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VHD Vaccine Side Effects

T

Terri_louise177

Alpha Buck
Hi there! I hope somebody can help me, I've been searching high and low on the internet for the answer but am still completely confused! :cry:

My two Mini Lops went for their first VHD vaccination yesterday. The first problem was that Charlie has been losing weight very slowly over the past month and I have no idea why. He has been eating and drinking fine! But since bringing him back from his vaccine yesterday he hasn't been himself (which is to be expected I guess) and has also eaten A LOT less than usual. I'm so worried about him because I just don't know why he has been losing this weight! And I can't tell whether he's stopped eating because of whatever is causing the weight loss, or because of the vaccine. I've been given worming paste to give him which is great, but I really don't think he has worms. Does anyone have any idea as to why my little bunny has slowly lost weight? He's just over a year old, has free run of my living room and kitchen, access to unlimited hay, and a small amount of pellets everyday. He also enjoys watercress, parsley, mint and wheatgrass, which I grow myself, so has no pesticides. I really hope my bunny is okay :( any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!
 
Do you know which vaccine he was give? Cyclap or Lapinject.
Cyclap is known to cause various side effects.
If he is still poorly I would give the vets a call, if he is eating less then his gut could be starting to slow down and the faster you act to get it going the better.
I would not use the worming paste yet, as it could make him extremely poorly after the jab, wait at least a week before starting the paste to give his immune system time to catch up.

In regards to the weight loss, have your vets done any blood tests?
 
Thank you for the quick reply! I'm very upset that my vet gave me the paste if it could make him even more poorly! It isn't my usual vet as he's only around on a Thursday, but I have booked Charlie in for half 4 today anyways, as I feel he should be seen. He hasn't had a blood test so I will suggest that when we go in later. The vaccine he has is cylap. Does that mean the appetite loss could be due to this? I've just given him some mint which he ate slowly. And he's pecking at his pellets... but not nearly as enthusiastic as usual :(

I really hope he's okay. Do you think it could be GIT or "hairball"?
 
It makes me so angry to hear that. We usually see a vet who we completely trust and is amazing, and this is the first time we've seen this other vet. I thought it was strange when I got home and reserched the side effects of VHD, that if one side effect is possibly loss of appetite, why would you give it to a bun losing weight?! I hope Charlie is going to be okay, he's such a darling bun to me!

His teeth seem fine, he doesn't have incisors as he suffered from the worst case of Malocclusion my vet had ever seen (in terms of, my bun needed them trimmed every two weeks!) We adopted him with this problem, which my vet says was probably down to his very poor diet before we had him (a bowl of musli pellets everyday! And that was it!! :evil:). But has been coping fine for about 3 months. I will make sure the vet checks his teeth again when we see her later! I think his fecal output is less if I think about it... and possibly smaller (it's very hard to tell as we have a 3 month old bun who lives with him who has tiny poos) so in reality, he's either pooing very little or the poo is very small compared to usual. He seems to be drinking normally though... just went downstaires and he's drank about a quarter of his bottle since 8 this morning (and that's including the little bun too)

Thanks for the replies!
 
Terri_louise177 said:
It makes me so angry to hear that. We usually see a vet who we completely trust and is amazing, and this is the first time we've seen this other vet. I thought it was strange when I got home and reserched the side effects of VHD, that if one side effect is possibly loss of appetite, why would you give it to a bun losing weight?! I hope Charlie is going to be okay, he's such a darling bun to me!

His teeth seem fine, he doesn't have incisors as he suffered from the worst case of Malocclusion my vet had ever seen (in terms of, my bun needed them trimmed every two weeks!) We adopted him with this problem, which my vet says was probably down to his very poor diet before we had him (a bowl of musli pellets everyday! And that was it!! :evil:). But has been coping fine for about 3 months. I will make sure the vet checks his teeth again when we see her later! I think his fecal output is less if I think about it... and possibly smaller (it's very hard to tell as we have a 3 month old bun who lives with him who has tiny poos) so in reality, he's either pooing very little or the poo is very small compared to usual. He seems to be drinking normally though... just went downstaires and he's drank about a quarter of his bottle since 8 this morning (and that's including the little bun too)

Thanks for the replies!
Click to expand...


I would get his molars (cheek teeth) checked by a Bunny Savvy Vet ASAP. If he has a malocclusion it is very likely that his molars are effected. This would definately account for the weightloss

Do you actually see him eat A LOT of hay ? If he has maloclusion he may appear to be eating hay, but in reality he takes ages to eat a very small amount. In which case he will NEED more concentrated feed (pellets). Some Dental Rabbits just cannot ingest enough hay to maintain a healthy weight.
 
I took our new chap for his first VHD yesterday and he's pretty quiet today. He's 10 weeks old and perfectly healthy.

I put him outside this morning but he just moved around a little and came back in. He ate a little bit of grass though and I pulled a few bits up and fed him those bits too. He's also scoffed a very small bit of celery.

He had the jab yesterday morning. He was fine last night but sluggish this morning. He seems to be moving around fine when he does decide to go somewhere.
 
I just wanted to update this thread with my findings. Sorry i haven't replied sooner, but I've been worried sick about my bun. When I took him to the vet they asked to keep him in over night to syringe feed him every two hours and also give him some medications to get his tummy moving! I trusted their judgement and now Charlie is home running, jumping and most importantly, eating (and pooping, yippee)! They have asked that I give him two different meds, three times a day. Ranitidine 0.2ml dose orally and Metoclopramide 1.4ml dose orally. Does anyone know anything about these meds, they seem to have helped him so far but any advice would be helpful (I feel bad for not trusting the vet 100%, but this is my bun! And I have to look out for him!! :)). They've cheked his back molars and they are fine, so I'm not sure what caused this tummy upset and weight loss. But now I'm feeding him up on his favourite oat hay which will hopefully give him some meat on his bones :(

Does anyone have any advice on how to stop this happening again. I hear pineapple juice is a good way of preventing a blockage, and plenty of fibre?
 
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