Rabies in dogs: how it manifests itself, incubation period and treatment

Dog rabies photo

Rabies is a very dangerous and fatal disease in dogs . The animal becomes infected with a virus that causes acute attacks and damages the nervous system. As a result, the dog may be afraid of water, nervousness appears, and soon muscle paralysis, suffocation and death occur. That is why it is important to recognize the disease in time.

What is rabies

Rabies is a dangerous zooanthroponotic (common to animals and humans) viral disease; characterized by an acute course and severe damage to the central nervous system. From the moment the first symptoms of the disease appear in the animal, there is no hope for recovery.

The causative agent is an RNA virus of the rhabdovirus family. There are natural (most pathogenic for mammals) and fixed rabies viruses. Rabies in dogs and cats is usually caused by a virus serotype. Resistant to low temperatures (at which it is only preserved) and to chemical disinfectants. In decomposing material, the virus dies after 15 days. At 70°C it quickly loses activity.

Routes of infection

The spreaders of rabies in the city are yard and stray dogs and cats, in nature - foxes, wolves, raccoon dogs and other warm-blooded predators. You can become infected through saliva, blood and other infected body fluids. If saliva gets into your mouth, nose or eyes, the virus will likely find a microcrack through which it will enter the body.

Example of a mad dog

There is always a risk of infection, even if the dog does not go for walks and uses the litter box at home: a sick mouse, rat or other animal carrying the virus can get into the apartment.

Incubation period

Today, rabies is a very common disease among stray animals. Dogs become infected from carriers of the infection, and become a hotbed of the virus in places where there are many domestic animals and people.

The danger lies in the fact that the virus remains latent for quite a long period of time. The incubation period for rabies can last up to three months. Typically, the disease may not manifest itself in any way for 3-6 weeks.

In an infected dog, the rabies virus is detected in the saliva 5 to 10 days before the first clinical symptoms appear. Therefore, you should protect your pet from contact with stray dogs.

It is worth noting that in puppies, infection usually manifests itself within a week, but in adult dogs, a latent course of the disease is possible even up to 1 year.

Incubation period

The time from the moment the virus enters the pet’s body until clinical signs appear is called the incubation period. In most cases, its duration varies from one to two weeks.

Important! In veterinary practice, isolated cases have been recorded in which the first symptoms appeared a year after infection.

A short incubation period is observed in small kittens, as well as adults after bites in the head and neck area, accompanied by significant damage to soft tissues.

During this phase of the disease, the virus migrates at a speed of 3 mm per hour along the nerve endings to the spinal cord and brain, simultaneously affecting the salivary glands and beginning to be released into the external environment with saliva. From this moment on, the pet is able to infect creatures that come into contact with it.

Symptoms and clinical signs of rabies

Symptoms of rabies photo

At an early stage (from 2 to 10 days), you can notice changes in the animal’s behavior. Symptoms of rabies in dogs include the following:

Vomit
Muscle weakness
Apathy
Fever and chills
Fear of light
Fear of people
Anxiety and fear
Impaired swallowing reflexes (pain when swallowing or reluctance to swallow)
Diarrhea
Refusal to eat, digestive system disorders.

Clinical signs of rabies infection appear after 3-8 weeks. The speed and strength of the manifestation of clinical signs depends on: the density of the nerve elements at the site of the bite; depth and distance of the source of infection from the head. The closer it is to the head, the more rapidly the disease develops, and the brighter the symptoms will be.

Forms of the disease

Based on the signs and symptoms of dog rabies, not only stages, but also forms of the disease are distinguished.

Veterinary medicine distinguishes three main forms:

Violent (aggressive)

Rampage in the early stages. In this case, the dog behaves unusually. Some dogs hide in corners and shy away from people, pick at food, but are happy to pounce on inedible objects. Periods of caressing and licking the owner's hands alternate with aggression, anxiety and mood swings. The pet may continuously scratch and bite the affected area.

It is important to recognize a spasm of the pharyngeal muscles. This is a typical symptom of rabies, which means that the dog cannot even swallow water and uncontrollable salivation appears. Gradually the animal loses its voice. The animal becomes dumb, it may develop clouding of the cornea, strabismus, as well as paralysis of muscles and limbs. The animal dies when the virus paralyzes the respiratory system or heart muscle.

