A person who has previously been vaccinated against rabies and is now scratched by a cat’s claws will probably not need a rabies vaccination to prevent rabies. This is because if the previous rabies vaccination was a full five doses of rabies vaccine, within six months, the rabies neutralizing antibodies can still be maintained at a relatively high level, and being scratched by a cat’s claws, these antibodies are sufficient to prevent yourself from being infected with rabies at this time, so there is no need for another rabies vaccination. If it is now more than six months old and still within one year, you can get two additional rabies vaccinations. Outside of one year, within three years, you can get a three-dose booster rabies vaccine. When more than three years have passed, the antibody level at this time is likely to drop to a very low level, or even become negative, so the full five rabies vaccinations are required.