Your dog is probably fine, but it wouldn't hurt to call the vet. Bats don't normally sit on boulders during the day, so something might have been wrong with it.

There may not even be rabies in your area -- I was told recently that there have been no reports of rabies in California, where I live, for some time.

There is rabies in California and on a regular basis, I have been bitten by a rabid cat, I live in the Bay Area. HOWEVER, as long as your dog is current on its shots, your dog should be fine. Call the vet and let them know what happened. That our dog located a bat in mid day on the boulder is troubling, you may want to keep an eye on your dog in the area he found the bat in the next couple of weeks. If you find the bat, call the authorities so they can test it. I think you can stop worrying tho. Even tho the whole incident was probably freaky and terribly upsetting.

Dawn, please keep us posted on how your dog is.

Mazer, so far this year there has only been one reported case of rabies in California, but that person contracted it in Mexico before coming here. I know some years there have been many more, but we've been lucky lately.

New Mexico, Colorado, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona and Georgia have all had rabies reported in 2008.

Thank you, petaloid and Mazer.

We have a lot of bats living around our home and while I'm aware they carry rabies, I don't really mind them. It's quite entertaining to watch them at night flying through the air catching insects.

We did have a local person die of rabies a few years ago who was bitten by a bat, but apparently didn't realize it. Not sure how one wouldn't know that, but that's what the newspaper reported.

It was kind of freaky because at first I thought she'd grabbed a big moth until I saw the bat flopping around and Sadie taking a huge leap backwards. I think she was shocked to find out the "bug" she grabbed wasn't a bug afterall.

I'll give the vet a call in the morning and ask him about it and post his advice.

Dawn

Your vet will want to give your dog booster shots for rabies, so notify your vet asap.

The laws differ by state, but here in NC any time a currently rabies-vaccinated dog comes into contact with a possible rabies suspect, we have to booster the rabies vaccine ASAP.

Thanks everyone for your advice and comments.

I called the vet's office today but he wasn't available. I spoke to one of his techs and she told me Sadie would be fine and that five bats in our county have been tested for rabies in the last month and all of them were negative for rabies so there doesn't seem to be a rabies problem with the local bats this summer.

So, that's where I'm at. I wonder if I should call back and speak directly to the vet or if I'm over thinking things?

Dawn

In NJ, all contact with all rabies vector species (bats, raccoons, foxes) require rabies boosters.

I would definitely speak directly with the vet. The possible consequences are just too serious to take a chance with, no matter how small the actual risk.

There was a case of a properly vaccinated cat getting bat-type rabies here in NC. The entire family had to go through post-exposure rabies treatment, after the cat was euthanized and tested positive for rabies. Weird stuff happens. Rabies is fatal in ALL mammals, there have been 2 people to have survived at all EVER and they have serious neurological deficits to the point of being very handicapped. Rabies is nothing to play around with, and you should also tell the vet what the tech told you so s/he can be corrected (unless the vet said so). Without having the bat available for testing, there is no way to know that it is negative for rabies, and precautions should be made. At least, that is what I would tell *my* clients.