Sick fish
Now, with something of a change of tone comes the news that Sausage the Fish is unwell !
Emily had lost two fish which she had had for a long time and I bought her three new ones to replace her loss. They are all fancy varieties of goldfish. I don't usually approve of 'fancy' breeds of pets because they tend to have more health problems than more robust breeds, but for some reason I took a liking to these and bought them. Alas! The one which goes by the name of 'Sausage' has become ill. It appears to have gas trapped in its fat belly or problems with its swim bladder. In any case it now spends most of its time floating upside down at the top of the tank. It can right itself but it appears to take considerable effort and at some stage it's going to have problems feeding.
I'm considering using some sort of euthanasia, but have no idea how to humanely kill a fish.
And while I didn't make the fish sick myself, I am guilty now of supporting the trade in fancy pets. Not a big deal maybe, but avoidable suffering for a few little creatures.
Bad karma...
Posts
On the euthenasia- I was told by folks at my local aqauarium/ fish supply place that placing them in a bag of water and freezing them is the best way.
ReplyDeleteHow do they know that, I wonder?
Yes it makes you wonder... And its hard to know of course quite what it is like (if anything) for the fish to freeze to death or in its present condition. But currently, its either that or the blender...
ReplyDelete:(
Thanks for the tip!
As a follow-up to this post, I should add that we eventually settled on the Alka Seltzer Method, which seemed to do the job in 20 or 30 seconds. It's now buried in the garden.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately another one of the same variety is ill too. I'm trying to treat it with anti-biotics.