• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Myxomatosis in Ireland

Sabine

New Kit
Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum.
I have read through the threads for brave Viola Rose and Autumn (RIP) and thought this might be the place to ask a few questions regarding myxo in vaccinated rabbits.
All of my rabbits (except one who is on a different schedule) were vaccinated two months ago. One of them started showing signs of myxo by forming a lump on her ear. In the followind weeks two other rabbits developed minor skin lesions that have all scabbed over by now.
My youngest rabbit, Smokey, was neutered two weeks ago and a few days after the operation displayed serious signs of the disease (eyes and genitals swollen, lumps all over his body) He is in perfect form other wise and he had two baytril injections from the vet+metacam and fucidin eye ointment. We also have baytral to take orally.
I somehow suspect the reason he was so badly affected is that the operation might have caused so much stress that his immune system was compromised but it also raised quite a few questions about the disease for me.
1. Is the immunity accumulative. Does it mean the more often they get jabs the less likely they will catch it again?
2. Will the rabbits that have shown signs of myxo have a higher resistance to the disease than those that seemed to be unaffected?
3. When Smokey recovers, having gone through a severe case of the disease, will he have a higher immunity than those who only suffered a minor skin problem?
4. Is it wise to vaccinate a rabbit when myxi is around although he may already be incubating the disease? Since it is a life vaccine are there dangers?

I apologise if those questions have been answered time after time but I couldn't read through every single myxo thread.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
Sabine
 
:wave:

I was just thinking about you earlier and wondering how smokey was doing.

1. Is the immunity accumulative. Does it mean the more often they get jabs the less likely they will catch it again? i believe that the immunity does increase, but I think its complex as to the factors involving this, such as the rabbits own immune system, etc
2. Will the rabbits that have shown signs of myxo have a higher resistance to the disease than those that seemed to be unaffected? Rabbits can get myxo more than once, so potentially it does not provide an immunity to it. However, myxo mutates and so whether or not they would be immune to the strain they have had, I don't know
3. When Smokey recovers, having gone through a severe case of the disease, will he have a higher immunity than those who only suffered a minor skin problem? No, I don't think so


Have you brought him inside now? How is he doing?

Good to see you here,

Tracy
 
In answer to your first question
-No -it doesn't matter how many jabs they have in their lifetime as its not the NUMBER of jabs but the FREQUENCY of jabs(every 6months in high risk areas) that protects them.
My rabbit got nodular myxomatosis when she was 9yrs old but recovered. It is contracted by the rabbit being bitten by a myxomatosis carrying insect.
I hope your bunnies all get well soon.
-sue:wave:
 
Hiya - so sorry to hear you've been having problems with the dreaded myxo :(

My understanding is that immunity lasts for 6 months and isn't cumulative. I did read a paper a while ago which suggested that even rabbits that have had actual myxomatosis only showed antibody response for 8 months, so it seems to be a transient thing rather than an 'immunity for life' kind of illness and therefore suggests that those worse affected won't necessarily have higher immunity in the future.

There might be a couple of reasons a bun could come down with it worse after an op - it's plausible that he was already incubating it at the time of the op and therefore it hit him harder because the GA/operation would make his body work harder to fight off the myxo as well as cope with the GA and heal the wound. Similarly if he picked it up while recovering. The other factor may be if the op was done soon after vaccination - it takes the body 2 weeks to develop immunity to myxo so if another procedure takes place within that time, there's an increased risk that immunity won't develop properly.

While myxo is a live vaccine, it is not made from the myxomatosis virus, it is made from another related virus and relies on cross-immunity (hence the vaccine isn't 100% effective). If I became aware that any rabbits weren't up to date with their vaccinations I would take them to be vaccinated straight away if a nearby bun came down with myxo or if I knew myxo to be around. There is of course a chance that they are already incubating it, but then again they might not be, so vaccinating (as long as they are healthy and not showing any symptoms) gives them the best chance of protection. But even then, it still takes 14 days for immunity to develop so they are still at higher risk in this time.

Hope that helps a bit :)
 
Thanks Tracy and Sue for responding to my questions.
Smokey is doing fine. He lives inside anyhow and was just out for the day before he was neutered.
The only obvious sign of the illness is his already sick eye that looks even worse now with the swelling. The lumps don't show as he is long haired but from what I can feel none of them seem to have erupted. He doesn't appear sick in any way and his appetite is fantastic. We have another vet's appointment in the morning.
No other cases have developed since (fingers crossed)
 
Thanks, santa, too. All buns, including the one that contracted it badly, were vaccinated in September. One was vaccinated in March (Oskar)and he lives with the two girls that showed the first signs about a months ago.
I discussed revaccinating Oskar but my vet was given advice againt it by the drug company (I think)
 
Really? I know I'm no vet but that sounds a bit odd :? If Oskar is healthy I'd have thought the risk of him not being revaccinated (and therefore contracting myxo as an unvaccinated rabbit) were far more significant than the risks to him of being revaccinated :?

After all, if he was already incubating myxo then it's unlikely to make any difference to his prognosis whether he had the vaccine given or not :?
 
If I remember rightly the concern was that if he was already incubating it the vaccine could put to much starain on the body and make it worse
 
Back
Top