Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-10-03
CATS AND RABIES.
KILLING the Dog which Bites n Person IL
tho Wrong Thing to DO.

Do not permit too familiarity be-
tween your cats and dogs.
The former are all right and won't
get rabies. unless they are bitten by
one of their natural enemies. So. ut
least, says DIR. Gibier. chief of the New
York Pasteur Institute. and when he
talks about hydrophoba other per-
sons are expected to stand from under.
| The occasion for this assurance of
the hydrophobic safety of cats was
case which DIR. Gibier received last
Wednesday. in which woman about
80 years old was bitten by pet cat
and came TO the physician for treat
ment. The biting occurred about ten
days before, and from the woman's de-
scription of the cats action the Doctor
had no question that the animal was
suffering from rabies. Ia fact the eat
died from them three days after the
biting.
The patient whose name is withheld
by request, described the biting rs hav-
ing occurred while she was attending
to her homework. The cat, which had
always been pet. was seized with
spasm and rushed about the room with
hNA luli klG0lll Hth luO
bristling on her back. She suddenly
stopped, and after crouching on the
floor sprang at her mistress throat,
decorating the latter's shoulders very
severely with her teeth. The wounds
were cauterized.
The cat rushed into closet and re-
manned three days in rapidly succeed
ing spasms, dying with every evidence
of hydrophobia.
The victim was OF nervous temper
ament and was Frustrated. When she
called upon DR.. Gibicr she had already
reached the dangerous period for the
development of the disease and she was
inoculated with greater quantity of
the virus than is usual in the first treat
ment. The patient received other in
EQUATIONS yesterday morning and
evening and expressed herself rs being
much quieter and stronger.
The doctor is confident that his
patient will not suffer seriously from
her experience.
asked the doctor on behalf of those
women whose affections can be only
contented with feline whether there
was danger from cats contracting
rabies without having been bitten by
dog. He replied in the negative.
dogs are the only animal who actual
" generate the disease" he said. land
so there need not be any fear of an
epidemic of hydrophobia from all the
cats going mad. Should n dog bite II
cat and that cat 60 about biting other
cats, there might be some danger, be-
cause cats are kept more within houses
than are dogs.
THE treatment for this case. which
Is the first that has been brought to my
attention while in this country. will be
exactly similar to those of dog bites.
The poison is the same in all case and
the antidote is the same. The patient
will be inocuated for the required
fifteen days, and then will be considered
safe"
DO rabies. as manifested in cats.
, appear differently than in dogs?n l
asked.
THE symptoms" the Doctor replied
"are generally the same in very i'm
portant aspects, but cats are more fierce
and their excitement much greater.
They have n fashion of wagging their
heads. too, when they are dangerous,
and of course show the usual trailing
saliva which the contractions of the
throat compel to be elected"
Should cat drink milk which
rabid dog has tasted or had dropped
saliva in, the former might contract
rabies.
1.-The whole thing resolves itself into
this" said the Doctor; without dogs
you won't get hydrophobla, and so the
best way to stamp out the disease is
for Americans to do MS is done in
Northern Germany-that is, keep the
dogs muzzlcd all The time in the cities
and also in the country. Then you
can't get the rabies. The most insane
thing for persons who are bitten to do
is TO kill the animal. If they shoot the
dog how are they to tell whether it has
rabies or notp Let it live. and then If
it dies with hydrophobic symptoms
there is decided reason why you should
take all scientific safeguards to save
yourself from a similar fate."-M y
\ Herald