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VHD vaccines

Alicia

Mama Doe
I know there's another thread on whether its necessary to vaccinate your rabbits so I'm sorry if some of this is on that thread but when I went to the rescue on Sunday they said that all the rabbits were vaccinated against myxi but not against VHD. She said this was because of the cost of vaccinating them, and also they'd only had one case of VHD before and they've been open a very long time. There was a poor little dutch bunny that had myxi but fortunately they said he was getting better and was almost over it because he was vaccinated. I've seen that most people think myxi vaccinations are more important than the VHD vaccinations (I know they are both very important but I have been told by quite a few people to prioritize the myxi vaccinations and some people don't vaccinate against VHD at all) I was just wondering why this is? Is it because there is more myxi around than VHD? My Mum doesn't really see the point in vaccinating the rabbits but she doesn't mind me getting them vaccinated if I get them to the vets myself and pay for it so I'm just trying to work it all out :)
 
Personally, if I had no choice and had to vaccinate for one I would chose to vaccinate against mxyi because it is a disease that takes about 2 weeks to kill a rabbit without treatment and if a rabbit is unvaccinated the best course of action it to PTS. With VHD the rabbit, it will still suffer but it will die a lot quicker and so suffer for a shorter time, within I think about 24 hours. The other thing is that many people aren't aware their rabbit has died of VHD because they don't do PM and therefore aren't aware there is VHD in the area, mxyi is obvious.
Personally I would prefer to avoid my rabbits suffering from either of these diseases so vaccinate for both.
 
A lot of vets say 'oh it's not in our area' because it's such a quick killer so many owners don't get as far as to the vets. I think both are absolutely essential.
 
VHD goes on area a lot, for example, if I wanted to have mine vaccinated against it, I would have to request it to be ordered in, and pay a higher charge, as my vet doesn't carry it.

As your vet :)
 
Ok thank you :) I am definetly going to try to get them vaccinated against both VHD and myxi because I don't really want to risk it. I'll ask the vet if they do the VHD vaccination :)
 
They may not have had any cases of VHD yet, but that could very easily change. Especially in a 'rescue' where people bring in new rabbits from unknown sources. If they have an outbreak of VHD they could find a very large proportion of their rabbits die.
 
My own rabbits are vaccinated for both myxi and VHD but the rescue I work for only vaccinate for Myxi, simply because VHD isn't so common in our area so it is owners choice to get it done, plus the cost of it is quite high compared to the myxi jab.

I guess if we start to see VHD cases rising in the area/surrounding counties we would start to vaccinate for it as well
 
My vet used to say they had no cases of VHD so not to bother. They then had a case confirmed by the vet school and sent out a letter recommending all pet rabbits be vacc. They also use the new vaccine, anivac.
 
They may not have had any cases of VHD yet, but that could very easily change. Especially in a 'rescue' where people bring in new rabbits from unknown sources. If they have an outbreak of VHD they could find a very large proportion of their rabbits die.

The local rescue up here didn't vaccinate, they then lost over half their rabbits, about 30, to a confirmed VHD outbreak.
 
Exactly, it's a foolish argument isn't it. Like saying you don't need to worry about foxes because you've never seen any. The first time you see one they might have killed all your buns!
 
Exactly, it's a foolish argument isn't it. Like saying you don't need to worry about foxes because you've never seen any. The first time you see one they might have killed all your buns!

Yes, exactly. I hate it when people say they don't have predators in their area. It may be a week or it may be a year but its likely that at some point you're going to have a problem with predators if you allow your buns to free range without supervision.
 
I personally find VHD more scary than myxi. With myxi, it needs insects or direct contact to catch it, which is less likely indoors (I have a housebun) but VHD can live without a host for 3 months at room temp.

So say someone has a rabbit die from it (and they likely wont realise as its so quick and can be symptomless) then touches the hutch. Then they go to the pet shop to get some disinfectant, or even a new rabbit. They touch the shelves and products. A month later you go into the shop and touch something. You come home and your rabbit dies next day. It can spread so easily, there is no way I'd take the chance.

I have a friend who I suspect had a rabbit die from vhd. Apparently she died overnight of the cold, but she was apparently healthy so I doubt it. I think thats the worst thing, you dont know its VHD unless you get a PM.

I vaccinate because I think my rabbits life is worth more than £30 a year. I am quite lucky though as my vaccines are all about £10.

eta: You're making the right choice Alicia, better safe than sorry.
 
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The thing with VHD that sticks in my mind is my vet's quote about hearing screams of a rabbit dying from it. It's horrendous.
 
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