Rabbit Vaccinations
May is National Vaccination Month, so it seems an appropriate time to talk about getting your bunny vaccinated. To promote vaccination, during May you can get a voucher so that when you pay for your rabbits Myxi jab, you’ll get the booster in six months free. To qualify your bunny needs to be at least 9 months old and not have been vaccinated against Myxi in the last 9 months.
Vaccination is really important for rabbits as it protects against two very nasty diseases that are easily transmitted and generally fatal. A common misconception is that house bunnies, tucked up safe inside, don’t need vaccinating. This isn’t true! Myxomatosis is spread by biting insects like flies and fleas and they will quite happily sneak inside. VHD is easily spread on clothing, your shoes etc. and can last several months without a host – so again being inside is not protection. Scamp is vaccinated every six months against Myxi and every 12 months against VHD. Just a note if your reading this from somewhere other than the UK – vaccination is not always necessary and/or available so check with your vet if your not sure.
Last time Scamp was vaccinated, he had a little skin reaction (scab) at the injection site. There are several other well talked about reactions to vaccination, and, whilst this shouldn’t put you off, it might influence your choice of brand. I’m planning on getting Scamp vaccinated with Anivac this time, the latest VHD vaccination on the market.
Vaccination Reaction Survey
I’m currently holding a survey to learn more about the likelihood and type of reactions to vaccination, and if your bun has been vaccinated in the past (whether they had a reaction or not) I’d appreciate if you could fill in this quick form: http://www.therabbithouse.com/research/vaccination.asp and pass it on to anyone you know with a bunny – thank you!
Hello! The problem could be caused not only by used vaccine but the vet who vaccinated your rabbit /his/her skills/. I have currently 5 rabbits, all of them were vaccinated with the same vaccine /another one as you mentioned in the survey/ with no skin reaction BUT a year ago it was flooding here which cause mosquitos overpopulation and it meant a danger of Myxomatosis in our area. In that time I saved one young rabbit and had to vaccinate it as quickly as possible /almost all rabbits which weren´t vaccinated died/ so I didn´t have time to wait for my vet and I brought her to another vet nearby. He used the same vaccine and she had very bad skin reaction- scar about two centimetres large! I already had an adoptive family for her who took her the next days so I consulted the thing with another vet and it was told me that it uses to happen if the vaccine isn´t intermixed well. So maybe that vet wasn´t skilled enough or he was in a hurry… I don´t know if the scar remained on her skin but the next vaccination with the same vaccine was without skin problems.
With my best wishes, Eva