That one time I had a rabies scare

It’s a much debated topic in the western world whether or not you should vaccinate children. As a result, some parents have chosen not to, which puts everyone else’s children at risk of getting measles and other viruses that are easily transmitted from one child to another, but extremely easy to prevent if everyone just got the vaccine. It’s an extremely sad development, as Denmark was almost free of measles before this change in mindset occurred in some people…

Measles or the vaccination debate doesn’t have anything to do with the story of how I *maybe* or *maybe not* got rabies in a gorgeous city in Asia, but I decided to include it here to give my view on this very controversial topic. I, for one, am extremely thankful for my parents’ decision to vaccinate me and my brothers when we were children. Who knows what would’ve happened if they hadn’t!

Since I’m often out travelling to places with diseases such as hepatitis, Japanese encephalitis, TBE and tetanus, I’ve made sure to get those shots as well. Rabies, however, had never even crossed my mind.

Rabies is a disease that causes inflammation of the brain in mammals, including humans. The disease is animal borne, but can be transmitted to humans via a bite or lick on damaged skin. Once you get the symptoms, your life is basically over. The chance of surviving rabies is almost 100 % if you get the right treatment straight away after a bite or lick, but the chance of surviving once you get the symptoms is next to 0 % – and the symptoms can take seven years to show!

This is the story of how I may or may not have contracted rabies from a precious street cat on my first day in an Asian city.

The whole thing started when I was walking around the old town, exploring the quaint streets and enjoying my first taste of the country. I was buying a ticket to visit a tourist attraction, when this adorable little cat approached me on the ticket counter. She was so friendly, even a bit overly friendly.

Excited as I was to see a cat, I put down my backpack and sat down on the pavement to stroke the cat. The cat immediately jumped onto my shoulders and started kneading my jacket. She was so cute. I took several pictures, as did other tourists and I was really enjoying the moment. But then the cat suddenly bit me next to my left eye.

It didn’t hurt and it didn’t bleed. It also won’t leave a scar. But because of how strange the cat was acting, I started having fears of getting rabies. The cat overall looked healthy, but never in my life have I met a street cat that was THIS friendly and desperate for strokes and cuddles.

So I went to my hostel and talked to the owners about it, and they said I needed to see a doctor. I went to a 24-hour hospital right next to the hostel, but they weren’t able to help me. Instead, they pointed out a clinic on the map, which I could go to in the morning to get it done.

Crying my eyes out back at the hostel, I contacted a doctor in Denmark via an online chat, and she told me to get the vaccination as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less chance there is for the vaccination to work. The owners of the hostel saw me crying and offered to take me to another 24-hour clinic nearby. They called around and found out that they were able to do the vaccination there.

One of the owners went with me in case she would have to translate what the doctor said, but thankfully he spoke English. He looked at my wound and said it probably wasn’t deep enough to do any harm. But if the cat actually had rabies and had given me a deeper bite, I would’ve been dead already as it was so close to the brain. Even getting vaccinated against rabies before the bite wouldn’t have saved me. I felt sick, but also reassured that I would survive this.

Even though he didn’t think there was much chance of me getting rabies from the bite, he decided that I should undergo a 4-shot rabies treatment by vaccinations over the course of 28 days, having vaccinations on day 0, day 3, day 7, and the last one between day 14 and day 28. He decided that mainly because of how weird the cat was acting and because I begged him to. I wasn’t going to take ANY chances.

That meant that I had to come back to the city later to get my second vaccination, and therefore had to change my travel plans in the country, but thankfully I made it work so I still got to see everything I wanted. And also, my life is much more important than travel plans.

What I went through there was peanuts compared to what I had to go through in Denmark to get the last two shots. To my surprise, getting a vaccination against rabies is not something one can just do in Denmark, like I could back in the Asian city. I had to spend an ENTIRE day (I’m not exaggerating here!) calling my doctor, multiple pharmacies and the Danish State Serum Institute before someone finally told me that it should be my doctor calling around, not me. In the end, my doctor had to call the State Serum Institute and they sent over the vaccines with a taxi so I could get the shot the following day. It had to be on that exact day according to the doctor, so what would’ve happened if they weren’t able to get the vaccine there in time? I was shocked to learn that Denmark’s health care system is not as brilliant as I thought. But at least I got treatment, although the price for the vaccines in Denmark was more than triple of that in the Asian country…. I should’ve just stayed there until the treatment was over!

Getting bit by a cat and having to undergo rabies treatment certainly put a strain on my enjoyment of travelling through the Asian country. Although I loved the country and its people, I was constantly worried and anxious. It was also a really expensive ordeal, costing me over 2000 DKK. But it was worth it as I don’t want to risk my life.

Whenever I travel, I actively seek out cats. I looooooove cats and I find them almost everywhere I go, or they find me. I never imagined that my love for cats would cause me this much trouble. However, I still love cats, including the one that bit me.

My point with this post is NOT to say that you should stop interacting with animals on your travels, instead please DO feed and talk to street cats and dogs (they need it). BUT if you see any animals acting strangely, it’s best to stay away from them and feed them from afar. If you’re as animal crazy as me, consider getting the rabies vaccination before you go. If you do get bit, you’ll only need a booster vaccination at the local doctor, which won’t cost you nearly as much as getting 4 shots of the vaccination like I had to. BUT depending on how severe your bite is, you might need immunoglobulin as well, regardless of whether or not you had the vaccination beforehand. It’s handy to know that not all places store immunoglobulin, including the country where I was bit, so you will need to fly to another destination if you need it to save your life.

And NEVER EVER let an animal you don’t know jump onto your shoulders or come anywhere near your face. It’s too close to the brain, so if that animal does have rabies and bites you on the head, your days are counted, no matter how much immunoglobulin or vaccinations you have or get.

Oh, and if you have children, VACCINATE THEM! Please and thank you.

… so did I actually get rabies from the cat? I will – hopefully – never know.

EDITED 2021: I’ve edited the blog post to remove the city and country of where I was bit. As a reader kindly let me know, my story could have a negative impact on the street cats in the city, and I would hate to be responsible for any harm done to them. I still love cats just as much as before, and I don’t blame this cat for what I had to go through. It was solely my fault for stroking the cat. Please be kind to any street cats (and dogs!) you meet on your travels. Feed them and talk to them, but keep a safe distance to avoid any possible rabies transmission.