Hi, just want to share my experience in regards to a cat scratch I had about a week ago.
Anyhow I was in a well known restraunt half way down poppies 1. Having a meal there I noticed a stray cat. Me being a cat lover thought I'd feed it some of my food scaps ie prawn tails and a bit of a steak left over.
The cat ate all that but silly me got a bit too close and got jabbed by one of its claws. A little blood etc.
In all honesty i didn't think much of it until I started reading on the net about rabies in Bali.
I went to the BIMC clinic a few days later, where I was told it was very unlikey to catch rabies from a cat, and even more unlikely from a scratch. I wa offered the vaccine there and then, but turned it down as I had a flight later that night/morning back to Australia.
After touch down I went straight to the hospital to be assesed, and once again was told that it was unlikely.
Further reading on the WHO website, specified scratches as being a possible way of contracting rabies. I rang the "health direct" which saw this as being a bit more serious and recommended I go a GP. Which I did and they refered me for post exposure treatment.
The vaccines are easy to get but the HRIG (Human Rabies Immuno Globoulin) is near impossible to get. The pharamacist spoke to two of their suppliers and then finally the manufacturer. Which told them that It could only be orderd by a hospital.
Anyhow back to hospital, where finaly it was orginised through the CDC.
So now I've had my 10ml Ig and my first vaccine shot. 3 or 4 shots to go yet.
The biggest thing was the anxiety of knowing that Rabies is a certain death once symptoms appear. These can take a week or months or even years to appear.
All I can say is get your rabies shot before holidaying - this ensure that you don't need the very hard to get/orginise HRIG after exposure - all you need after exposure is a few booster jabs.
Like I said it's the anxiety which is bad.
Oh and don't play with any animals in Bali, no matter if they look healthy or not. Apparently a number of travelers to monkey forest etc have been bitten on the head/neck by the monkeys. This is a lot more serious that a cat scratch.
Sure the doctors said that transmission was 'unlikely' but honestly can you tell me you're going to sleep well at night with a % chance of being infected?