Yup, rabies can be that slow. It will travel slowly up the nerves to the spinal cord then up to the brain before it kicks its nefarious work into high gear. There is little ill effect until that point except for slight burning or tingling sensations that are perceived as coming from the point of bite.
The modern treatment is similar to the original (revolutionary in its day) Pasteur treatment but involves gamma globulin as well now. Instead of in the belly, the injections are in the rump.
It would be ghastly to die of rabies.
Beyond gruesome. A death I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
When a Dallas hospital gave some of its patients rabies, it didn’t take them nearly that long to die.