, there have been more cases of rabies in cats than in dogs, probably because vaccination rates are lower.
I've had rabies vaccines - not bad at all.
The best diagnostic sample needed to diagnose rabies is a certain part of the brain. Try to keep the head intact when you are dealing with such a situation.
Bite wounds are the primary means of transmitting the rabies virus, because the virus reaches the brain and the salivary glands at about the same time. Other transmission would require somewhat fresh saliva on a part (like a claw) that punctured the skin.
Rabies is a virus that does rapid brain damage in somewhat random parts of the brain, so almost any symptom of brain damage can be rabies. The vicious animal is prototypical, but so-called "dumb rabies" - decreasing responsive that progresses to coma and death - is quite common, and, in some studies, more common that the aggressive form.
In recent decades, there have been more cases of rabies in cats than in dogs, probably because vaccination rates are lower.
I've had rabies vaccines - not bad at all.
It really bothers me that so many responses here involve killing any and every cat that presents a risk, or even walks into the wrong place.
If a really aggressive dachshund was tearing into a cat, looking crazy and out of control, would you take a shotgun after the dachshund, or start taking bets on who would win?
Come on people, these things are pets. Most of the "feral" cats you see are just free range pets or pets that are turned loose every few hours. In most areas, it is not a crime to let a cat roam, and just like killing a dog, shooting someone's cat will result in a jail sentence.
I'd like to point something out. It threw itself to the ground and pretended to play dead? You really missed on that one. that is how a cat fights. a dog has strong teeth and powerful jaws, a cats teeth are for killing small animals and rodents. they fight with their claws. watch a cat fight, it slaps with claws at the face. When a cat is really serious and confident, it rolls to its back and dares his opponent to strike at the vulnerable spot. When it is attacked, it grabs with front claws and bites, holding on while those hind feet, which are truly powerful, beat at the opponent's belly. The can do it with closed claws,imagine someone hammering at a soft spot on your body. They can also use the claws, imagine being disemboweled with fish hooks.
Don't any of you keep mace on hand?
Think about this. If you encountered a free roaming Shi Tzu that was going after a cat, would you kill the Shi Tzu?
Usually, the dog initiates the fight. In fact, since the beginning of the fight wasn't witnessed, why are we saying that a cat attacked a dog three times it's size and must have been rabid?
If a really aggressive dachshund was tearing into a cat, looking crazy and out of control, would you take a shotgun after the dachshund, or start taking bets on who would win?
Come on people, these things are pets. Most of the "feral" cats you see are just free range pets or pets that are turned loose every few hours. In most areas, it is not a crime to let a cat roam, and just like killing a dog, shooting someone's cat will result in a jail sentence.
I'd like to point something out. It threw itself to the ground and pretended to play dead? You really missed on that one. that is how a cat fights. a dog has strong teeth and powerful jaws, a cats teeth are for killing small animals and rodents. they fight with their claws. watch a cat fight, it slaps with claws at the face. When a cat is really serious and confident, it rolls to its back and dares his opponent to strike at the vulnerable spot. When it is attacked, it grabs with front claws and bites, holding on while those hind feet, which are truly powerful, beat at the opponent's belly. The can do it with closed claws,imagine someone hammering at a soft spot on your body. They can also use the claws, imagine being disemboweled with fish hooks.
Don't any of you keep mace on hand?
Think about this. If you encountered a free roaming Shi Tzu that was going after a cat, would you kill the Shi Tzu?
Usually, the dog initiates the fight. In fact, since the beginning of the fight wasn't witnessed, why are we saying that a cat attacked a dog three times it's size and must have been rabid?
Just some helpful information.
Va had three confirmed cases of cat rabies last year forms due reports, raccoons showed up over ten times as many cases. Think about all of the cats who go into shelters or are impounded, all quarantined to test for rabies. The only time a raccoon is tested is when it's either killed or found dead.
Texas, that huge, wide open state, only had two.
Stay away from bats and raccoons.
Statistics from cdc showed about three Hunan deaths from rabies infection annually.
Va had three confirmed cases of cat rabies last year forms due reports, raccoons showed up over ten times as many cases. Think about all of the cats who go into shelters or are impounded, all quarantined to test for rabies. The only time a raccoon is tested is when it's either killed or found dead.
Texas, that huge, wide open state, only had two.
Stay away from bats and raccoons.
Statistics from cdc showed about three Hunan deaths from rabies infection annually.