If the bat was in your bedroom while you were asleep, it's best not to let them out, but to capture and take for euthanasia and testing.

Chances are you're OK, though, as zillions of people have little episodes with bats and very, very, very, few people ever get rabies. But still, since rabies is a very serious and usually fatal disease, it doesn't pay to take chances.

If you happened to be a heavy sleeper, or taking sleeping meds, or, um, any other substance that might have impaired your ability to awaken and know if a bat (the one that was let out) was touching you, then you need to consider taking the rabies preventive shots, immediately.

For children there is no question about this, the shots are considered mandatory (though not legally) - adults it's a gray area. Please consult your doctor and your local or state health department for the protocol in your area. These people are usually very nice and helpful, and used to helping people sort out their risk.

Bats are such nice, and very useful, creatures, I realy hate it when one is discovered in my household in a position that requires euth. They have always come back testing negative, which makes me feel doubly bad.

I have tons of them in my barns (sadly, many fewer of them each year as Wet Nose Disease continues to take its awful toll) and some that live in my house attics -we get along fine with them, but are careful to makesure they can't enter the living space. There's no keeping them out of the attic of a slate roofed house, however.

Please, call your state or county health department and work through with them whether you need the shots, just to be safe. OKay?

HTH

L.

Someone on the Pet forum had to have her cats quarantined after a bat got in her house (her cats also were not current on their rabies vaccination). Just an FYI.....

Good luck!!

I'm a great bat catcher. I get a big jar and put it up to the ceiling (after they land), capturing the bat in the jar. once the jar is over the bat, slip some card board between the jar and the ceiling. The bat will fall into the jar.

I just set them free outside. Some people hang bat houses to keep insects away. I think the notion that most bats carry rabies has been refuted by Science.

We have a family of bats around our house. I love watching them leave their nest in the evenings.

Ya, I remember reading that on the pet forum and thinking I need to make sure I don't lapse on my rabies vaccinations. Can't believe I still did - in part due to not getting reminders from the vet as I used to. My cats do actually have to be quarantined but it can be in the home. Since they don't go outside and are never exposed to other animals quarantine is no different than usual.

I'm not concerned about me or DH as we both decided neither of us are deep enough sleepers that we would sleep through a bat landing on us let alone a bite or scratch.

Unfortunately that bat catching method won't work for me golddust - at least not on the ceiling as its vaulted and too high to reach. I read that that was the way you're supposed to capture them I'd just need it to be closer to the ground. DH and I are both really chicken around bats though so hard to imagine going right up to it and putting a jar over it. ACKK!!

We live in the woods and have tons of bats. Love them outside as long as they don't hang by my entry doors and leave piles of guano. I've had that problem too but that's nothing compared to this inside the house problem. Really hope we have no further incidents tonight.

I thought rabies was transmitted through a bite by the infected animal. Is that not right? I can't imagine having to go get rabies treatments just because a bat was in your house!

I was just talking to a friend who lives in No Carolina and she said she was required to get their cats rabies shots. That was news to me-here we are required to get our dogs their vaccinations (and then licensed). We don't get our indoor cats rabies vaccs, but our outdoor cat gets his-he hunts rodents a lot.

Wow, scary. Yes here in NC we must have rabies for cats & they are supposed to be licensed which requires proof of rabies vaccination. Enormous kitty is going on Mon.

No bats last night - yay!!

Pesky, rabies is spread through the saliva of an infected animal. This usually happens through a bite, but that is not the only method of transmission. If you ever don't want to wait at the emergency room, just tell them you may have been exposed to rabies! My DH has had to pull apart our dogs from a raccoon on several occasions. The last time, we were a little concerned about possible exposure and animal control suggested going to the hospital. Turned out okay, but the immediate reaction from the medical staff was surprising.

The issue with bats in a bedroom with sleeping people is that it is possible that the bat may have landed on the people while they were asleep and there might have been some contact between the bat's saliva through the skin (or in through a mucous membrane like the conjunctiva around the eye) as the bat flies off. A sleeping, or half-asleep, person might also have batted at the bat thinking it was a bug or mosquito and sustained a tiny scratch or bite with saliva transfer.

Of course, normal, healthy bats wouldn't seek contact with a sleeping human, which is the point.

That's why when a bat is discovered in a bedroom where people have been sleeping, it's important to not let it escape as one might do if you discovered it in, say, your mud room. Having the bat means it can be euthanized and tested to rule in, or out, any disease risk. It usually takes about 48 hours to get the test done, so at most you get a gamma globulin shot and one of the four 4 rabies shots.

