The other night when I took Murphy for a walk, we ran into Sophie (a husky/Shepard mix) and her mom Nila. Sophie is one of Murph’s dog pals (actually, I tease him she’s his girlfriend) who’s always happy to see her boyfriend. (Nila’s usually happy to see us too, but she doesn’t jump around and carry on with glee like Sophie does.)
Since we were both just starting our walks, we decided to walk together. That’s when Nila told me that Ms. Tina, who’s Lady’s mom (Lady, a beagle, is Sophie’s best friend and Murph’s other good buddy) knocked on her door the night before to warn her about the fox in the woods at the top of Nila’s cul-de-sac. There’s a clearing down the hill next to those woods that we’ve dubbed our secret garden. Often we take the dogs, either separately or together, to sniff around and play there. But Ms. Tina was concerned the fox was rabid, because she and Lady stumbled across it sitting on the edge of the woods. The fox didn’t move or make any attempt to run for cover. It just watched them.
Ms. Tina’s got a big heart and is a sucker for animals, but she’s also no dummy. She hustled Lady away from there and went to call animal control. She went back a few hours later to see if they’d come but found the fox still there. Except this time it was walking in circles. Barely. It was very weak and seemed disoriented. Her husband called the police, who said they’d contact the proper authorities.
So Nila passed on the warning to me. Which was a good reminder. Because even though Murph gets his rabies shot every year and I know about rabies, I have to admit I might have tried to approach the fox without thinking about rabies first. Which then got me to thinking: “I know foaming at the mouth is a sign, but how else would I know if an animal’s rabid or not?”
So I did some research. There are three phases of rabies, which each lasts two to four days: Prodromal Phase (first phase), Furious Phase (a.k.a. “mad dog phase”), Paralytic Phase (once the animal gets here, death is imminent).
If you see an animal in the first phase, chewing wherever they were bitten, fever, loss of appetite, and subtle behavioral changes are some signs. (With wild animals these first signs would be tricky to pick up unless the wild animal frequents your yard or something.)
The second phase, the Furious Phase, is the one most people commonly associate with rabies symptoms. Eating anything (even things not edible), consistently barking and growling, dilated pupils, disorientation, erratic behavior, aggressive behavior, anxious behavior, not fearing natural enemies (like the fox was displaying with Ms. Tina and Lady), restlessness, roaming, seizures, and trembling all mark signs of the “mad dog phase.”
By the time the Paralytic Phase kicks in, the animal can appear to be choking, dogs drop their lower jaws, can’t swallow (which leads to foaming and drooling saliva), and the jaw, throat, and chewing muscles suffer paralysis. The paralysis eventually spreads to the rest of the body, coma follows, and then death.
A very sad, and from the sounds of it unpleasant, way to go.
So the fox taught me a lesson. I learned all about rabies, and thankfully not the hard way. (Even though they have a rabies vaccine for humans, I hear those shots are painful. No thanks!)
And it also served as a reminder for why I do take Murph to the vet every year for his. I’m thankful there’s a way to help me prevent him from ever having to endure such a disease!
Related Articles:
Vaccinations for Dogs
Vaccinating Your Cat: When and How Often?