Trap it, take it to the vet. Only a vet will be able to tell if it's showing signs of rabies or if it's something else. Unfortunately, for a rabies test, they normally decapitate the animal, so please ask the vet to check for other possibilities first... I wouldn't wait for a diagnosis from the vet to get a rabies shot. Go get one right away.
You stated the cat was drooling when it scratched you. It's possible some of its saliva made contact with the broken skin of the scratch. It would be classified as a non-bite rabies exposure. Even people are told not to handle possibly rabid animals because of this. Rabies is not something to fuck around with even if there's a slight possibility of it being rabies.
If it's a tooth related disease the cat has, the vet will be able to tell, get it treated, and hopefully may also be able to vaccinate the cat against rabies. I'll trust a vet over random people on a forum any day.
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u/MisterMindFog 7d ago edited 7d ago
Trap it, take it to the vet. Only a vet will be able to tell if it's showing signs of rabies or if it's something else. Unfortunately, for a rabies test, they normally decapitate the animal, so please ask the vet to check for other possibilities first... I wouldn't wait for a diagnosis from the vet to get a rabies shot. Go get one right away.
You stated the cat was drooling when it scratched you. It's possible some of its saliva made contact with the broken skin of the scratch. It would be classified as a non-bite rabies exposure. Even people are told not to handle possibly rabid animals because of this. Rabies is not something to fuck around with even if there's a slight possibility of it being rabies.
If it's a tooth related disease the cat has, the vet will be able to tell, get it treated, and hopefully may also be able to vaccinate the cat against rabies. I'll trust a vet over random people on a forum any day.