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Help please, what is this? UD, she is making sores worse. UD again.

Saucepot

Saucepot

Alpha Buck
Was stroking Sophie just now and near each "shoulder" by the spine there is a raised area which feels hard. Upon further examination, they look like scabs, with smaller red or blood spots in them.

I am experienced with guineas, but not rabbits. I would say on a guinea pig it was mites but on guineas it tends to occur further down on the bottom of the back. Do rabbits get mites and is the treatment the same? i.e ivermectin?

Help please!! as usual, it is evening and of course can get her to the vet tomorrow if needed. I have some xeno 450 topical ivermectin in if it is mites?

By the way, she had her VHD jab a little under 2 weeks ago but that was in scruff of the neck.

Thank you!
 
Last edited:
Saucepot said:
Was stroking Sophie just now and near each "shoulder" by the spine there is a raised area which feels hard. Upon further examination, they look like scabs, with smaller red or blood spots in them.

I am experienced with guineas, but not rabbits. I would say on a guinea pig it was mites but on guineas it tends to occur further down on the bottom of the back. Do rabbits get mites and is the treatment the same? i.e ivermectin?

Help please!! as usual, it is evening and of course can get her to the vet tomorrow if needed. I have some xeno 450 topical ivermectin in if it is mites?

By the way, she had her VHD jab a little under 2 weeks ago but that was in scruff of the neck.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I suspect it is a local skin reaction to the VHD Vaccine.
As long as the area remains clean and dry it should fully heal, although it may take a couple of weeks to do so.

And 'Yes' Buns do get mites and Ivermectin will treat the condition.
 
Thank you! I have had a good examination of her now and she has 4 of these "wounds" all near the top of the spine. She is not being her mischevious self either since early afternoon. She had her VHD jab on Weds 25th March, so are these skins sores within the time frame to be a possibility? She doesn't seem bothered about me touching them either.

Sorry for all the questions, just want to be sure I will do right by her :love:
 
Are the 4 areas connected to each other, or completely separate? I wondered about a VHS reaction but I think that usually happens in one spot. Could she be catching her shoulders on something?
 
It is very possible that they are from the VHD Vaccine as the vaccine is in an oil base and it can sometimes cause the skin to blister. The risk of this can be minimised by the Vet using a different needle to give the vaccine from the needle used to draw it up. Also massaging the vaccination site for 2-3 minutes after administering it can help disperse the vaccine.
 
He used just one needle and didnt massage the site. The sores are within 3-4 cm of eachother and feel hard and crusty to touch and look sore. She seems to be "grooming" or biting the area more than usual....just unsure as to wether to leave her be or treat her with the ivermectin tonight?

She is eating/pooing etc fine, just a bit subdued.

Thanks
 
Personally I would not use Ivermectin until you know what you are treating.
It sounds as though she would benefit from a check by the Vet. An anti-inflammatory may be helpful.
 
my Pearl got scabs after a VHD jab. two separate areas on her back close the the injection site. my vet gave me antibiotics and i was told to bathe the area with salt water to prevent infection.

hope its nothing too serious...
 
Thanks guys. Saw the vet and she said it was a reaction to the VHD vaccine but didn't say to do anything? The sores look better today and have a round brown scab in them as opposed to being bloody and sore looking. I was told to keep an eye on her and bring her back if they got worse or if she got any more.

The annoying thing is I asked at the time she had the jab if there were any side effects and the answer was "all drugs can have side effects" if he had said she may get some sores, at least I would have known :(

Thank you for your advice :wave:
 
Saucepot said:
Thanks guys. Saw the vet and she said it was a reaction to the VHD vaccine but didn't say to do anything? The sores look better today and have a round brown scab in them as opposed to being bloody and sore looking. I was told to keep an eye on her and bring her back if they got worse or if she got any more.

The annoying thing is I asked at the time she had the jab if there were any side effects and the answer was "all drugs can have side effects" if he had said she may get some sores, at least I would have known :(

Thank you for your advice :wave:
Click to expand...

After pearl had her reaction i was told on all future vaccinations to massage the area a few times that night and it should stop the reaction happening. it is a common reaction apparently, nice of em to warn us huh :roll:
 
I have been reading up on the VHD jab and it seems this sort of reaction that Sophie has had has been more associated with cylap as opposed to the newer one Lapinject? I feel quite annoyed that my vet didn't warn me about this side effect and Sophie is not herself at all, she is quiet and hunched up.

I saw some pictures of the reaction on an australian site (wasnt sure if I was allowed to post the link?) and that is exactly how Sophies sores looked last night, some the size of a 5p piece and very sore.

