BunnyVac – Vaccine for Pasteurella

[Giggles]

Has anyone used BunnyVac? If so, what were your experiences with it?

Here is the link for more info: http://pavlab.com/pavlab/bunnyvac/

I’m just curious because my baby bun Snow was recently diagnosed with Pasteurella (or Snuffles). He displayed clinical signs (i.e. runny nose, discharge, sneezing) four days after I adopted him. I do not have any rabbits nor have I been contact with other rabbits; therefore, Snow must have contracted it from the rabbitry prior to his adoption. The rabbit breeder denies any outbreak of Snuffles at her rabbitry; however, she has offered to vaccinate my baby bun with BunnyVac. 

I’m just wondering if anyone has personally used BunnyVac on their pet bunnies. 

[MoxieMeadows]

Hi Giggles, I’ve never heard of BunnyVac, but just thought I’d clarify about how buns can contract Pasteurella.

Pasteurella can be contracted from other infected rabbits. I believe that around 60%(I may be slightly off) are diagnosed with Snuffles although not all are “sick” from it. Kinda like a cold sore. You may have the virus in your body and you are a carrier, but you may never actually get one.
If a mother rabbit is a carrier for Snuffles, her babies will be infected too. So Snow may have been born with it, and got the symptoms from stress, while the parents were carriers are sick but show no symptoms. Does this make sense?

And when you say “Rabbitry” did you get Snow from a breeder or a rescue?

[MoxieMeadows]

Never mind, somehow I missed that you said “the rabbit breeder.”

[Sarita]

I would not allow anyone other than a vet to give my rabbit any medication – I would consult about this particular vaccine with the vet as my understanding is that a vaccine is a prevention so I’m not even sure if it would help with your rabbit.

[Giggles]

Thanks for the response, Moxie. I’ve done a fair amount of research on Pasteurella, but I appreciate the information.

I adopted Snow at 8 weeks old. He’s a pedigreed Blue-Eyed White Holland Lop from a local rabbit breeder. A few days after, he started to exhibit signs of Pasteurella, which may have been caused by stress.

Immediately following my vet appointment, I contacted the rabbit breeder about this health condition. She claims to have no knowledge of any Pasteurella infections among her herds. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. It’s likely that her rabbits were carriers that didn’t exhibit signs.

She offered to replace my bunny, which I declined for two reasons: (1) I love my baby bun, and I would never return him to her only to have her cull him, and (2) I do not want another potentially sick rabbit from the same rabbitry.

She is now offering to vaccinate my bun. She said that she spoke with the manufacturing company, and the company claims to have cured 97% of rabbits. That’s a false statement since Pasteurella cannot be cured completely. At best, it’s treated, and the bacteria is put back into remission.

Her offer of vaccination could be considered a gesture of goodwill, of course. Or, she could be simply trying to cover up for negligence.

In any case, I am not giving my bun any medication unless prescribed by my vet. It’s reckless, and the poor baby is going through enough as it is.

[Sarita]

It is so weird that she claims her rabbits don’t have pasturella and then offers you this vaccine…hmmm.

Glad you are only going to give your Snow what your vet recommends. Reading that information from that website it says they’ve only tested that “vaccine” on 300 rabbits which is not alot of rabbits in the scheme of things anyway….heck the FDA recommends alot more testing than that and it’s not FDA approved just USDA approved and I’m not entirely sure what it takes to get something approved like this with the USDA…not really sure what that means to be honest.

[MoxieMeadows]

It may just be me thinking this way, but If she didn’t know of any Pasteurella in her herds, she would NOT have the vaccine on hand, and would most likely NOT know about the medication, and wouldn’t offer it to you. Especially if she brought it up the first time you were talking to her about it.
‘I’ don’t think she’s telling you the whole story… :^/

[lpmorgens]

 I am thinking about vaccinating my rabbits because I plan to take them to shows. I’d hate for something to think I have the vaccine because my rabbits are ill. If we do it, it will be a preventative measure.

[Author]

Messages