Rabies from a possum bite?

I came home and found that my 18 mo. male hade killed a possum. The possum was ripped to shreds but my dog took a few bites. He is up to date on all his shots but i wanted to know even if he has his rabies shot could he get it if the possum had it?

 

I don't believe oppossum are carriers of rabies.

 

Very unlikely, opossum's are very resistant to rabies. However, its possible for any mammal to get rabies. If you ever see an opossum acting unopossum like and charging you, then you have found the exception.

 

If your dog is vaccinated he should be fine, with the exception of a direct bite to the head/skull area from a rabid animal. In cases such as a direct bite to the head even with a vaccination the virus often moves too quickly to the brain to be shut down/stopped.

Any mammal can get rabies, but its extremely rare for possums to get it. I believe it has something to do with them having a very low body temperature which is not warm enough to effectively incubate the virus.

 

Thanks feel much better knowing that.

 

My dogs attacked and killed a huge skunk last week and I didn't want to take them to the vets since I felt I had everything under control. (Clavamox and ointment for their bites and scratches) So I was talking to a vet tech online and she said when worrying about if the animal may of had rabies, you need to look at your area and see what animal is the main rabies carrier, if it's said animal then you should be worried but if not don't worry too much about it as long as your UTD on shots. So around here Raccoons are the most common and not skunks.

 

It is impossible for a possum to carry rabies there metabolism is to slow and there body temperature is so low well lemme rephrase that ( it is very very very unlikely there has only been one documented case) so i wouldn't worry about it

 

i have found a huge RAT dead ripped to shreds next to one of my males yesterday, but my dog just had his Rabbis vaccine on the 3rd of December this month almost 20 days ago. rats a known to carry rabbis. he is eating fine so far, he is my best male so i am very worried is he safe or not:confused:. please help

 

Our dogs hunt rats, opposum, racoons, and foxes. And they are fine from touching those animals, rabies is seen but really not than often here in the states. If the other animals bite them I would definitely clean it well with a flush and watch it closely but for the most part your dogs will end up eating something sometime or another while being outside. We have found all kinds of things from birds to raccoons in chainspots. I figure if they animal is dumb enough to go in there it is their own fault. With other animals watch their bites because they are immune to things our dogs are not immune too sometimes, especially like raccoons salvia can paralyze a dog. Just depends on the deal but most times they are cool with getting into it with wild animals.

 

Thank you very much, he is so far and it been a week now so i think he is fine

 

Watch out for Tape Worms if he ate a rat.

 

http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/frequently_asked_questions.htm

 

The vet tech gave you some good advise...went through the same ordeal bout a year ago when my dog killed a skunk that wandered into my yard. Was up to date on shots, but I had skunk sent out to the state lab to check for rabies, for piece of mind. Raccoons are the main carrier of rabies here also.

 

has anyone EVER seen an animal with confirmed rabies? ive never heard of any confirmed cases in Cal.

 

does rabies vaccination "if done annually" is ur dog 100% safe to rabies virus? and if ever ur dog had biten u accidentally and he already has a antirabies vaccination. would u still have to go to the doctor and have a anti rabies shot? tnx. "rabies concern me a lot since our country has such high rabies cases" tnx. God Bless