Seems like I have read some posts answered by scientists and biologists on here so I thought maybe someone would be about to tell me if my Vet is lying about whether or not a vaccination he gave to my rabbit will work.
The vaccine is for Rabbit Haemorrhage disease which is like ebola for rabbits. Its called Cylap RHD by pfizer. The online data sheet for the vaccine says discard unused portion after 8 hours so very short shelf life. It also, I am told by another vet, has a big yellow sticker on the box that says discard after 8 hours.
At the Vets I didn’t think to ask if the vial was fresh until after he injected my rabbit so it was too late. So… The vet injected my rabbit with an open vile that he had stored in the fridge, he said it was in there for two or three weeks. He said it was ok that it was already opened, the only reason they say throw away is because of bacterial contamination (why he thought the risk of bacterial contamination wasn’t enough to throw it out I don’t know) The he said “The actual potency of the vaccine would be fine even from an open vial if stored in the fridge so it should work”.
So my question is, do you think my rabbit will be protected from this vaccination? Do you think my vet is just making this up and using old vaccine to save money that won’t work?
I doubt the OP’s rabbit actually has it - but Rabbit Haermorrhagic Disease is ‘not’ ebola - he was simply giving you a frame of reference to understand the concept.
[QUOTE=from article]
Americas (North and South)
Since 1993, RHD has been endemic in Cuba; it is also believed to be thriving in Bolivia. From 1988 to 1992 Mexico dealt with an RHD endemic in domestic rabbits.[3]
After outbreaks of RHD in 2000, 2001, and 2005 in domesticated rabbits,** the United States has eradicated RHD from its rabbit populations.** The native species, cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus), black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) and volcano rabbits (Romerolagus diazzi) seem not to be susceptible to the virus.[3]
[…]
There are several vaccines available against VHD in the UK: Cylap, made by Fort Dodge Animal Health; Lapinject made by CEVA Animal Health Ltd; and Anivac, made by Animalcare Ltd. All last 12 months and contain inactivated strains of VHD. A live combination vaccine, Nobivac Myxo-RHD, made by MSD Animal Health, has recently become available. Its active ingredient is a live myxoma-vectored RHD virus strain 009 and it offers a duration of immunity of 1 year against both RHD and myxomatosis.[11]
[/QUOTE]
(bolding mine)
After reading the wiki-link above - I do not think the OP is ‘correct’ in his diagnoses, and based on that alone, while I disagree with your “kill it with fire” - it does not seem like something that would be treated.
So - yeah, either the vet is pulling your leg or you are pulling ours.
(missed the edit window to remove the final comment - since I don’t know ‘where’ the OP is, there are in fact vaccines in the UK - I managed to get that bit in the quote box)
If the OP is in the US - seems to be a waste - upon further reading (and thinking vaccination instead of treatment) I’ll let the rest go and apologize.
IU’ll also add that I was really trying to respond to the second post and not the OP -
Yea, I know someone who had some outside in a pen but they were being raised for meat(I strongly suspect they got too attached to kill any, dunno what they did about the growing population maybe gave them away?) all the pets I know of were kept indoors.
I found an information sheet for the Zoetis Cylap RCD vaccine, in New Zealand. Looking at that sheet, if I were to follow the instructions for my clinic, it looks like the vial really is only good for the day it’s opened (10 hours). I wouldn’t expect that from a 10-dose vial, but the language is clear.
Now, that’s just for New Zealand, and instructions for other countries can be different, as vaccines can be manufactured differently for different countries in order to meet regulations for each particular government. So it depends on where the OP is.
If I had a vial of the same vaccine with the same instructions in the US, whether I carried the vaccine would depend on how many rabbits come in needing that vaccine every day. I would have to either have a lot of rabbit clients, or charge each client for a whole 10-dose vial. .
(I’m a technician who does all the drug purchasing and puts procedures in place for proper usage - for instance, Rabies vaccines are only good for 2 hours once drawn into a syringe. I have to make sure everyone knows that so they don’t draw them up ahead of time. Unless I tell them and re-train periodically, someone will decide at some point that drawing them all up in the morning is a good idea.)
In thinking about it some more, that instruction coming with a 10-dose vial really would prompt me to call Zoetis for clarification. I would want to make extra sure the vial isn’t OK if kept refrigerated or whether that pertains to vaccine drawn into a syringe rather than the whole vial.
So, it’s possible the veterinarian in question (or someone in his clinic) has made such a phone call and clarified the viability with refrigeration. Just mentioning that before the OP wants to hang his vet out to dry.
Contact pfizer; there should be a customer service number on the website somewhere.
The vet may have more information than you, or s/he may have just decide s/he knows more than the Evil Big Pharma company that makes (developed, ran trials, did stability testing on) the drug.
We used to take our (mostly indoor) rabbit out in the (fenced) backyard with us. She’d happily hop around and frequently go back inside for a nap before us.
Just to make it clear, the rabbit doesn’t have the virus. I was getting him vaccinated. The virus is Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease and when they get it they haemorrhage from the nose and eyes like people do from ebola. I’m in New Zealand. The RHD virus was smuggled illegally into New Zealand by an desperate farmer who blended infected rabbit meat up in a blender and spread it around his farm to kill rabbits. So now everyone with pet rabbits has to get them vaccinated. The virus is so contagious that even people with indoor bunnies get them vaccinated. Since rabbits eat hay the virus can be in the hay.
SeaDragonTattoo thanks for the advice to call Zoetis-- I might just do that and see what they say. I emailed them and didn’t get a reply.
Someone on another where I posted the same question about - could the vaccine still work? Said this…