This is doubly important if the sleeping person was a young child, or a non-verbal infant or adult.

Of the people (young and old) who have died in the US from rabies, many had no recollection of contact with a potentially rabid animal at all. Which speaks well of the efficicacy of the post-exposure shots, but highlights the risk of unknown exposure through extremely transient and casual contact.

Here is the treat/no treat decision chart devloped by New York State Health Department:

http://www.health.ny.gov/publications/3028.pdf

Note that in instances where a bat bite exposure can not be ruled out, footnote #4: this includes a room where a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, the recommendation is to immediately begin treating on days number "0" (incident day), and day 3 and onward, so time is of the essence here.

The description of the treatment regimen is here:

http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/zoonoses/rabies/docs/nys_rabies_treatment_guidelines.pdf

BTW, in former days the rabies shots were given in the stomach, nowadays they are given in large muscles, instead.

Gibby, even if you believe you haven't been exposed, I would still check with your health department people. They will know what the correct guidelines are for your area.

This is one area where better safe than sorry is very important.

L.

Gibby,

I looked on your profile page and see you are in Minnesota.

Below is the link to your state health department page regarding bats and rabies, with many links and follow-ups.

There is the same concern in your state, as in NY, where the bat is discovered in room where people have been sleeping.

The bottom paragraph says:

"Consultation with MDH on handling bat encounters is available 24/7 to healthcare providers and veterinarians at 651-201-5414, and to the public at the same number Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

HTH

L.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link Minnesota Bat/Human contact information

Golddust,

I agree that most bats do not carry rabies, otherwise they'd be in even more of a pickle than they are from Wet Nose Disease. I really like bats and don't want anyone to fear or harm them.

But human deaths from rabies (which are fortunately very rare in the US) are often the result of bat-mediated transmission because the patients weren't aware of the bite in the first place. People know it when they are bitten by a dog, cat, mountan lion, raccoom, crazed beaver, etc. so they are much more likely to seek treatment right away. Prompt treatment is almost always 100% effective.

Bat-to-human contact can be very subtle, even with a waking person. A healthy bat probably would never voluntarily touch a human, though sometimes collisions can occur if you are walking at night. But sick, possibly rabid bats might come in contact with an awake person, or fall on a sleeping person.

That's why there is concern about sleeping people in a room with a bat - particularly a room which is normally free of bats.

Fortunately only a tiny percentage of bats submitted for testing come back positive (3-4% was the figure I read). But still would you take a 3-4% risk of an almost invariably fatal disease, when the tretament was available? I'm utterly terrified of shots, but even I would do that!

The other issue that makes some people hesitate is that the shots are very costly ($1,000++ for the course, possibly more). But in most places there are state- and/or manufacturer-funded cost sharing programs for un-insured, and under-insured, people who need the life-saving treatment.

I do feral cat rescue, so that puts me at risk for rabies, one disease I really pay attention to. I've waited out quarantines from bites more than once.

HTH

L.

Thanks for the info - I've read that and in fact read it in the middle of the night after we captured the bat. The health department will be contacting me on Monday after they have the results of the rabies test for the bat. I'm sure they'll provide their recommendations if by chance the results are positive, which apparently is only the case 3-4% of the time.

I've had bats in my house in the night in the past - even when I was a kid. Have never had rabies treatment and not expecting to this time either. I get that there is some risk and that anyone making a recommendation on what to do has to assume the worst case scenario.

I'm mostly concerned about my cat at this point. Hopefully the results will come back negative and that will be the end of it.

But Gibby, you said the bat in your bedroom escaped, and thus it can't have been tested! The tests on the one you killed (the one your cat was playing with) only apply to that particular one, not the escapee.

Maybe I misunderstood you and the other bat wasn't in the bedroom with you at night? Hope that's the case!

If your cats were ever vaccinated against rabies, they may have some residual immunity. (For instance, some states only certify the rabies vax for a single year, but others count the same vax and dosing as a three schedule. So "late" in a one-year state, wouldn't actually be out-of-biological-immunity in a three year state, just out of compliance with the legal schedule.)

L.

We captured the bat that was in the bedroom during the night and had it tested. There was no other bat around during the night. The other bat appeared later the next morning. That is the bat we encouraged to fly away.

This post was edited by gibby3000 on Fri, Jul 12, 13 at 18:49