Answer: The disease characteristically has three phases. First, there is a prod-romal stage, lasting less then forty-eight hours, in which the cat shows a personality change; sometime it becomes more affectionate, though more often appears apprehensive and timid and hides away from light and noise. This is followed in turn by a stage of excitability and irritability, and then by stage of paralysis. An animal is said to have ‘furious’ rabies or ;dumb’ rabies depending on which of these two stages is encountered.
In the cat the stage of excitement generally lasts longer (up to four days) so that cats are more commonly encountered with ‘furious’ rabies, probably in about three-quarters of cases. Many cats probably die whilst still in hiding, but if accidentally disturbed during the excrement phase (e.g. in a garage) a cat will attack viciously and without provocation. It will scratch and bite, usually not letting go, both at animals and inanimate objects. Characteristically the cat’s voice becomes hoarse. During the ‘dumb’ phase the attack of rage disappear and paralysis gradually spreads progressively form the hide quarters forwards, terminating in death. Hydrophobia, the fear of swallowing water (because of laryngeal paralysis) or even of seeing water, which triggers off violent muscular contractions and which is seen in about 50% of human cases of rabies, is not feature.
From the onset of clinical signs cats rarely survive longer then eight to ten days and most die within four or five. During the time when signs are present, and for at least twenty-four hours beforehand, the cat’s saliva is infective and bites from cats are an important source of human infection, often second numerically only to dog bites.