I have made another appointment for 5pm as I am not happy that she is ok :(
I am pretty worried TBH. I am seeing a different vet, should I ask for antibiotics or something to soothe the sores? Does the manufacturer of the vaccine not have some responsibilty for a reaction like this? I want it noted at the vets that this has happened and perhaps they shouldn't use the cylap vaccine again....:cry:
 
Saucepot said:
I have been reading up on the VHD jab and it seems this sort of reaction that Sophie has had has been more associated with cylap as opposed to the newer one Lapinject? I feel quite annoyed that my vet didn't warn me about this side effect and Sophie is not herself at all, she is quiet and hunched up.

I saw some pictures of the reaction on an australian site (wasnt sure if I was allowed to post the link?) and that is exactly how Sophies sores looked last night, some the size of a 5p piece and very sore.

I have made another appointment for 5pm as I am not happy that she is ok :(
I am pretty worried TBH. I am seeing a different vet, should I ask for antibiotics or something to soothe the sores? Does the manufacturer of the vaccine not have some responsibilty for a reaction like this? I want it noted at the vets that this has happened and perhaps they shouldn't use the cylap vaccine again....:cry:
Click to expand...

awwwww i dont know...i said about contacting the manufacturer but the vet said its already a known about side effect so telling them wouldnt make a difference, im hoping its a one off reaction (will find out in August)

Pearls seemed to heal ok in the end, i think my vets give baytril for everything, Alvin had his op came home with baytril, alvin got stasis - came home with baytril. pearl got scabs after VHD jab and came home with baytril. when pearl went in the vet squeezed pearls scabs and she didnt react and there was no puss so he wasnt worried.. if the scabs are causing pain then you should insist the vet gives some painkiller and if they are half decent you shouldnt really be charged for these follow up visits :evil:

sending loads of vibes xxxx

salt water really is a good healer even if the vets didnt give you something for the wounds
 
My Billy got a big reaction after his first VHD vax (Cylap). As it was annoying him and quite swollen he kept grooming himself to the point he actually started biting his back quite badly and got an infection under the scabs from the wounds he inflicted himself (all that rather quickly, my two are house buns and we are always able to see any problem fast). So your bun might be doing the same, in a milder way that what my little silly one did :roll:.
Billy got treated fine but had to have a few injections (I suppose Baytril). I was unsure about what to do in the future, but this year decided to ask my vet for a Lapinject version of the VHD as Doris had been fine on it previously and Billy did not get any reaction whatsoever.
That is worth getting the lapinject for next time.
 
Thank you for that, yes she does seem to be over grooming herself at the moment. I can't understand why vets are using cylap when there is a newer better vaccine they can use!
 
A couple of my buns have this reaction too.. I found out all about it on RU a couple of years ago now... I applied some fuciderm once a day.. this helped to soothe and for the scabs to not become itchy.. so the buns didn't feel the need to scratch/bite the affected area. They cleared up in about 10 days (but the fur tends to take longer to return to the scabbed area, so you can still see slight a dimple in the fur where the VHD reaction was)

It might look worse than it is.. I would have gone to the vets if the buns were in pain, had made it bleed, if it was weeping, etc etc incase of infection. But luckily mine were ok. This year I just used salt water to bathe the reaction site.. it worked as well as the fuciderm in reducing the irritation etc and again the scab dropped off on it's own and the skin has healed perfectly. If the vets know that a bunny is known to have a reaction then I think the vet should always use the alternative to cylap, in future.
 
Saucepot said:
I can't understand why vets are using cylap when there is a newer better vaccine they can use!
Click to expand...

i think the thing is the cylap has been around a lot longer and the other one is pretty new on the market (2007), it may well have other side effects not known about yet so in effect isnt better after all. im not saying it does but personally im more scared of the unknown than the few scabs or a limp. i dont want to be the one to find a new side effect with my pair so im sticking with cylap for now. im also quite confident its a one off reaction as Alvin had the limp first time around and didnt get it again. hope i dont have to eat my words in August tho :?

plus one of the RU'ers lost a bun after the use of lapinjet could of been a coincidence but it scared me enough to be wary of jumping to the newer vaccine
 
Thanks for your comments. The vet I saw this evening is going to find out more about reactions like this one and will contact the manufacturer. She has only seen one other case of a similar reaction :? She gave me baytril but to be honest, I won't give it to her unless the sores start to look weepy. As it is they are nice and dry and have scabbed over.

Poor Sophie was probably more stressed by her vet visit than anything else, there were 3 huge dogs barking in the reception :shock:

She wants me to go back after Easter or sooner if they get worse.
 
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