Silent (paralytic)

Silent form

With the paralytic form of rabies. The dog is sick very quietly, and therefore does not cause any suspicion among the owners. Usually the animal becomes very affectionate, does not want to leave the owner, and constantly licks the hands and face. This is dangerous because a person can become infected with rabies by coming into contact with the saliva of a sick animal. Obvious symptoms of the disease include prolapse of the tongue from the mouth, drooling and inability to swallow. Paralysis very quickly covers the dog's entire body, and death usually occurs within 3-5 days.

Atypical

Atypical form. It is characterized by the fact that the dog begins to vomit and have diarrhea. The disease progresses in such a way that it can be confused with gastritis and colitis, and therefore diagnosing rabies can be extremely difficult.

In dogs and cats, there are mainly two forms of the disease: violent and silent.

There are three more forms of rabies, which are very rare and have been observed in isolated cases throughout the history of disease registration:

Returnable (remittive)
Depressed
Abortive

How many days does a rabid animal live?

After the incubation period, the infected animal shows signs of rabies. If the disease manifests itself, you should not approach the sick animal yourself and check for symptoms. It is possible to harm yourself if your pet attacks and bites. At a minimum, it will simply scare you, at a maximum, it will infect you. There is an urgent need to call a veterinarian to your home; the doctor knows how to deal with a sick dog.

There are three forms of rabies - violent, silent and atypical - the symptoms are similar, the lifespan of a sick dog varies from 2-4 to 11 days. Then the infected animal dies.

Diagnostics

As already mentioned, rabies may not appear for a long time. Also, the symptoms are very similar to those of other serious diseases, such as:

Nervous plague
Meningitis
Encephalomyelitis
Aujeszky's disease (Pseudorabies)

A preliminary diagnosis is made on the basis of clinical symptoms, anamnesis (questioning of the owner) and data on the rabies situation in the area where the dog was allegedly infected. Epizootic situation data is a complete collection of information on rabies infection: whether similar cases have been registered and how many, whether rabies has been recorded here at all, how long ago and whether it exists now.

The diagnosis must be confirmed by laboratory tests. One of the fastest and most reliable methods for laboratory diagnosis of rabies is the immunofluorescent method.

Treatment

To the great regret of many dog owners, rabies cannot be treated. Typically, the animal is quarantined and kept there for up to ten days. During this time, the veterinarian makes a diagnosis using tests and monitors the dynamics of the disease.

Very often, sick and suspected animals are euthanized. This is because keeping and treating infected dogs is a risky endeavor that can lead to infection (or even death) of people and other animals.

First aid for bites

Considering that after the first symptoms of rabies appear, treatment is impossible, it is necessary to take measures immediately after bites by such animals to prevent the development of pathology.

If a dog bites a person

Rabies in humans is also a fatal disease. If you or your loved ones are bitten by a dog that shows signs of rabies, you need to urgently seek medical help and have time to carry out the necessary treatment procedures.

Procedure for a bite:

There is no need to stop the bleeding immediately - let it drain a little (if large blood vessels are not damaged)
Wash the wound with a solution of laundry soap (10 parts of water + 1 part of soap) for at least 10 minutes. After this, treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide or brilliant green and apply a bandage. Rinsing makes sense if it was done within 1 hour after the dog bite.
After treatment, you need to go to the nearest medical facility as soon as possible and describe to the doctor in detail how the bite occurred.
Complete the full course of rabies vaccination prescribed by your doctor. Now they give about 6-7 vaccinations in the shoulder. For six months after vaccination, you should not drink alcohol, expose the body to overheating, hypothermia and fatigue (factors that additionally burden the immune system must be excluded).

If a person does not seek medical help before the first clinical signs of rabies appear, they will no longer be able to be saved.

How does the disease develop in humans?

Infection from the bites of dogs suffering from rabies occurs in several stages. The virus first enters the human body through the saliva of an infected animal. With deep wounds, it immediately penetrates the bloodstream. After this, the incubation period begins, which can last from 2 weeks to 6 months. In rare cases, the first symptoms appear within one year.

