Ugh. So on the topic of feed, if it’s all over a year old now then great but what about later this summer? The disease will definitely spread more and more and it never occurred to me that the hay could be infected, so what do we do if and when this becomes endemic? Maybe an American company will begin making vaccines? How the vaccine itself is produced is so sad but evidently it can’t be done another way. You seem very in the know and if you hear more please keep us updated!

Yikes!!  I just read this and am worried about greens.  We’re in Maryland but basically all the greens you can buy at the store are from California, Arizona, or Mexico.  What are you all doing for this?  I can’t go to local markets due to COVID (we get groceries delivered instead) and don’t have the acres of farmland it would take to feed our bunny every day.

Thank you so much, DanaNM!  I did find that Organic Girl romaine is from Salinas at least these days.  I found a House Rabbit Society newsletter that recommends a lot of the same things you said (checking the source, trying to grow indoors), and also says this:

“Right now, we are recommending rabbit guardians wash vegetables thoroughly in a bowl for at least two minutes, changing the water several times.

Before making significant changes to your rabbit’s diet, such as deciding to eliminate feeding greens, talk with your veterinarian first.”

Thank you again and may all our bunnies stay healthy!

I live in Canada. Do I need to be concerned about my rabbits getting this?

@dananm Thank you so much! Where is a safe place to buy my veggies from? My mom has a garden that she said I can use the lettuce and kale for my rabbits. We do have a lot of wild rabbits here and they come and eat from the garden. I live in Ontario Canada so this should be okay, right? The garden won’t last forever though. And that’s good that they’re working on a vaccine. I feel so bad for all the bunnies and bunny owners who were affected by this. ):

Also can I still buy hay from the farm feed store here? Thanks.

Thank you for helping me!!

I bought some romaine lettuce and gave some to my rabbit yesterday. Today I just seen it was grown in North MX. Should I be worried?

It’s Green Giant  and it says they wash it, trim it,  and it’s ready to eat. I also washed it before I gave it to her. It said it was picked after 7/29/2020. I tried calling to get the exact city but due to covid they aren’t taking calls so I emailed them. I’m really worried, I thought it said it was grown in Salinas CA but it’s just distributed there. I gave it to her about 24 hours ago and so far she’s acting normal. Do you think she will be ok?

I just looked to see where my lettuce was grown. The brand is Andy Boy, it says it’s grown in Salinas California. This doesn’t look infected on the map. It’s okay to feed them? I can’t find where my carrots were grown the brand is “Farmers Market”, I just tried emailing. What a vague name…

@DanaNM Thank you so much. I have bad anxiety, I wanna make sure the buns are safe.

@DanaNM Phew! Thank you for easing my nerves 😁

I got my bunny vaccinated about a month ago. Hopefully he is safe now.

Yes especially because I am out in the desert a lot and don’t want to bring anything like that back home.  I thought this was cute

Do I have anything to be worried about in NC?

Also my first rabbit that lived outside died last summer is there any chance she got this disease? If not I have no idea why she dies she was only 2 years old and I took great care of her?!

Hi everyone! I have a petition going for access to vaccines in North America and would appreciate signatures. With the new administration dealing with Covid I’m sure RHD is not the first thing being brought to their attention. I’ve already emailed the White House and reminded my senator but am hoping to get more signatures before I close this. Please share if you can!

https://www.change.org/bunnyvaccine

Hi this gives me such anxiety and I hate that we can’t get the vaccine for our buns if there haven’t been active cases in your state.

I live in NYC but am originally from CT. I remember a few years ago there was an outbreak at a vets office in nyc but for some reason this doesn’t count towards an active case in the state. Does anyone know why?

hay… I know they say to know your sources but most of the hay I buy is from Washington state or Northern California. I’ve probably tried every hay brand available including locally grown and my bunny just won’t eat it. He would only eat Sierra valley hay and when they closed I had a very hard time finding something he wouldn’t sniff and hop away from.
thus virus seems to be in areas where hay is grown, so what should i do? I’ve heard storing it for 3 months before giving it to the bun makes it safer? I live in an apartment in Brooklyn so storing mass amounts of hay for 3 months ahead of time is difficult.

lastly, what would need to happen to get a vaccine out sooner? Is there anyone working with the fda to try and make this happen? I only ask because scott Gottlieb (former commissioner of the fda) lives in the town next to where I grew up and pretty sure I know someone who is friends with his wife. If anyone knows who is trying to bring the vaccine to United States or has some information decks, I’d be happy to reach out and try to make this happen sooner.

