My dog was exposed to a dead skunk. Rabies risk? Do I quarantine her?

If your dog is up to date on its rabies vaccine, it should not contract rabies. As for the smell, there are various recipes available on the internet. Here is one: www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/de-skunking_dog.html

A dog must come into contact with saliva or nervous tissue (brain, spinal cord, etc) of an infected animal in order for the risk of rabies transmission to be present. Once the saliva or tissue have dried, the risk is quite minimal. Sniffing a carcass will not pose a risk. Blood, urine, feces, or muscle tissue are not infectious. As long as James remains current with vaccination, he should be fine. It is always recommended to keep him away from roadkill or dead animals anyway.

No, Roxy cannot get rabies from this, especially since she is up to date on her rabies vaccine. Now eating the remains can make her sick and give her a GI illness. Put on gloves, and dispose of the remains so she cannot eat it.

It depends on where you live, as rabies is more common in some areas than others. It won't like cause problems. Rabies virus from infected saliva must enter through an open cut, wound, scratch, or mucous membrane. Live rabies virus will not survive for more than 24 hours in dead animals when temperatures reach 70F.

Since your dog is vaccinated against rabies (and if the vaccination is up to date) he is protected and will not contract rabies. It is also very unlikely that this squirrel had rabies. However, should your dog get a fever within the next 6 or 7 days , you should take him to the vet as squirrels can carry tularemia and the plague, which caan be transmitted to people and are potentially fatal diseases. They can be treated with antibiotics.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If the dog is up to date on its rabies vaccinations, the chance of you contracting rabies is incredibly low. What we recommend is to quarantine the dog who bit you (or have the owner of the dog quarantine it) for 10 days and monitor the dog for the development of any abnormal neurologic signs. If the dog is completely normal after 10 days from the time you were bit, you are in the clear. If the dog becomes sick at all in that time frame, or if you become sick at all, I recommend contacting your doctor. I hope this is helpful - best of luck!

The good news is she is current on her Rabies vaccine if it was administered 3 months ago. It would be recommended to have her evaluated, though, to ensure no additional treatment needs to be provided for any bite wounds that are present. Raccoons can also carry Canine Distemper Virus so make sure she is current on that vaccine as well.