Resolved question:
There was a stray dog in my neighborhood the other day. It came over to me and I saw that it was really malnourished looking so I fed it and called the animal shelter to come pick it up. The dog licked my hand and also "mouthed" my hand gently (no skin was broken and I had no open wounds or scratches on my hand where it licked). My question is, do I have reason to be concerned about rabies? The dog showed appetite (ate all the food and drank water), and was not aggressive at all. It was a puppy of maybe 3 or 4 months in age. It was friendly and playful and wasn't foaming at the mouth or anything like that. I've just got myself paranoid now about rabies. While I was outside with the dog a lady drove by and said that she would take the dog in she gave me her number so I could text her to check on the dog's condition.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Family Physician-GP
Hello,
Thank you for your query at DoctorSpring.com
I understand your concern.
Since you do not have any cuts and your skin mucosal layer was not exposed, there is no chance you can contract Rabies and hence you should not worry.
Moreove the way you described the puppy's characteristics, that he was playful and friendly, it rules out Rabies. Most Rabid dogs will have a very aggressive personality and won't be much interested in food or water. Such dogs are difficult to contain in one place for a long time. There is an other extreme called silent rabies, where the dogs won't be aggressive. However they will be extremely silent and won't socialise.
So either extremes, the dogs won't be playful and friendly like the puppy you played with.
So kindly do not worry. Moreover all puppies keep mouthing because of the pain in the development of teeth in this age group and it is extremely normal.
Let me know if you have any other queries,
Regards.