Protect Your Pets and Family Against Rabies

Rabies has a fatality rate of 100%. This is the highest fatality rate of any infectious disease known to man. With World Rabies Day (28 September 2024) coming up, we wanted to spread awareness so that pets and their parents can stay safe.

 

About Rabies

Rabies is transmitted to animals and humans via saliva through bites or scratches from an infected mammal, affecting the central nervous system. It can also spread via direct contact with mucosa, for example, through the eyes, mouth or open wounds, but this is rare.

Related: 5 Facts About Rabies

 

Rabies Symptoms

With an incubation period of 2-3 months, the initial symptoms include:

  • Headache
  • Fever
  • Sore Throat
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Tingling, pricking or burning sensations at the wound site.

As it moves to the central nervous system, progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops. The symptoms include:

  • Severe agitation
  • Aggressive, uncontrollable behaviour
  • Inability to swallow
  • Excessive salivation
  • Seizures
  • Hydrophobia.

 

Prevention

Vaccination is the most effective form of prevention for protecting your pets. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that their vaccinations are current.

Keep your distance if you are unsure of other animals' vaccination status. Stay away from stray dogs and keep your pets at home if they haven’t yet been vaccinated (between 12 and 16 weeks old).

Related: Vet Advice: Rabies Prevention.

 

How Can You Bite Back?

Educate your friends and family about the risks and how to avoid exposure. They should always inform you if they were attacked by or encountered an animal behaving strangely.

 

Having Pet Insurance from dotsure.co.za can help protect your pets and your pocket with coverage for vaccinations, illness, accidents, and more. Learn more about our Pet Insurance Plans, which are designed to care for your pets.

Rabies is a preventable disease. With proper education and care, we can keep the people and pets around us safe. Here’s to biting back against Rabies!