After completion of the incubation period, the disease proceeds in 3 stages. Each of them is characterized by a set of acute symptoms. At the first stage of the onset of the disease, signs of damage to the central nervous system increase, as the virus rapidly multiplies and spreads along the nerve pathways. This stage takes from 1 to 3 days. During this period of development of pathology, the patient may be concerned about:

pain at the site of the bite, even if the skin has completely healed;
irritability;
headache;
fatigue;
vomit;
rapid weight loss;
fever;
muscle pain;
increased body temperature;
restless sleep.

The second stage of rabies lasts from 3 to 5 days. During this period of disease development, the patient's condition rapidly deteriorates. The following signs of inflammatory damage to the tissues of the central and peripheral nervous system appear:

spasms at the sight of water and food;
rabies;
photophobia;
convulsions from sharp sounds;
panic attacks;
increased aggressiveness;
hallucinations;
rave.

During this period of development of pathology, the patient is potentially dangerous both for himself and for others. He can get into fights and bite, hitting his head and other parts of his body on various surfaces. When the pathology passes into the third phase of development, a person suffering from rabies calms down. He develops rapidly progressive muscle paralysis. After this, a disturbance in the heartbeat and breathing occurs. This disease, even with targeted treatment, is fatal. The average life expectancy of people with rabies is 12 days.

What to do to prevent rabies?

If there is even the slightest hint of a viral infection, then you should immediately contact a veterinary clinic. The animal will have to be isolated from other pets and people. Usually the dog is under observation for about 10 days. If an animal is diagnosed with rabies, the animal will most likely have to be euthanized.

All dog owners should be aware that pets need to be vaccinated at an early age. Usually this is not a problem. A vaccine is the best protection for a dog. Injections are given to animals every year, but, unfortunately, this still does not protect against the likelihood of infection 100%. Even if the dog was vaccinated as a puppy, and then you regularly repeated the vaccination procedure, there are still risks.

Often the danger lies in improper storage of vaccines, as well as if the dog was injected during the incubation period of the disease. Fortunately, such cases are quite rare. Typically, rabies vaccines protect pets 97-98% of the time.

In any case, at the slightest suspicion of rabies, you must immediately contact a veterinarian

Video on the topic

Have you encountered rabies? Leave questions for the veterinarian in the comments.

Life expectancy of a dog with rabies

The average lifespan of a dog with rabies is a week. But even with the classic, violent form of this disease, a sick dog can last much longer.

The following factors may influence this:

Place of introduction of the virus, i.e. bite site. If the wound is in the tail area, it may take more than a month from infection to death.

Virus form. Scientists have proven for several years that many forms of the virus circulate in nature. Thus, among bats there are both the strongest and weakest strains. Presumably, the abortive variety of rabies can be explained precisely by the introduction of the most weakened forms of the pathogen into the dog’s body. Accordingly, with a violent type of rabies caused by a weak type of pathogen, a dog can live up to one month (but this is still unlikely).

There are some obstacles in the way of the virus. Collagen scars and even sites of inflammatory reactions can act as such. In such cases, several months may pass from the moment of the bite of a sick animal to the appearance of the first symptoms.

The number of viral units that enter the animal’s body during a bite plays an important role. So, if the dog is very lucky and very few viruses get into the wound, the disease may not develop at all . And such cases, by the way, have been described more than once. Unfortunately, it happens much more often that with small amounts of the pathogen, the disease simply develops more slowly. It may take two or three months from the moment of the bite to the appearance of the first symptoms.

However, there are other factors that influence the life expectancy of a sick dog. The state of an animal’s immunity has virtually nothing to do with the rate of development of the disease. In most cases, this is true, but in the case of recurrent rabies, a dog with an initially stronger immune system will survive much longer. There are even cases described when such dogs lived longer than a month.

But we have to end on a pessimistic note. We would like to emphasize once again that after the appearance of clinical symptoms, the animal is doomed in any case. And in order to both protect others and for the sake of simple humanism, a sick pet has to be euthanized.

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