The new dual vaccine and rabbits with health issues

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to start a thread specifically for bunnies with health problems who have had the new dual vaccine. I know many people are worried about getting it for their bunnies if they do have issues and I know that quite a few bunnies with underlying health problems have already had it

I thought it might be good for people to post what health problems their rabbits have and what if any problems they have encountered when getting them vaccinated.

Obviously I know that not every rabbit is well enough to be vaccinated and you should always take the advice of a rabbit savvy vet regarding vaccinations. But there are many bunnies out there with long term health problems and vaccinating them is always a big decision and an even bigger one when it is something completely new!

We have always been extra cautious about which bunnies we vaccinate and while we will always have bunnies who cannot be vaccinated due to illness, this week we did take a few for the new dual vaccine who we haven't vaccinated in the past and so far all seems good.

Firstly, I have always been too nervous to vaccinate Dave our head tilt bunny But on wednesday he had his dual vaccination and so far so good

Also vaccinated for the first time in just over a year was Babs. When she arrived we vaccinated her for myxi but this brought on an underlying pasturella infection we were not aware of and so she never went on to have VHD. Bloods also showed her liver was not working properly so for the past year we have left all vaccinations. However more recent bloods showed her liver function had improved so we decided to vaccinate her this time. Its a little early to say whether the pasturella will return but so far she is fine

So if your bunny has health problems but has had the new vaccine please post your experience :wave:

Thankfully, I don't have any buns with health issues but think this is a very good idea for a thread :thumb:

Liz47 said:

Thankfully, I don't have any buns with health issues but think this is a very good idea for a thread :thumb:

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Thanks Liz :wave: I had forgotten all about this thread with everything that is happening here with the bunnies

bisc and matt have had it and were fine. i was worried about matt having it but he was completely fine. the thing i noticed is that usually after vaccs they seem quite quiet for a bit but this time they were back to normal as soon as we got home. it seemed less harsh (?) almost.

just to add - it's respiratory problems bisc and matt have. matt being much worse with his and usually we have to leave at least a month between the myxi and the vhd rather than the two weeks usually recommended. but this dual vacc was great, no problems at all. i'd even say they were better with this one than the normal ones. :wave:

Interested to hear how snuffles buns react as my Pearl has had almost persistent snuffles for months now and I'm worried about subjecting her to it :?

biscandmatt1 said:

just to add - it's respiratory problems bisc and matt have. matt being much worse with his and usually we have to leave at least a month between the myxi and the vhd rather than the two weeks usually recommended. but this dual vacc was great, no problems at all. i'd even say they were better with this one than the normal ones. :wave:

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We always left a month with our bunnies too as most have some sort of problem. But we have experienced absolutely no problems either

biscandmatt1 said:

bisc and matt have had it and were fine. i was worried about matt having it but he was completely fine. the thing i noticed is that usually after vaccs they seem quite quiet for a bit but this time they were back to normal as soon as we got home. it seemed less harsh (?) almost.

just to add - it's respiratory problems bisc and matt have. matt being much worse with his and usually we have to leave at least a month between the myxi and the vhd rather than the two weeks usually recommended. but this dual vacc was great, no problems at all. i'd even say they were better with this one than the normal ones. :wave:

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Six of our buns are going up for their vaccinations tomorrow, I feel nervous about the new vaccine so I was pleased to read your post!

I will report back to base after the vet visit :lol:

I have found that the most serious reactions to vaccines show up between 2-4 weeks after the vaccination. So don't say no reaction has occured until that amount of time has passed.

I have seem many rabbits crash with multiple symptoms during this time with both the single vaccines, and particularly ofter having the second of two. I hope but doubt that this will be better with the combined. I'm not risking it with older or health compromised rabbits until I know more.

doorkeeper said:

I have found that the most serious reactions to vaccines show up between 2-4 weeks after the vaccination. So don't say no reaction has occured until that amount of time has passed.

I have seem many rabbits crash with multiple symptoms during this time with both the single vaccines, and particularly ofter having the second of two. I hope but doubt that this will be better with the combined. I'm not risking it with older or health compromised rabbits until I know more.

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We have also found the problems to occur within 2 - 4 weeks of vaccination to so will be keeping this thread updated with our bunnies progress

We also have bunnies that will definitely not get the vaccination and some that our on our 'possibly list' depending on how the ones we have just had done get on :?

I'll make sure to come back and check in a month. I've still got a supply of the single vaccine to use up before I buy the combined one anyway.

Hugo's There said:

We always left a month with our bunnies too as most have some sort of problem. But we have experienced absolutely no problems either

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that's good to know. i was quite nervous about it tbh.

also, it's been nearly 4 weeks now since bisc and matt had theirs. matt is quite snuffly lately, and on his stronger meds this week, but that happens every 4-6 weeks so i don't think it is to do with the vaccination.

doorkeeper said:

I'll make sure to come back and check in a month. I've still got a supply of the single vaccine to use up before I buy the combined one anyway.

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Thats why I thought it was a good idea to start the thread This way we can keep a check of which health problems react well or badly to the new vaccine which might help others make a decision for their rabbit, obviously along with advice from their own vet.

My two are getting it in a week so I will update. Inca has a long list of issues so fingers crossed she is ok x

Now its been awhile I thought i would update on our bunnies that have been vaccinated with the new vaccine

As you know we lost 5 bunnies very close together. Of those only one had been vaccinated in the previous few weeks. Poor Genevieve got a clean bill of health only 2 weeks before she died but there was no way any of could know what was growing in her head

Dave did get a severe case of mites after his vaccination, but he occasionally gets these anyway and it cleared up very quickly with one lot of spot on drops

All the others have been fine. So now just over half of our bunnies are fully vaccinated. The only one we are waiting to get vaccinated now is Onslow who is having a real bad time with mites at the moment, but he will be done if he ever responds to treatment.

The ones we have decided against vaccinating are Herman, stevie, Humph, Angel and Rosie ( although I may get her done later still deciding ) Bruce, Prudence, Tami, Heather and Lily and Roxy ( but she hasn't fitted for ages so may take her later )

Now the vaccine has been around a little longer I thought this thread might be worth a bump :wave:

We have continued to vaccinate our special needs rabbits with the dual vaccine fpr the past 8 months, including some that we would not have vaccinated with the single VHD vaccine and we haven't had a problem with any of the rabbits

Does anyone else have a bunny they can add to the thread who has had the vaccine even with health issues and had no side effects?