A Bat Got Into My House

[movingforward]

And now I am FREAKING OUT!  Yesterday I found a bat in my house.  It wasn't flying so probably sick.  I called the maintenance team and they got it out.  I asked the guy if he was taking it to the health department and he said no, and that he would just it in the back field .  So now there is no way to test the stupid thing.  My cat is up to date on all his shots so probably protected.  I am taking him in tomorrow morning for a rabies booster just in case though (vet said it wouldn't hurt him - his is up in October).  I talked to the health department and my doctor this afternoon though and now I am completely freaked out!  They are saying there is no way to know how long the bat was in the house and that if it had bitten me overnight I might not have known it because the bites are very tiny.  I kind of doubt this only because my cat sleeps with me and I am pretty sure if there was a bat in the room at any point he would have been bouncing around and would have woken me up.  He, of course, was the one who actually alerted me to the bat yesterday.  Okay, I know I am rambling on but so freaked out right now.  Not sure if I should just get the shots for what

[midjd]

Don't freak out. I'm sure your cat would have let you know if the bat got anywhere near you while you were sleeping... (and I find it hard to believe a bat could land on you long enough to bite you without waking you up, unless you sleep like the dead. They're small, but it would still be like a mouse or something crawling on you, right?)

Did your doctor seem concerned?

[movingforward]

My doctor seemed only slightly concerned but since I didn't physically touch the bat and my cat is vaccinated she thought it was okay.  It was the infectious disease doctor the health department put me in contact with that now has me all freaked out.  He said there may be a colony of bats in the attic (shudder), and he is the one who said the bat could have bitten me without my knowledge.  I am with you, in that I seriously doubt my cat wouldn't have woken me up if there was a bat in the room.  I am extremely mad at myself though because I didn't insist that maintenance take the bat to animal control for testing.  There are quite a few stays in the area and I hate to think of the bat infecting those animals.  I was just concentrating on getting it out of my house!  Now the health department is saying they need the bat for testing.  I called my apartment complex and told them the health department said they need to go look for the bat where they dumped it because since it was sick it may still be there. 

[ArchietheDragon]

Just get a rabies shot.  No harm and you will feel better. 

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Discus it with your doctor again if you are concerned. It's not a simple 1 shot vaccine if you have been exposed. Having seen no bite probably means you didn't get bit. It would itch.

Vaccination after an exposure

Anyone who has been bitten by an animal, or who otherwise may have been exposed to rabies, should clean the wound and see a doctor immediately. The doctor will determine if they need to be vaccinated.

A person who is exposed and has never been vaccinated against rabies should get 4 doses of rabies vaccine - one dose right away, and additional doses on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th days. They should also get another shot called Rabies Immune Globulin at the same time as the first dose.

A person who has been previously vaccinated should get 2 doses of rabies vaccine - one right away and another on the 3rd day. Rabies Immune Globulin is not needed.

[Deleted]

At least now, it's not like 10 shots in the stomach or whatever it used to be. 

I probably wouldn't worry about it, since we had a lot of bats in our house growing up, but if it's bothering you, might as well get the shot. 

[Phoenix84]

Well, in the Americas, bats are the most common vector of rabies. It's something to consider.

[Sunnyday]

if you start getting super pale, crave human blood or suddenly hate garlic.... I would start worrying, but the positive thing is that you will live forever! j/k

But seriously, that would freak me out! I would disinfect all the surfaces that you think the bat might have touched. It might be silly, but it'll make you feel better. I know it would make me feel better.

[haapai]

Yes, you are freaking out.  I pity your doctor and vet.  In the fullness of time, you may realize how very kind and patient they are being with you. 

[Deleted]

Aug 12, 2014 15:22:24 GMT -5 midjd said:

Don't freak out. I'm sure your cat would have let you know if the bat got anywhere near you while you were sleeping... (and I find it hard to believe a bat could land on you long enough to bite you without waking you up, unless you sleep like the dead. They're small, but it would still be like a mouse or something crawling on you, right?)

Did your doctor seem concerned?

Not in my house. We have had, on different occasions, a bat and a bird flying around in the house and the cats are so goddamned oblivious that the only reason we knew was DH heard noises. I can't hear those kind of noises so I was no use and the friggin' animals were absolutely useless as watch kitties. Jeez.

I didn't mind the bat. I grew up in northern NH and used to see them all the time. One flew into the camp office of the forestry camp that my dad worked at and they caught it in a jar and brought it into the mess hall. I have never been smacked by so many people at one time when I said it looked like my sister. Truthfully, the bat was cuter.

