So in the middle of the night I heard a noise that I thought was some kind of bug. After 10 - 15 minutes I realized that whatever it was wasn't going away on it's own, so I got up to shoo it away. This little guy was on the floor screaming at the slider door being harassed by my two cats. I don't have a chimney or attic, so I have no idea how they got inside. When I opened the door, instead of taking flight, they simply hopped out the door froggy style. Were they injured? I don't think my cats did it if so, because they mostly just seemed confused by the poor creature. And what were they doing in the house?
Additional pictures of my unexpected guest being rudely gawked at by my feline friend:
And yes, I'm taking my cats to the vet just in case they got bitten.
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone concerned. I have contacted a doctor and she said that given the full details of the story I shouldn't need to worry. The poor thing was inside for *at most" an hour when everyone was awake, so it's highly unlikely to have bitten anyone before being spotted by me. The only concern remains the cats, who as mentioned found the bat before I did. I plan to vaccinate them ASAP. Once again, THANK YOU, but doc says I'm fine.
I didn't touch them in any way. I was very careful.
Still do it. Better safe than dead. You never know if it bit you while you were sleeping.
Their teeth are so small they can bite you when you're sleeping and not notice it. Better to be safe than sorry, especially with rabies.
Trust me.
You do not want to contract rabies. At all.
Once you have symptoms, it’s 100% fatal. Talk to your doctor, they can get it set up.
And the cats, too, if they’re not current.
Like everyone else said, just go get the shot.
A bat isn't like a spider or a mosquito. It has lived in your house for who knows how long. When a bat bites you, it's not gonna swell up and itch like a spider or a mosquito. Your gonna wake up with two pin pricks on your ankle or something and totally miss it. Or it'll salavate on your toothbrush or take a nibble out of an apple on your counter.
The shot will either be covered by Medicaid or any insurance or your government if you're not American.
If you want any help or information please reach out. I have plenty of generic advice (since I don't know where you live) and I'll help you in any way I can remotely.
If you want to be scared into it, just look up anything about rabies. It's literally the scariest disease I've ever seen. No cure, no treatment, going crazy, the whole shebang. It can also live in your body for years before it hits. And the vaccine works at any time before symptoms hit.