vaccinations

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dawnrogerl

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When using any of the 5-L5 vaccines such as Bovishild Gold or CattleMaster Gold the directions say to use the entire contents when first opened. Then you are supposed to buy it again in 3-4 weeks for the second vaccination. Have any of you used the same bottle for both vaccinations?
 
I'll re-use killed vaccines for the booster shots if possible, but not MLVs. I'm not sure how long the lifespan is of a re-activated MLV, but I doubt its long enough to keep 4 weeks.

Most MLVs don't require a booster shot 4 weeks later though.
 
Thanks for the reply Knersie. Both of the examples that I gave are MLVs and they do require a second vaccination in 3-4 weeks. As I am only vaccinating a few head I hate to throw it away and purchase new.
 
dawnrogerl":3c4vg043 said:
Thanks for the reply Knersie. Both of the examples that I gave are MLVs and they do require a second vaccination in 3-4 weeks. As I am only vaccinating a few head I hate to throw it away and purchase new.
I think you can get the bovisheild products in a 5 dose vial I am not sure about this but I know you can get them in a 10 dose
 
Bovishield Gold comes in a 5 dose. Check out Stockmens.com ....have any vaccine you could possibly want. And shipping is extremely fast!
 
I've always been told MLVs are only good for about 3 hours after mixing. I tried freezing opened bottles once... no idea if the vaccine was effective or not afterwards. I suspect not.
 
The faster you can use an MLV like Bovi-shield 5 the better . MM said 3 hours and I would think that is the outside limits . Throw away any unused MLV after 3 hours . We only mix 1 bottle at a time and keep bottle and syringe in a cooler .

Larry
 
When I first asked my vet this I was told you have up to a 6 hour window once opened and mixed ,and that is providing that it is refrigerated and kept in a dark place..

We do as others have said , mix only the amount you are going to use..
 
They are right - MLV vaccines need to be used within 3 hours to be effective. You are relying on the virus to be alive in order to replicate and start the immunization process. There is not enough virus in a "dead" MLV to get the same response as a killed virus vaccine,so once the virus dies it's absolutely no good.

Cattlemaster is a MIXED MLV and killed virus vaccine, so the same thing applies. After 3-4 hours, pitch it.

Be careful with keeping opened killed virus vaccines too long - they can get colonized with bacteria and fungus. They make special heads you can put on the vials to prevent contamination (cost ~$2) but they are a pain in the arse to use as you need to remove the needle to withdraw every time. If you are vaccinating breeding animals you should change needles between animals anyway to prevent spread of diseases such as leukosis anyway.

Yes, it sucks to throw away unused vaccines, but you may as well be injecting water for all the good they will do you if you keep them.
 
Gave them their first shots today and pitched all left over vaccines. All went well and will order new vaccines for the 3 week follow up shots. Thanks for all the information!!!!!
 

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