A few years ago, one of the condos in my house, 4 units, got a bat in the middle of the night and the 30-something male went running out the door screaming like a girl with a laundry basket over his head. His future wife just thought he was an idiot. Ya think?!?!?!?!?

[movingforward]

Aug 12, 2014 19:45:07 GMT -5 haapai said:

Yes, you are freaking out.  I pity your doctor and vet.  In the fullness of time, you may realize how very kind and patient they are being with you. 

Well the doctor is the one who freaked me out.  Something was wrong with the bat.  It was obviously sick because it couldn't fly.  It isn't likely that it bit me but we are talking about life and death here if it did.  Thanks for your support though 

[TheOtherMe]

Two bats got in to DS's house while I was staying with her.  So were my parents.  We were all there for a graduation or something.  We had cooked outside and had the patio door open and shut a lot.

DS had an old cat at the time.  Apparently one bat started flying around the house and Tasha was jumping around trying to get it.  She woke up everybody and BIL got it out of house.  We all go back to bed.  Couple of house later, the same thing happened.  Nobody knew Tasha could still be that active.  But she let us know there were bats in the house.

My neighbor has told me they sit on their patio after dark--until the bats come out.

[tractor]

Why all the hate? Bats are cool little critters. I have them in my house often, and catch them in a T-shirt and put them back outside. They can carry rabies just like any other mammal, do you get that freaked out when you pet a cow? They can carry rabies too.

One of the stories my wife like to tell is when I had to remove 27 bats in one night, I blocked off their hole outside the house, and the only place they could go was inside. Good times....

[Deleted]

Aug 13, 2014 8:06:21 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

tractor you may find this hard to believe, but some people go their entire lives without ever petting a cow.

Awwwww....that makes me sad.  Cows are sweet. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 13, 2014 8:06:21 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

tractor you may find this hard to believe, but some people go their entire lives without ever petting a cow.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here.  There's people that have never pet a cow?  I just "OWW!" my brain hurts trying to comprehend this statement.
































I live in the land of cows, cheese and beer, otherwise known as the great state of Wisconsin.  My kids happily crawled into the hay to pet a cow at the State Fair on Saturday. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

We want to make/buy bat houses for our land up North.  We've got an itty bitty pond that is a breeding ground for bugs but not fish.  I don't think it's deep enough to put fish in.  (but maybe I'll suggest it to dh as an experiment...)  God knows it can't make the pond any worse than it is. 

[midjd]

Beth, my husband builds bat houses! They are pretty neat. One of the factoids he uses to sell them is that a bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquitoes an hour. 

That said (and as someone who likes bats) I would be concerned if I woke up and found a sick animal in my house, no matter how cute or awesome I thought it was. I would be especially concerned if a cow was in my house. 

[973beachbum]

A nine-year-old boy died from rabies encephalitis caused by a rabies virus variant associated with insectivorous bats. The patient was most likely infected in the Laurentian Mountains of western Quebec, but neither the patient nor his parents remembered any direct contact with an animal. The diagnosis was made seven days after the start of symptoms. After examining the most recent cases of rabies in North America, it is obvious that rabies following bat exposure can occur without history of a documented bite. The present case report emphasizes that the general public and medical care providers need better information about the risks associated with exposure to bats.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094861/

This is exactly what the local animal control and county dept of health are always saying.  They don't even ask anymore if someone knows or thinks they were exposed.  If an animal was found in a person's home and is tested or thought to have rabies they assume the person was exposed and give them the shots. 

Rabies is 100% fatal.  This isn't even a close call IMO.  Get the shots!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 13, 2014 8:41:47 GMT -5 midjd said:

Beth, my husband builds bat houses! They are pretty neat. One of the factoids he uses to sell them is that a bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquitoes an hour. 

That said (and as someone who likes bats) I would be concerned if I woke up and found a sick animal in my house, no matter how cute or awesome I thought it was. I would be especially concerned if a cow was in my house. 

Are they hard to build? 

Wait until you start watching Curious George in your house.  He's managed to get sheep, pigs and a cow in the house. 

[973beachbum]

Aug 13, 2014 7:10:58 GMT -5 tractor said:

Why all the hate? Bats are cool little critters. I have them in my house often, and catch them in a T-shirt and put them back outside. They can carry rabies just like any other mammal, do you get that freaked out when you pet a cow? They can carry rabies too.

