My kitten died after rabies shot. Could I get rabies from her scratch?

Question

Hello. I want to ask, my kitten Scruff, a 3 month old kitten, was vaccinated for Rabies on 12-12-2017. 2-26-2018, She got progressively worse throughout the day. She was weak,breathing shallow,uncoordinated. She did drink,but did not eat. We took her to the vet 2-27-2018, the vet said there was nothing she could do. We had to put her to sleep. They sent her for Rabies testing. Scruff never bit me. She did scratch me VERY lightly playing. I am scared I may be infected with rabies!! Am I ok?? Pet's info: Cat | American Curl | Female | 3 lbs

Destini R. Holloway, DVM · Accepted Answer

I am so sorry for the loss of your poor kitty. Her symptoms don't suggest she got infected with Rabies, but instead I suspect she was having a severe anaphylactic reaction to the vaccine, especially since her symptoms started within 24 hrs of her immunizations. The Rabies vaccine is NOT a live virus, so pets can't get rabies from the vaccine. Also even if a pet has a particular vaccine in the past, this does not mean they can't have a reaction in the future unfortunately. Also since the Rabies vaccine has clinically been shown to last a bit longer than the 1 year mark, your pet was likely still protected. Again I am sorry your pet was not able to recover from this sudden turn of events. I send my condolences to you and your family through this difficult time. And unless Scruff was exposed to a rabid animal within 10 days of being symptomatic, then rabies transmission is very unlikely, unless there is more to the story than what you have mentioned here. Feel free to request a private consultation if you need to discuss things further. Best wishes and take care.

My kitten died after rabies shot. Could I get rabies from her scratch?

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