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jabs?

jennyh

Young Bun
just wondering about these jabs we give our bunnies. i got my first bunny, a black rex, when i was 10 yrs old. he never had any jabs, never went to the vet , was given inexpensive hay and straw and fed on pellet food. i had coco for nearly 10 yrs when he just died of old age. since then i have had a number of rabbits, all neutered and jabbed, and ALL of which have died under the age of 5. i then got my latest bunny harvey and thought i'd leave out jabs, vet trips and expensive hay and food. he died 3 weeks ago at 7 and a half yrs old and had artheritis in his back legs. but he still lived alot longer than the ones which i spent the money on, thinking i was doing the right thing. has anybody had a similar experience?
 
:wave: i think most of us on here can tell a similar story about when we were kids..a pet rabbit never really looked after the way we look after them today...
i think its because like alot of animals ,us included ,there ARE more health issues out there that we now know about. take cancer, not really in the news when i was young ,now everyone i know has some connection with it.
also i think these days every thing is done in a sterile way, there for we and other creatures , are not as used to germs etc as we once were.
im not saying that we should lead dirty lives and never be vaccinated etc, but i think its just better to be safe than sorry alot of the time.
i still think its better to know that you have done everything you can for the one you love:)
 
vaccinations aren't made of drugs ;)

Its not really possible to decide sucht hings based on such a small and unscientific sample of animals - its like those people who say "ive smoked 50 cigarettes a day all my life and never had any illness" - it still dosnt mean its statistically advisable
 
I agree with you Jenny. I don't have my dogs vaccinated yearly - only when they need it (I have them blood tested to check their antibody levels) so why do I have my bunnies jabbed six monthly/yearly? I don't know how much testing is done on bunny jabs. I know that drug companies can guarantee the effectiveness of parvo/distemper jabs for one year as that's the amount of time they've tested them for. So that's why they say you need to have your dog's boosted yearly. However, most vets are now saying that you need only have these done once every three years. Some people have puppy jabs and then no others. As humans, we have some vaccines as babies and then never again. This is because we create antibodies in our blood which lie dormant until the virus enters our system. Is the same not true for our bunnies?

This is a whole new subject really and one which has been done to death on dog forums. You have to make your own decision. You can either vaccinate six montly/yearly and risk over-vaccination (which could lead to auto-immune disease or other such nasties) but know that they're protected against disease or you can vaccinate less often, thus giving their own natural immune system a chance to recover from constantly being invaded but at the same time, risk them catching something that could possibly have been prevented.

The only difference between dog and rabbit diseases is that both parvo and distemper are not widespread whereas myxi is. I do have my bunnies jabbed every six months for myxi as it's widespread in my area and they're out 24/7 and for VHD every year. However, it would be interesting to get them blood tested when their next jabs are due, just to see how much immunity they've got. Perhaps I'll ask my vet about it. Of course, blood testing can work out to be twice the price of just a jab because if their immune levels are low, then you also need to pay for a jab. Personally, I can afford it so I choose to do so.
 
When I was a kid and didn't know any better my sister and I lost two buns to myxi because they were not vaccinated. I have never expereience anything so distressing in my life, the onset is so quick and the suffering imence. :cry: Unless you have seen it you cannot comprehend the seriousness of it. For that reason all four of my buns are vaccinated every six months and I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
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