Most hay companies store the hay for an adequate amount of time before shipping it out to sell. You should ask the company what their practices are if that information is not given on their website.

If you look at the updated at the top (added April 2, 2021), there is a group currently working on getting an American-made vaccine.

I am a little nervous about new vaccines. The side effects are normally awful, and since they’re new, people often find out about the good and bad when they already have said vaccine. I don’t want any of this happening to my Jumping Jack. She’s too cute to be sick or die. Is there any way to get her immune without the vaccine, or any way to make her less likely to have it without the vaccine? Is there any way to maybe reduce the side effects when it does come out?

I have been trying to find this topic without luck. One year ago my bunny got his first injection. The only side effect I saw was some lethargy and a slight dip in his appetite. Both came back very fast. Just had his booster last week. This time there was no lethargy or loss of appetite. HOWEVER, his right front paw (same side as the injection on his shoulder) seemed…. compromised…. Curled up…. He was definitely favoring it. That lasted overnight and was gone the next day. Kind of scared me since he had a complete physical including nail trim. Called the Vet and they told me that was “normal.”    Well, he seemed less phased by his injection(s) than I was with my COVID shots!

“as @Desert_Bunny noticed with her bun, and all was normal by the next day.”

My goodness! The vaccine gave me a gender change?  Nothing had changed the last time I checked! I better look again!

I’m in Europe and have vaccinated my buns since October 2016, when we first got the vaccines that cover RVHD2. (Before that we vaccinated only against Myxomatosis and RVHD1).

My buns never had any noticeable side effects from Eravac, Filavac or, last year, the new triple vaccine that cover all 3 diseases. One bun had a bit of sticky poop the day after his first shot of filavac, but it could have been unrelated.

RVHD2 is a real threat. Several show rabbit breeders in my area lost most of their breeding stock to it. (I’m not a fan of show breeding, but they reported to the local Facebook rabbit RVHD2-map group). Now everybody vaccinates, because the disease has become more or less endemic, just like myxomatosis has been since the 1960ies-1970ies. RVHD2 has even spread up to the near-Arctic, where wild rabbits can’t live due to the extreme winter cold, because it affects and is spread by wild hares.

Cylap, which is used in Australia for RVHD, has more side effects than the European vaccines.

Does anyone know if the vaccine will be available in Canada? It would be nice to prevent infecting more rabbits here before it spreads all over. ): I keep worrying about it every day, even though I can’t find any reported cases in my province. I’m still scared that it will spread here soon. I want to protect my bunnies.

Is getting the vaccine safe for rabbits for is there a chance of death the closest known case to me 5 and a half hours away, not in the state but when it becomes available I would want them to get it unless the chance of death is too much.

Hey everyone

This outbreak has me really worried. I have four bunnies, and my current vet told me that all of my bunnies would need to get two shots at 80$ a piece. Currently, I am a full-time student, so I am taking care of my bunnies with my leftover financial aid, and 90% of it just went to vet bills for two of my rabbits. So, I literally can not afford the cost of the vaccine. Does anyone know if there is a way to get help with the cost or a vet in North Carolina that takes bunnies that may be cheaper?

I’m so happy that vaccines are becoming available across the pond as well! It worried me for a long time: it’s a dreadful disease and so contagious 🙁

Our bunnies get the 3 vaccine combo Nobivac Myxo-RHD plus, which is a once a year vaccine now. Before that they got Nobivac Myxo-RHD once a year and since 2017 Eravac against RHD2 twice a year.

The Eravac had logistics issues because it had a short shelf life and had to be refrigerated. The vets ended up planning all bunnies on the same day, giving them their RHD2 shots in a row. I wasn’t really happy with that, because that may spread the disease itself, but luckily it went well. Now there’s the new vaccine that combines all 3.

I’m happy that there have been so many improvements, and I hope that this will help more bunnies worldwide!

We haven’t seen severe side effects from the vaccinations. Sometimes they were a bit less active the day after, but that’s the same for us with our flu shots or corona shots. Breintje just wanted more cuddles, which were happily provided, and Owen and Molly were slightly less destructive for a day.

Hello everyone.

