Bat in the House

The dog woke us up acting very strange at 4:30AM. I let him out and when I got him to come back in - he really wanted to stay out - he ran straight downstairs. A few minutes later, we discovered a bat in our room. We got the bat out and I've been awake ever since. Anyone else have experience with this? I've been (awake and) reading about it online and it sounds like we should all get tested for rabies even the vaccinated pets?

I have a colony of close to 50 bats living in a "cabin" center of my flower bed, I encourage them to stick around because of all the bugs they eat, I'll sit outside at dawn to watch them make their last frantic flying feed. Almost like a ballet. as long as you didn't touch it and have it bite you, you're fine, I've often picked up the young that forget to fly into the shelter by the time the sun comes up and place it under the eve then drape a towel down over it.

Public health always asks that you bring the bat in so that they can test it. Most of the time if a bat bites you, you won't know because the teeth are so small. They don't usually tests you or the animals. If you still have the bat, contact public health. If not maybe give them a call anyways to see what information they can give you.

One evening we found a bat clutching the stucco ceiling upstairs in our old house.
It was removed using a big towel and placed outside on the grass. No problem.

If you take a bat into be tested for rabies or any other animal it will be killed so the brain can be examined. Even though bats are tiny you can still feel their bite, so if you were not bitten nor were your pets then you should check out where it might have entered your house and close up the opening. Bats are so beneficial to the environment and will try to avoid humans. At the age of 12 I found a little brown bat baby and fostered her for about 2 months, feeding her moths and other delicacies until she was mature enough to make it on her own, she did bite me a few times in the beginning of her rehab and it was similar to a hamster/mouse bite. She used to hang upside down from a stick suspended from the ceiling of the rabbit cage I kept her in and would get really excited at feeding time when I'd release a moth in the cage and she would fly around chasing it until caught and eaten.

I had a long conversation about ceasing vaccinations with my vet several years ago. He did some research to answer my questions and came back with the opinion that there is not a lot of rabies found in Canada anymore. And bats, it turns out, were never big carriers anyways. I think it's probably a non issue - especially if your pets are vaccinated or have been vaccinated in the last 5 years. If you still have some worries - call your vet for advice, or your doctor.