Rabies Detection: Recognizing Signs & Symptoms in Animals

In the heat of the moment it seems impossible to tell if an animal has rabies or not without a veterinary degree, but there are a few telltale signs of the disease. Knowing these, you can decide whether it is safe to approach an animal or---if it is your pet---whether he will need to be quarantined.

Things You'll Need

• Quarantine area
• Rabies vaccine (must be administered in a vet's office)

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Watch for unbalanced movement. Staggering and jerky movements are symptoms of rabies and can warn you from a distance that you are dealing with a rabid animal. Exercise caution when approaching an animal that is moving this way.

• 2

  Gauge the behavior of the animal. If the animal is snapping, biting or advancing aggressively toward you, it could be rabid. Rabid animals are more likely to snap at you and try to bite or hiss at you than nonrabid animals are. If your outdoor pet snaps at or bites other house pets, she might have rabies.

• 3

  Quarantine the animal. If the animal is still alive after 10 days, it probably does not have rabies. Nonvaccinated cats and dogs should be euthanized or quarantined for six months. Have a veterinarian administer a rabies vaccine (if the animal wasn't previously vaccinated) after the quarantine ends.

• 4

  If you notice that the animal is vomiting or exceptionally thirsty, you are probably not dealing with a rabid animal. Foaming at the mouth, a rabies symptom, is caused by the animal's inability to swallow saliva and causes the animal to avoid water. Other conditions such as cerebral cysticercosis, a neurological illness, and worms can also mimic the effects of rabies but will not kill the animal in only 10 days of quarantine.