Rabbit Vaccination Survey

I believe that all rabbits in the UK should be regularly vaccinated against both VHD and Myxomatosis, and I have my own rabbits vaccinated regularly. These are contagious diseases which are fatal. Recently there has been some concern from rabbit owners regarding reactions to some brands of vaccinations; something that I have also experienced myself. To find out what the real risks of reactions are, I conducted a survey to assess the frequency of reactions to different brands. Although I believe that the risks of reaction are more than outweighed by the protection vaccination provides, where there is choice of different vaccinations, I’m sure I am not alone in wanting to choose the one that provides the lowest risk of reaction for my rabbit.

About the Survey

The first part of the survey asked rabbit owners to name their rabbit (to encourage owners to fill in the survey once for each individual) and to specify which of four vaccinations he/she had received:

Nobi-vac Myxo (Mxymotosis)
Lapinject (VHD)
Anivac (VHD)
Cylap (VHD)

A second page then asked the owner to indicate what reaction (if any) their rabbit had in response to each vaccination. The survey was completed for a total of 372 individual rabbits. The majority of respondents were members of the internet rabbit forum Rabbit’s United.

Reactions by Vaccination Type

The table below shows the number of rabbits experiencing each reaction:

	Nobi-vac Myxo	Lapinject	Anivac	Cylap
Total Vaccinations	338	208	28	161
Reactions
None	289 [85.5 %]	194 [93.3 %]	27 [96.4 %]	101 [62.7 %]
Skin Reaction at Injection Site	9 [2.7 %]	3 [1.4 %]	0 [0.0 %]	23 [14.3 %]
Limp (Effected ability to walk)	3 [0.9 %]	1 [0.5 %]	0 [0.0 %]	16 [9.9 %]
Fever	4 [1.2 %]	1 [0.5 %]	0 [0.0 %]	4 [2.5 %]
A relapse of previously diagnosed 'snuffles'	5 [1.5 %]	0 [0.0 %]	0 [0.0 %]	1 [0.6 %]
Off Colour/slightly under the weather	36 [10.7 %]	11 [5.3 %]	1 [3.6 %]	41 [25.5 %]
Stasis/Bloat i.e. Stopped Eating/Toileting	5 [1.5 %]	2 [1.0 %]	0 [0.0 %]	8 [5.0 %]

These results clearly show that of the three VHD vaccinations (Cylap, Lapinject and Anivac), rabbits vaccinated with Cylap rather than Lapinject have a much higher chance of experiencing all types of reaction. Anivac is a relatively new vaccination, so few rabbits had received it, but the results so far show that it may also provide a much lower risk of reaction that Cylap.

Individual’s Reactions to Different VHD Vaccinations

Experiencing a reaction to one brand of vaccination can make owners hesitant to take up future vaccinations. By comparing individual rabbits, who had been vaccinated with more than one type of VHD vaccination, it’s possible to estimate the possibility of individual rabbits’ reactions to alternative vaccinations.

Cylap v. Lapinject

A total of 54 rabbits had received both Cylap and Lapinject vaccinations. Of these, 33 had no reaction to either vaccination, 14 reacted to Cylap and not Lapinject and 7 reacted to both vaccinations. No rabbits reacted to lapinject but not Cylap. This implies that if a rabbit has a reaction to the Cylap vaccination, there is 66% chance they will not react to Lapinject.

Cylap v. Anivac

A total of 9 rabbits had received both Cylap and Anivac vaccinations. Of these 5 had no reaction to either vaccination and 4 reacted to Cylap and not Anivac. No rabbits reacted to Anivac. Whilst this indicates that rabbits that react to Cylap may not react to Anivac, the low numbers of rabbits that have had Anivac so far make the results inconclusive.

Anivac v. Lapinject

A total of 14 rabbits had received both Anivac and Lapinject vaccinations. Of these 13 had no reaction to either vaccination and 1 reacted to Anivac but not Lapinject.

Myxomatosis Vaccination

Currently only one brand of Myxomatosis vaccination is available in the UK so owners do not have the option of alternative brands. However, I noted there may be a correlation between reactions to Myxomatosis and VHD.

Nobi-vac Myxo & Cylap

A total of 150 rabbits received both Cylap and Nobi-vac Myxo, of these 92 reacted to neither vaccination, 31 reacted only to Cylap, 2 only to Nobi-Vac Myxo and 25 to both. This indicates that rabbits that have a reaction to the Myxo vaccination may have a 93% chance of also reacting to the Cylap vaccination. In comparison, in rabbits that did not react to the Myxo vaccination, the probability of a reaction to Cylap reduced to 33% (the average probability of a reaction to Cylap is 37%).

Nobi-vac Myxo & Lapinject

A total of 202 rabbits had received both Lapinject and Nobi-vac Myxo, of these 179 reacted to neither vaccination, 7 reacted only to Lapinject, 9 only to Nobi-Vac Myxo and 7 to both. This indicates that rabbits that have a reaction to the Myxo vaccination may have a 43% chance of also reacting to Lapinject. In comparison, in rabbits that did not react to the Myxo vaccination, the probability of a reaction to Lapinject was 4% (the average probability of a reaction to Lapinject is 7%).

Nobi-vac Myxo & Anivac

A total of 22 rabbits had received both Anivac and Nobi-vac Myxo, of these 20 reacted to neither vaccination, 1 reacted to Lapinject, 1 reacted to Nobi-vac Myxo, and none reacted to both vaccinations.

Although the survey did not record the dates of the vaccination, in general Myxomatosis vaccinations are given two weeks ahead of VHD. These results suggest that rabbits that show a reaction to their Myxomatosis vaccination may have an increased chance of reacting to VHD and would particularly benefit from receiving Lapinject (or possibly Anivac) rather than Cylap. Comparing the gap between Myxo and VHD vaccinations and the frequency of reactions to VHD would be interesting.

Conclusion

This was a brief survey carried out by rabbit owners’ not veterinary professionals, and the results should be viewed with this in mind. However, whilst still keeping within current practice the following recommendations could be considered:

Where possible Lapinject should be used instead of Cylap as this offers a reduced likelihood of all types of reaction, with an overall chance of a reaction reduce from 37% with Cylap to 7% with Lapinject.
Two thirds of rabbits that react to Cylap will not react to Lapinject, so rabbits that experience a reaction to Cylap should use Lapinject for their next booster.
Although Anivac is new and therefore not many owners have used it yet, initial experiences with Anivac suggest that this may provide an even better alternative for rabbits than Lapinject.
If a rabbit has a reaction to their Myxo vaccination, Cylap should be avoided if Lapinject or Anivac can be sourced instead.