One of the stories my wife like to tell is when I had to remove 27 bats in one night, I blocked off their hole outside the house, and the only place they could go was inside. Good times....

I don't hate bats!  My old house had a bunch of bat "homes" on the trees.  I loved them.  They were basically never seen and they ate all the misquoteos and spiders.  But where I live those brown bats aren't commonly found with rabies and they were not sick.  A bat that is acting "tame" or can't fly is clearly sick.  And a sick wild animal is one that could very likely have rabies.

Again rabies is 100% fatal. This isn't even a close call.  I would get the shots no question.

And for the record I still miss those bats!

[midjd]

Are they hard to build?

Not too hard... it was the first thing he built with his table saw because he only needed to make straight cuts. Basically it's just three layers of a board (1x12 x 18" high) with a set of 1x1s connecting each layer so there's a tiny gap for the bats to crawl inside. He uses a dremel tool to carve grooves on each of the large boards so the bats have something to grip when they crawl up...

The hardest part is finding a place to mount the bat house. Our bats are picky... we had to move it to several different trees before we found one they liked. 

[mmhmm]

Aug 13, 2014 8:09:08 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Aug 13, 2014 8:06:21 GMT -5 deminmaine said:

tractor you may find this hard to believe, but some people go their entire lives without ever petting a cow.

Awwwww....that makes me sad.  Cows are sweet. 

You'd have gotten a laugh at my late DH. We were at a hotel in Egg (yep, that's the name of the town), Switzerland. I'm a bit of a wanderer and love to just walk and look. Hubs wasn't as keen as I was for that experience, but he'd humor me on occasion. We'd been told by the hotel ownership we could wander the surrounding hills as we wished. If we came across a fence, just climb over it. The locals were used to the hotel guests and didn't mind. So, off we took the morning after we checked in.

We followed a road going downhill toward who knows where. Got tired of the road and took off across fields. Came to a fence on the other side of which were cows. The cows came, of course, to the fence to meet and greet. There was a house behind us with a woman and her little girl sitting in chairs in the front yard, watching us. I waved and pointed across the fence and downhill. The woman waved back so I started across the fence. Then, I saw my DH's face. He was petrified. "Umm, that's a lot of cows!", said he. "Yes, it is", said I, "but they won't hurt us. Cows are friendly and there are no bulls, only cows." By this time, he's backing up and shaking his head. "I'm not going in there with those cows!", says he. "That many cows could love me to death!"

We went back to the road after I got my fill of petting cows and thanked the woman and her little girl for allowing me to enjoy them. I could see they, too, were amused by my DH's consternation. He was born in Queens, NY. While he'd seen cows, he'd never met one up close and personal. I teased him about that cow encounter for many years. Kinda became a family joke.

[Deleted]

Aug 13, 2014 8:59:40 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Aug 13, 2014 7:10:58 GMT -5 tractor said:

Why all the hate? Bats are cool little critters. I have them in my house often, and catch them in a T-shirt and put them back outside. They can carry rabies just like any other mammal, do you get that freaked out when you pet a cow? They can carry rabies too.

One of the stories my wife like to tell is when I had to remove 27 bats in one night, I blocked off their hole outside the house, and the only place they could go was inside. Good times....

I don't hate bats!  My old house had a bunch of bat "homes" on the trees.  I loved them.  They were basically never seen and they ate all the misquoteos and spiders.  But where I live those brown bats aren't commonly found with rabies and they were not sick.  A bat that is acting "tame" or can't fly is clearly sick.  And a sick wild animal is one that could very likely have rabies.

Again rabies is 100% fatal. This isn't even a close call.  I would get the shots no question.

And for the record I still miss those bats!

Nope.  3 confirmed survivors! 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 13, 2014 9:22:54 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Aug 13, 2014 8:59:40 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

I don't hate bats!  My old house had a bunch of bat "homes" on the trees.  I loved them.  They were basically never seen and they ate all the misquoteos and spiders.  But where I live those brown bats aren't commonly found with rabies and they were not sick.  A bat that is acting "tame" or can't fly is clearly sick.  And a sick wild animal is one that could very likely have rabies.

Again rabies is 100% fatal. This isn't even a close call.  I would get the shots no question.

And for the record I still miss those bats!

Nope.  3 confirmed survivors! 

I knew there was 1 'cause it was in Wisconsin and a huge deal at the time.  I want to say it was 10+ years but don't have the time to Goggle right now. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 13, 2014 9:09:39 GMT -5 midjd said:

Are they hard to build?

