Started Rabies shots.

spotstalkshoot

spotstalkshoot

Well-known member
Two weeks ago today, I noticed slight swelling and itchy feeling below left eye. It continued for almost a week and numb feeling developed down my cheek. By the following Saturday I had some pain at the corner of my nose and jaw bone. After Urgent care visits Saturday,Sunday and told allergy and Cellulitis. The pain had spread from eye down to lower jaw,all on the left side. An emergency room visit added a 2nd antibiotics. Pain subsided by middle Tuesday, some numbness returned between antibiotics doses. Was told to return to doctor. This doctor was concerned because I had handled coyote 4 days before start of symptoms. She had contacted the CDC, I was told I have two options CT and more blood work or start Rabies protocols. I chose the first as rabies is virus and should not have been a response to antibiotics.
Coyote contact was the recovery of two wounded coyote shot the Friday and Saturday before Thursday's symptoms, I tracked them and shot one with pistol,one shotgun and one in between with rifle that was bedded out in the open near where I thought the wounded coyote would be.(shot that one to cut down tracking time as the wind had covered most of sign, this was on Monday). Both wounded coyotes both had rear leg entrance and exit wounds in the pelvic bone area.

After CDC got involved and blood work and CT results were inconclusive, I was told that I had to start the Rabies protocols and have a brain MRI. No lesions or sign of any brain issues. Today I am waiting at home not feeling great. The infectious diseases and neurological doctors are going to contact me for visits today with them.
Please be careful handling coyote, I DID NOT SUSTAIN A BITE OR STRATCH WOUND,all I did was finish off two probably septic wounded animals and OPEN THEIR MOUTH TO LOOP MY DRAG ROPE WITH BARE HANDS. I have handled (thousands of trapped and shot animals) the only real connection I can make is after dragging out the first coyote, while tracking the second I was in brush and snow covered willows and got poked and stuck by branches several times,twice I REMOVED MY MITTENS AND CHECKED MY LEFT EYE FOR BLOOD. I had not washed my hands after handling the coyote,because, well we are out hunting. Who washes their hands during the hunt.
I will update as I can, this has has been wearing me down and I thought I should share, as a reminder that some situations require some extra precautions be followed.
 
It's not likely rabies. If it is, by the time symptoms show up it is way too late. Besides, you are shooting animals coming to the call and not wandering mindlessly. A rabid coyote is not interested in food and shows no fear of people. The rabies virus is in the saliva. I'd be more concerned about all the fleas & ticks they carry that start jumping/crawling off as soon as the coyote starts to cool off.
 
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sorry to hear what you are having to go through.

what does a series of rabies shots consist of these days? no longer a bunch of injections in the stomach are they?

hope you get healed up real fast man.
 
Great write up and great message. No matter what the disease be careful handling wild animals. I am just as bad about it as everyone else. I hope things get better for you real soon.
 
I hope you were not exposed to rabies. When you start feeling symptoms from rabies, survival is rare.

I noticed you were from MN. Here is a link to the MN State Health Dept Rabies Statistics.

There has not been a coyote testing positive for rabies in MN in over 13 years. You were probably not exposed to rabies and may find it was a tick bite or something else.

A good thing about getting treated for rabies is that you will have immunity to the disease for a long time. I was treated for rabies for prevention since I used to do animal control work. After I went through the treatment, my blood titer was still effective against rabies 30 years later. A few years ago, I had an exposure to rabies by getting bitten by a bat and just received a booster shot. I've been neutered too, but so far no distemper shots.
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Please let us know when they figure out the problem. Hang in there, stay positive, and get well soon!



 
Years ago I contracted Tularemia when I poked a knife point into my finger while skinning a mink. My finger swelled and hurt like heck. Could be that? My Doc didn't know what it was but my fur buyer sure nuff did - lol. I think I was put on antibiotics...
 
I am also not to concerned that it could be Rabies, I think more they cta since they couldn't id the infection. Rabies spreads about 1cm a day. The nerve issues also make Rabies prevention a priority. Often wildlife personnel will utilize Rabies vaccination. More specialists to see tomorrow. Today much better than earlier in the week. Thanks for reading.
 
Not just cta, more like better safe than sorry.
Look at it this way, now you don't have to worry about contacting rabies for awhile!
If I remember right the old rabies shots were very painful, be glad you didn't have to go through them.
Good to hear that you are feeling better.
 
Truth about rabies: Its incubation period is a minimum of 1 month or longer depending on where you got bitten. Could you contract rabies from a coyote, yes, but like was said earlier you killed coyotes that were behaving normally coming to a call. Also, the clinical signs started 4 days after exposure which in and of itself rules out rabies.The problem is that most of the medical profession is poorly educated on it unless they have been through a real confirmed exposure. The rule is if you have been exposed to a wild animal, you get treated for it because it is a disease that is 100% preventable and is 99.9% fatal.

As far as there not being confirmed cases of rabies in coyotes, that's a misnomer. The only way a coyote would be confirmed with rabies is if it walked up around people to die. Most rabid wild animals die in the woods and not around people to submit their brains for testing.

The major take home message here is if you see an animal acting obviously strange, stay away from it!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: HellgateIt's not likely rabies. If it is, by the time symptoms show up it is way too late. Besides, you are shooting animals coming to the call and not wandering mindlessly. A rabid coyote is not interested in food and shows no fear of people. The rabies virus is in the saliva. I'd be more concerned about all the fleas & ticks they carry that start jumping/crawling off as soon as the coyote starts to cool off.

I agree with this, I've had the pre-exposure shots because my Rottweiler smoked an infected skunk after I hit it with my 9mm AR, only way to keep him alive, even with his current rabies shots was to quarantine him for 6 months, I learned a lot about the Virus in that time, as the skunk passed by my kids within 5 yards while I was checking calves in early April. The incubation time varies greatly from wild animals to domestic, and by the time it finally does reach the brain and is contagious through the saliva the animal is on it's last leg stumbling, wandering aimlessly, basically incoherent. There is no way, shape or form, that animal would respond consciously to a call, at all.

However, good luck with your outcome, prayers your way buddy.
 
We are currently experiencing a Rabies Epidemic in our gray fox here in Arizona. Several people have been bitten and had to go through the shot series. The gray fox reacts in two ways to the virus one is a lethargic behavior and the other is as a bitter.

I called one in last month. It ran right past the caller and bit my pardner. The fox came around to me and was discouraged with a hand full of Sonoran gravel in the face. I turned on the e caller and the fox attacked it.

The fox seemed perfectly healthy and we took quite a bit of video of it attacking the caller. That video now belongs to FoxPro and they have posted some of it on Facebook.

My pardner got the shots. I killed the fox and it tested positive for rabies.

AGAIN: It appeared in every way to be perfectly healthy.

 
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