Hello
🛑Your risk is extremely low to essentially none.
Why: No blood, no broken skin → rabies virus cannot enter You washed immediately (good move) The cat is healthy 21 days later — an animal infectious with rabies would not survive that long
The mark disappeared within 24 hours, suggesting no real bite
Key rule:
Rabies requires saliva entering broken skin or a mucous membrane. A light nip with intact skin = no exposure.
Because you’re in Pakistan (rabies-endemic): If there had been any bleeding, puncture, or scratch, vaccination would be advised In your described situation, PEP is NOT indicated
Based on what you described, you’re safe. This doesn’t sound like a rabies exposure.
I trust this helps Thank you
Rabies transmission typically requires saliva from an infected animal to enter through broken skin, a deep scratch, or a bite that causes bleeding. In your case, there was no visible wound, no bleeding, and the pink mark disappeared within 24 hours, which suggests there was likely no skin break at all. Simply being “nipped” or touched through intact skin does not transmit rabies.
An important point is that the cat has remained healthy for 21 days. Animals infected with rabies usually become sick and die within 10–14 days after they start shedding the virus. Since the cat is still healthy after three weeks, it was not rabid at the time of contact.
Washing your hands immediately also further reduced any theoretical risk.