Not too hard... it was the first thing he built with his table saw because he only needed to make straight cuts. Basically it's just three layers of a board (1x12 x 18" high) with a set of 1x1s connecting each layer so there's a tiny gap for the bats to crawl inside. He uses a dremel tool to carve grooves on each of the large boards so the bats have something to grip when they crawl up...

The hardest part is finding a place to mount the bat house. Our bats are picky... we had to move it to several different trees before we found one they liked. 

And what does he charge for them?  Or what does he consider a fair price for them? 

I was assuming we'd just get a bunch of them and hang them around the woodsy part of our land, near the scummy pond.

[Wisconsin Beth]

PS sorry (sort of) for the hijack on bat houses. 

[jkapp]

Aug 12, 2014 15:35:45 GMT -5 movingforward said:

My doctor seemed only slightly concerned but since I didn't physically touch the bat and my cat is vaccinated she thought it was okay.  It was the infectious disease doctor the health department put me in contact with that now has me all freaked out.  He said there may be a colony of bats in the attic (shudder), and he is the one who said the bat could have bitten me without my knowledge.  I am with you, in that I seriously doubt my cat wouldn't have woken me up if there was a bat in the room.  I am extremely mad at myself though because I didn't insist that maintenance take the bat to animal control for testing.  There are quite a few stays in the area and I hate to think of the bat infecting those animals.  I was just concentrating on getting it out of my house!  Now the health department is saying they need the bat for testing.  I called my apartment complex and told them the health department said they need to go look for the bat where they dumped it because since it was sick it may still be there. 

I had a bat in my house a couple years ago...I had a local pest exterminator get rid of it (I got it locked in a small bedroom with no way out).  He also checked the house for me to see where it might have gotten in.  He then made a couple of metal plates to cover the entry areas. 

I was told there might be more, but there was just the one.  A good exterminator would be able to tell you if they see active signs of bats - if not, then it was probably just the one.  But you might want to them to cover any entrances for the future

[movingforward]

Aug 13, 2014 8:54:30 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

A nine-year-old boy died from rabies encephalitis caused by a rabies virus variant associated with insectivorous bats. The patient was most likely infected in the Laurentian Mountains of western Quebec, but neither the patient nor his parents remembered any direct contact with an animal. The diagnosis was made seven days after the start of symptoms. After examining the most recent cases of rabies in North America, it is obvious that rabies following bat exposure can occur without history of a documented bite. The present case report emphasizes that the general public and medical care providers need better information about the risks associated with exposure to bats.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094861/

This is exactly what the local animal control and county dept of health are always saying.  They don't even ask anymore if someone knows or thinks they were exposed.  If an animal was found in a person's home and is tested or thought to have rabies they assume the person was exposed and give them the shots. 

Rabies is 100% fatal.  This isn't even a close call IMO.  Get the shots!

This is what I am thinking too.   If for nothing more than peace of mind.  I actually like bats but having a sick one in my house -  not so much.  Had it not been crawling around and sickly I wouldn't be that concerned. I took my cat in for the booster shot this morning.  It is actually a state law that if any animal (whether they have been vaccinated or not) is suspected to have come in contact with a sick bat, which he did, then they have to go back in for another rabies shot.  All I did was call the vet and ask when his rabies shot was up and they said Oct.  I told them a sick bat got in the house and the cat actually found it.  That is when they told me he has to come back in so I am not sure where someone felt the need to say "they felt sorry for my vet."  If I get the shots then I have to go to the ER.  Apparently the doctors office doesn't have it.  I just hate going to the ER but I guess when the alternative is death I should probably get over it.

[midjd]

Good luck, almost40! Let us know how it goes. (The YMer in me says that any medical/vet bills incurred should be turned over to your maintenance company for being so stupid as to throw the bat in a field instead of sending it in for testing.)

WIBeth, I think he charged $35 apiece... you could probably get smaller ones for cheaper, though, or if you had someone with access to cheap/free lumber. He usually spent $15 or so on materials and they took him about an hour to make.

[movingforward]

Thanks mid - the cat would have had to go in Oct for his yearly vaccination anyway so I am not worried about that cost.  It was $90 this morning which included his yearly exam of $52 plus the vaccination.  Like I said, I would have had to pay that in October anyway so just got it over with a little early.  As for me, the shots are $3,000 but I have met my deductible already this year so I am hoping I am covered.  The person I spoke with earlier at the insurance company seemed to know very little but what else is new...