The French Armed Forces are regularly deployed in areas of endemic rabies, a virus responsible for 59,000 deaths worldwide per year. During Operation DAMAN 50 at the end of 2024, rapid conflict intensification in southern Lebanon at once significantly increased the rabies exposure of French servicemen and decreased access to laboratory analyses. Exposures of military personnel to scratches from cats of unknown rabies status multiplied, putting post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) stocks under extreme strain. To minimize the risk of a PEP shortage and its consequences, the medical personnel deployed in Operation DAMAN 50 adopted a pragmatic strategy updating existing recommendations. At the individual level, watch-and-see PEP occurred only when veterinary cat observation was possible. In the absence of reliable laboratory service, it was based on pathophysiological, epidemiological, environmental and operational data. On a wider scale, the strategy involved controlling the feline population. Based on the clinical field skills and global appraisal of situations not previously encountered by military practitioners, operational capacity was maintained, while limited vaccine supplies were reserved for patients in dire need.