Rabies in horses

[MBlanchrd@aol.com]

Hi, campers,

No, you don't need to be bitten to contract rabies, contact with the saliva 
will do just fine, especially if it then comes in contact with an open sore 
or you get some saliva in any of the many mucous membranes of your body 
(nose, eyes, mouth.....how many times have you unconsciously picked a horse 
hair out of your mouth after putting the bit in his...see??).(nope. rinsing 
with Listerine won't help.)

Rabies is nothing to mess about with. ALL my mammals, even the inside ones, 
get rabies boosters every year. Rabid animals seldom act in that 
stereotypical "foaming at the mouth and maniacal rages" act....a skunk can be 
rabid as hell and sit, calmly eating cat food in your barn right alongside 
your barncats, and you'll never know it. He can nip one of your horses on his 
way out, and now your horse is rabid, and how do you know? You don't.
ANY mammal can carry rabies. Not just coons, dogs or skunks..but voles, rats, 
'dillos, possum, deer, yes, even humans. Edgar Allen Poe is said to have died 
from rabies.
Dying from rabies is exceptionately painful, and it takes it's time. There's 
no cure for it. Though I'm not a big fan of injecting my horse with 
everything, a rabies shot/booster is ALWAYS  the first on the list. (second 
one is tetanus.)

Michelle
MBlanchrd@aol.com


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