{"id":1001,"date":"2012-06-01T16:51:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T15:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2012-06-01T16:51:47","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T15:51:47","slug":"vaccinations-protect-bunny-myxivhd-combo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/2012\/06\/01\/vaccinations-protect-bunny-myxivhd-combo\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccinations – Protect Your Bunny Myxi-VHD Combo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scamp\u2019s vaccinations were due recently, and after the trouble he had last year with a reaction to his VHD jab, I was very interested in the newly released combined VHD-Myxi jab. It contains a genetically engineered version of the myxomatosis virus with VHD bolted on. It\u2019s also water-based, unlike the older VHD vaccines, which are oil-based, and we\u2019re fairly sure that was what Scamp had reacted to. The good news is this time he absolutely no problems and now he\u2019s protected for a whole year against these horrible diseases.<\/p>\n

I thought I\u2019d post a little about vaccinations for anyone reading that hasn\u2019t got around to vaccinating yet \u2013 this mainly applies to the UK as the US doesn\u2019t seem to have the same issues with them as we do and routine vaccination isn\u2019t standard. Remember I’m not a vet, so if you’ve got any worries give your vet a call.<\/p>\n

How do vaccinations work?<\/h2>\n

Vaccinations give your rabbit\u2019s immune system a sneak preview of what a particular disease looks like. That way it can learn to recognise the disease and prepare defences (antibodies) to fight it off if it encounters it for real. Different diseases need different antibodies to fight them off, and they take time to manufacture. If a rabbit\u2019s body has never encountered a disease before, the disease can take hold and make them sick before they have time to make the antibodies. If you vaccinate your rabbit, it will have antibodies stockpiled ready for action and can destroy the disease before it can make your bunny sick.<\/p>\n

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Vaccinating against Myxomatosis helps your rabbit's immune system create defences<\/p><\/div>\n

How do vaccines give a sneak preview without infecting the rabbit with the disease?<\/h2>\n

Obviously, we don\u2019t want to give our rabbits the disease for real, so the problem is: how to you let the immune system take a look without catching the virus? Vaccines solve this problem in different ways. The myxi vaccination we use in the UK (Novibac Myxo) actually contains the Shope Fibroma virus, which is harmless but related to Myxi so antibodies made to fight it work on myxi too. VHD vaccines use the actual VHD disease but it is inactivated (killed), so it can\u2019t cause the disease. The new combination RVHD\/Myxi vaccine is genetically engineered so it isn\u2019t strong enough to cause the diseases it protects against.<\/p>\n

Why do we need boosters?<\/h2>\n

The immune system has a lot to keep track off and if it hasn\u2019t seen the disease in while then sometimes it forgets what it looks like and the anti-bodies sit rusting away in the corner. A booster servers as a reminder and ensures that the immune system is still ready for action.<\/p>\n

There is some debate over whether we really need boosters. When a manufacturer recommends an annual booster, often what they have done is tested the immune system at a year and found that it is still functioning, so they know for sure that your rabbit is protected for that year. What we often don\u2019t know is exactly how long the immune system will remember without prompting after that. By vaccinating when the year is up, it prompts the immune system again as a precaution to make sure the protection doesn\u2019t lapse.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the new combination vaccine all about?<\/h2>\n

A new vaccine Nobiac Myxo-RHD has recently been released which protects against both myxomatosis and VHD with a single jab. There are several benefits to this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • You don\u2019t have to make two trips two weeks apart for two different vaccinations.<\/li>\n
  • It is based on the actual myxomatosis virus, which should make it even better than the old vaccination (based on Shope Fibroma) at giving protection.<\/li>\n
  • It lasts 12 months, so you don\u2019t have to return for a myxi booster every 6 months.<\/li>\n
  • It is water instead of oil-based, so the type of skin reaction Scamp got to his VHD last year shouldn\u2019t happen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    The new combination vaccine protects against myxi and VHD<\/p><\/div>\n

    I\u2019ve heard you can\u2019t use it if your rabbits are already vaccinated?<\/h2>\n

    There is a small issue with this but it doesn\u2019t affect most rabbits in the UK. As the VHD component is hitching a lift on the myxi virus, if your rabbit already has protection against myxi, then it might stop the new vaccine getting in and then your rabbit\u2019s immune system won\u2019t get to meet the VHD part and learn to protect against it.<\/p>\n

    However, that\u2019s only the case if your rabbit has protection against the real myxi virus not the Shope Fibroma virus used in the UK myxi vaccination. So, the only way this issue will affect your rabbit is if he or she has had a vaccine somewhere other than the UK or has caught Myxomatosis in the past.<\/p>\n

    If your rabbits Myxi and VHD jabs aren\u2019t due at the same time, it\u2019s fine to vaccinate when the first one is due, even if that means the other overlaps.<\/p>\n

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    If your rabbits had genuine myxi in the past, the left over anti-bodies might stop it getting a look at the VHD piggybacked on to the Myxi jab.<\/p><\/div>\n

    I hope that helps explain things, if you’ve got any questions just give your vet a call and discuss them. And, if you haven\u2019t already, then please get your rabbit vaccinated<\/strong> \u2013 even house bunnies like Scamp need protection!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Vaccinations help protect rabbits against Myxomatosis and VHD. Learn how they work and about the new combination jab Nobivac Myxo-RHD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[74,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions\/1010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therabbithouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}