28/09/2026
🌍🐾 WORLD RABIES DAY | 28 SEPTEMBER 🐾🌍
RABIES IS FATAL — BUT 100% PREVENTABLE.
It might sound like something from a scary movie… but rabies is very real, and it is something we should never take lightly.
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system of mammals — including dogs, cats, wildlife AND humans. Once clinical signs develop, rabies is virtually always fatal.
🦠 HOW DOES RABIES SPREAD?
Rabies is primarily spread through the saliva of an infected animal.
This most commonly happens through:
🐶 A bite
🐾 A scratch contaminated with saliva
👅 Saliva getting into an open wound
👀 Saliva contacting the eyes, mouth or other mucous membranes
And yes — a seemingly friendly animal can potentially transmit rabies. Dogs are responsible for the vast majority of human rabies cases worldwide, but cats and wild mammals can also carry and transmit the virus.
🚨 KNOW THE SIGNS
In animals, rabies can cause changes in normal behaviour, unusual aggression or excitability, abnormal vocalisation, excessive salivation, difficulty swallowing, weakness, paralysis, seizures and other neurological abnormalities.
In people, early signs can include:
🌡️ Fever
🤕 Pain
⚡ Tingling, prickling or burning at the wound site
As the disease progresses, neurological signs can develop, including confusion, agitation, difficulty swallowing, paralysis and coma.
Once clinical rabies develops, it is almost invariably fatal.
But here is the GOOD news… ❤️
💉 RABIES IS PREVENTABLE!
Keeping your pets vaccinated is one of the most important things you can do to protect your pet, your family and your community.
And it isn't just a good idea — rabies vaccination of dogs and cats is required by law in South Africa.
🐶🐱 DON'T FORGET THAT RABIES VACCINE!
Make sure rabies vaccination is included in your pet's puppy/kitten vaccination plan and keep up with the required booster vaccinations thereafter.
📅 Put that booster date in your calendar.
📱 Set a reminder.
💉 Don't wait until you can't remember when the last one was!
Because when it comes to rabies, prevention is always better than dealing with the disease.
⚠️ AND IF YOU ARE BITTEN OR SCRATCHED…
Don't wait and see what happens.
Immediately wash and flush the wound thoroughly with soap and plenty of water for about 15 minutes, and seek medical attention urgently for assessment and possible rabies post-exposure treatment.
❤️ Protect them. Protect your family. Protect your community.
At Doorn Dierekliniek, we believe prevention is one of the greatest gifts we can give our pets.
Keep those tails wagging — and those rabies vaccines up to date! 🐕🐈💉
📍 Doorn Dierekliniek
Where tails wag and hearts heal 🌿
