NANAIMO -- A Nanaimo veterinarian is reminding pet owners to get their furry friends updated for rabies vaccinations after a bat came back positive for the disease.
The bat was found inside a Nanoose Bay home last week and may have come in contact with the homeowner's dog.
“Whenever you have a bat in someone’s house, then we always have to question, is that normal behaviour of a bat?" says Dr. Erin Langwith, veterinarian at Harbour City Animal Hospital.
"So if there’s a contact like that, we submit it for testing.”
It's the second bat in the last month the Nanaimo animal hospital submitted for testing. The first bat came back negative.
The dog was given a rabies vaccine booster and will be in self-isolation inside its Nanoose Bay home for three months.
The vaccine is very effective in preventing the disease if pets are vaccinated within seven days of potentially being exposed, the vet said.
If your pet potentially comes in contact with a bat, Langwith says collect the bat safely and bring it in to be tested.
Less than one per cent of bats in B.C. have rabies, however, eight per cent of bats that are submitted for testing come back positive.
