Goldfish with huge belly but no pineconing of scales

[Waterbug]

This poor fish is even more swollen today

Increased swelling in a short period points to infection imo. Given the amount of distension I don't see how anything would fix this fish.

and it's a struggle for her to move off the bottom of the pond.

It's time.

She wouldn't eat any peas, but none of the others would either.

They might not see it as food or aren't so hungry that they'd try something new. If you want them to eat peas in the future train them now.

I gently caught the swollen fish in the net, held her under the surface of the water so she wouldn't be overly traumatized (if that's possible), and put several peas right in front of her lips, but she declined the offer.

Fish aren't generally interested in food when terrified for their lives which being held by a 1000 ft omnivore can inspire.

She gave me a look of horror, but that might have been because she was considering the effort of acquiring the stuff, and then capturing this fish and administering it.

Moms...tough as nails. My Mom once, and only once, held a box of kittens to a car exhaust pipe...to be fair I think Dad put her up to it. We were well behaved kids.

Placing the fish in the freezer is another choice that some people don't consider to be too bad.

My mother's boyfriend is inclined to net it and immediately kill it with a paddle or something. He's tired of the fuss.

There are choices. A little humor in a difficult time. I'm a fisherman and that is how kept fish are often dispatched.

he feeds the fish himself every morning and late afternoon, and he buys the food, and he meticulously cleans the pump filter ever week, and cleans the lava rocks, and manages all the pond plants, and does all the other maintenance.

Forget the choices...this one's a keeper.

This is heartbreaking for me. I've become very attached to this fish through these few days of photographing her, finding this website, communicating with all of you, and researching elsewhere about possibilities. How do you make these decisions?

Welcome to pond keeping. To me the world is a pretty cruel place, but that's just the way the world works. We can pretend it isn't, drop out, live in a fantasy world where the chicken in our McNuggets came from chickens who died of natural causes after living a full and rewarding life. Nothing wrong with that. If you prefer that you can put the fish into a nice container and take it you a local pet shop where I assume for a small fee they will do the deed for you. The fish will probably be in a trashcan, still alive, before you close your car door.

Another way I look at it is this is a Goldfish's lot in life. Thousands of fish were put to death in order for you to have this one pretty fish. If people didn't kill trillions of fish there wouldn't be any Goldfish at all. Is it better they don't exist at all?

It isn't easy. Feeling bad for the fish is OK, it is sad. I've cried, and one deformed fish in particular I still choke up over 15 years later. But it's also the owner's job...that's our lot in life.

Want to create a memorial for this fish...learn everything you can about pond keeping and keep the remaining fish in the best possible conditions. This is one of the things that drives me to learn. If I have to put down a fish I know I did everything I could to make their lives good. Makes it easier imo.

 

[Fishylove]

good luck Meg sorry to here that

 

[gardengimp]

Want to create a memorial for this fish...learn everything you can about pond keeping and keep the remaining fish in the best possible conditions. This is one of the things that drives me to learn. If I have to put down a fish I know I did everything I could to make their lives good. Makes it easier imo.

QFT

Well said WB.

 

[gardengimp]

How do you make these decisions?

It is tough. And it never gets any easier.

 

[Meg-in-Maryland]

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

This amazingly swollen fish is now dead, we think.

This afternoon my mother and brother put her in a 5-gallon bucket with pond water in order to separate it from the others, in case of infections, and to observe her. They phoned me that they had done this, and I immediately went back over there.

She (or he) seemed to have swollen even more since earlier this afternoon. She seemed completely uninterested in food, and lay on her side on the bottom of the bucket. She occasionally seemed to get more strength and swam to the surface to gulp air, or to turn herself over to lie on her other side.

I held her for a few minutes. Her belly felt like she was filled with fluids -- it was very soft and pliant. It also looked as though she was filled with dark stuff. I put my pinky into what I assumed was her anus, and it felt like it was blocked a little way in, but that was my first (and probably last) time doing this, so I didn't know what a healty goldfish anus would feel like! (Am I really even saying this in public?)

I had to go to a meeting for a couple of hours, and when I returned to my mother's hosue, they told me that the fish had died. I looked into the bucket with a flashilight, and she's obviously no longer moving or breathing in any way I could discern, although she has not floated to the surface.

My mother and I sat with her, while she was in the bucket, for about 45 minutes, and wished her well. It was a profound experience for me to watch the resilience of this little creature.

From a more clinical perspective, my mother and I both remarked that it was remarkable how much her belly could stretch. Usually fish scales overlap each other, and are very closely positioned to each other. Her white belly scales were quite far apart from each other this afternoon, with a log of white skin in between them.

