Edit: doctor just checked me out and isn't worried at all
My dogs found a baby raccoon last night, they didn't hurt her just did some aggressive sniffing. I picked her up and after a minute she chilled out and snuggled into me. Eventually she started crawling around and managed to give me a very minor scratch.
The problem is if a raccoon causes even a minor scratch it has to be put down and tested for rabies. I can't let that happen. But if I tell anyone, particularly my wife, they'll insist on it. Rabies is terrifying but there have only been 5 cases in my entire county in the past two years. The chances of getting rabies from a scratch are fairly low too. Still I'm a little worried for myself but not enough to allow an animal to be killed.
She's sleeping in a box outside now, I don't know if I should go hide her then tell someone or what. The preventive treatment they give if the animal can't be tested is rather painful and very expensive. I just can't let something die on the very small chance it could have infected me.
I'm really rather upset and don't know what to do.
If it drew blood, definitely say you got scratched by something that ran away and do the preventative stuff. Death by rabies is one of the most horrible deaths.
Just left a message for my doctor.
ER. Now. You don't have much time at all to prevent a possible rabies infection, and once you get a response from your doctor, that time may have already passed.