I have a bunny mother with 6 babies. Everything was fine. Mother was weaning. Littles ones are roaming. One morning, I saw the mother to have diarrhea all over her play pen. It is summer, a weird summer this year. But I gave her cooler whole day. Gave water and good grass. Here grass is locally grown. So with change of season, we have to change the grass type. Mother is 3 years old. She is well habituated and healthy with both grass types. Which was Timothy and bermuda. Then we took her to a vet, she was treated for diarrhea with an injection. She was very weak but fortunately had an appetite to fill her stomach. She recovered by the evening. Now she is in good shape. But unfortunately when we came back home, one baby bunny found dead with diarrhea.

the other babies had to drink milk. I started letting them stay with their mother alternative days. I could not allow Everyday as they are not allowing her to lie down and she needed rest. Also they are 10 weeks old already. But still they got a chance to drink milk from their mother at times. One week later, the babies started developing symptoms.

1. Suddenly shaking off one side of hand and leg and falling down.

2. Smaller poop

3. Lowered appetite

4. Lowered mobility

We don’t have good doctors here. There is a government hospital near but we have to diagnose and tell them. Because we are experienced than them. They simply give some simethocone drops and send for every disease. And they don’t know what and what not to use on bunnies. They treat same for dogs and cows.

So literally we have to identify and learn the treatment. Then ask doctors for confirmation and prescription. So the chances of mistakes are high.

Last night I lost another baby bunny fighting with severe weakness, pain, loss of mobility, appetite for 4 days. He was prescribed to be given diarrhea medication as his first symptom was loose and slimy stool. 3 days I continued this medication. He showed no improvement and he died last night.

Now 4 other babies are left. They are having smaller poop. They are treated for diarrhea past week. Ad all of them developed symptoms and had to be treated. They are fine for a while. But now one baby bunny have a poop brown dribble on the blanket. I’m actually having them on bed to monitor properly and changing sheets 4 times a day. And they don’t fall off, they can jump safely, it’s low hight. So i looked at his anus after seeing dribble. His anus is a bit wound like. Not like other bunnies. A but sour or ruptured or swollen. I stopped treating with diarrhea medication. But I don’t understand what to do next. I don’t want to loose others. Please help.

Hi Venkata!

The topic of intentional breeding of rabbits is prohibited on these forums, so most of our members have very little experience with baby buns. There isvanother forum called Rabbits Online that has a forum section dedicated to breeding questions: https://www.rabbitsonline.net/

That said, baby buns are very sensitive, and if they get true diarrhea, they need treatment asap. There is a common parasite called coccidia that causes diarrhea which often is fatal in very young buns. It’s treatable with antibiotics and swift fluid replacement.

At 10 weeks, the babies should nolonger need milk. They do not have to be housed with their mum, rabbits only feed their young once or twice per day. Once the babies are 6 weeks or so, its exhausting for them mum to be around them all the time, but its still important for them to be with their siblings.

Rabbits can start puberty as early as at 12 weeks, which means they need to be separated at that time.

Thank you, I wasn’t breeding. I happened to have 2 rescued bunnies who cannot be spayed or neutered because of lack of rabbit savy vets anywhere around or near my state. They are free roam in two different rooms and one day accidentally the rooms were not properly closed which allowed bunny to get into pregnancy. And I’m keeping them all and caring for them for my life time. I cannot even thinking of giving my babies to anyone. Most of the people in India cannot afford or don’t know how to take care of a bunny. So I’m pretty sure they will kill them faster.

The baby bunnies are fine now. Poop recovered to normal.

Expecting it to be helpful to others, this is what I have done

1. Separated from healthy ones.

2. Gave them safe antibiotics

3. Simethecone for pain relief and bloat

4. Vitamins once a day 0.2ml

5. Hydrated with electrol liquid mixed in water.

Constant eye, I had them on my bed since a week. With litter pads, litter boxes, water, food. Such that every second I can see their activity. I lied down all the time to be accessible to them. I only woke up to bath, pee, poop or fresh up.

Everyone don’t have to do it. But that’s how much it takes to save baby bunnies.

Observation:

0.3ml of simethicone 4 to 5 times a day does more magic than 1ml once a day.

I would do same but increase the dosage for adult bunnies.

Thank you very much for your support.

Oops litters do happen. It’s just intentional breeding that this sute doesn’t want to support.

I’m so glad they’re doing better! It is very difficult to care for baby buns, they are (as yiu have noticed) very fragile. It is extra difficult in places where there are no rabbit vets. You are obviously doing a great job.

Thank you very much for your tips! They’re very valuable! There are many, many places where there are no rabbit-savvy vets.

SEE THE LATEST INFO on RHDV AS OF 5/9/2023

https://rabbit.org/resources/rhdv/

This is a great resource about current infection data plus vaccine update and prevention advice.