Thank you again so much for your care and counsel. This has been an amazing experience for me.

 

[Meg-in-Maryland]

Clarifications from my previous post:

At the end of the second-to-last paragraph, I meant to write that there was a "lot" of white skin between her scales, not a "log" of white skin.

Also, my mother and I sat with her for about 45 minutes while she was still alive.

 

[Meg-in-Maryland]

Waterbug, I loved your last post. The "choices" part was hilarious -- thanks for the laughter. I didn't understand why, at first, the link took me where it took me, until I read the next part. Yes, my mother's boyfriend is defintely a keeper. We're all grateful for him in her life (and I'm sure her goldfish are too!) -- she was widowed twice before he came along.

Yes, the world seems cruel sometimes, and yet there's such grace in both the effort and the ultimate surrender.

Thanks to all of you.

 

[j.w]

Sorry for you Meg and that your pretty fish didn't make it. You did what you could and it's nice that he/she even tho just a goldfish has someone to miss it :luxlove:

 

[Waterbug]

I wish you would have cut the fish open to see what you could see. I would have been interested.

 

[Meg-in-Maryland]

I cut the fish open this morning. It was too dark outside to do it last night, and we didn't want to do it in the kitchen or bathroom in case of contamination.

Mostly she was filled like a balloon with red water. I'm unfamiliar with fish anatomy, but we think she also had eggs inside -- clear spheres about the size of small marbles. She also had two empty white, translucent, air-filled balloons, of two different shapes; one was about an inch long; the other slightly longer.

We took photos of it all. I can post them here if a forum administrator requests them and assures me that no one will be too grossed out by them.

I will also email them to people if you request them.

She was still on the bottom of the bucket this morning -- she didn't float to the top, which I suppose had something to do with being so filled with liquid.

Again, thank you for all your responses.

 

[Shoestring Ponder]

I am so very sorry. Last Fall, we had a similar situation w a possiblly Koi or Koi hybrid. We think it was a she as that is what the previous owner said. She was a beautiful fish deep red and black w a beautiful fantail. We named her Pepper. At any rate, I noticed near the end of Fall, she seemed to get fatter and fatter, at times unable to submerge. Because of the size of the pond, we were unable to catch her and put her in isolation. We have a 24' round above ground pool that was turned into a pond w water lilly's cattails and lots of seaweed (amacharus, hornwort). Trying to net her was impossible as there was just too much area for her to swim to. We closed the pond the early part of winter and wished her well. She was simply a balloon but no pineconing at all. I do not know if she survived through the winter (although it was mild) but late Spring she floated to the surface. She was still in full color or near full color. No way would I cut her opened as she wreaked to high heaven...I just buried her and wished her spirit well. She was such a beautiful fish. I feel your sadness...

 

[HARO]

Meg;
Sorry to hear about your loss. Yes, it's 'only' a fish, but we do get attached to them!
WB;
Sometimes you actually amaze me! Your 'Choices ' link had me in tears, once I figured it out!!
John

 

[j.w]

I would be interested in seeing the photos here on the forum if it is ok'd by the admins. Always interested in learning and I have cleaned many a fish for eating so would not be grossed out. We can learn from this and maybe help others in the future w/ similar problems.

 

[Waterbug]

Meg, Thanks for doing that, I know it isn't easy.

Mostly she was filled like a balloon with red water.

My expectation was fluid, but expect clear. I don't know what it means or cause. Could be just from decomposition.

I'm unfamiliar with fish anatomy, but we think she also had eggs inside -- clear spheres about the size of small marbles.

I'm not sure what this is. In the autopsy pictures of egg bound fish I've seen the cavity was filled with eggs. Eggs are tiny, almost pin head size and grouped in sacks. Being clear and the size of small marbles doesn't sound like eggs to me. This is the "Illness and Disease" forum so you should feel free to post pictures imo.

She also had two empty white, translucent, air-filled balloons, of two different shapes; one was about an inch long; the other slightly longer.

Swim bladders I assume. They sound normal.

The bottom line imo is unknown cause of death which always seem the case for amateurs like me. Because fish live in water being able to balance fluid is a bigger problem for them than we have. So lots of causes can result in a build up of fluid. That the build up seem to happen fast, and the fish died fairly shortly after the distension was noticed, and perhaps the red color to the fluid, I'd guess it was a bacteria infection. If the fluid was yellow or greenish I would be thinking bacteria more so. Whether infection was the cause of the problem or came after the problem started, don't know.

 

[little52]

i have goldfish with huge bellies like your pic what is the solution