More tank pics, updated
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
What were the results of the X-ray? Seems to be doing well
Won't know until she goes in this coming Wednesday. I started a treatment today with some meds from a vet center. Will post up later. Hard to believe she's still lugging that bulge on one side but she just goes on like its nothing.
Patch news! ??
Today was her big follow up day at the vet. She was mildly sedated and given an aspirate with x-ray. Everyone remembered her...she continues to be a hit. The giant lump she's been lugging around like a float device was fluid of unknown type. Sometimes it was the size of a golf ball. Nobody could believe how she kept swimming with the thing. Anyway the doc drew out about 70% of it. She couldn't get it all because it was so much the needle was full. Since it left a small hole the doctor didn't want to make a second hole. She expects Patch could expel more through the hole before her body closes it up.
Patch was more relaxed this trip. Instead of having her in a bare white foam box with bubbler, I put some sand in. It seemed to calm her. (she also had floating lily pads to tuck under). There was no banging around in the box today. After the aspirate the doctor said her buoyancy would improve (it has, she's pretty normal direction swimming now). Whole process took an hour and a half, with a 15 minute break before the x-ray to avoid stress. She seemed pretty relaxed on the long ride back. Mom went along and we stopped for a late lunch. Traffic on the beltway was heavy. We left at 11:45 am and Patch's appointment was at 1pm. We got back just after 7pm. So it was an all day affair.
I removed the medicated water from her tank and did a 100% w/c. Doctor agreed with me doing that since the vet meds I bought online weren't affecting the fluid much and it wasn't good for her to keep soaking in it. Most baffling was why epsom salt didn't work at all!
So Patch was put in her newly cleaned tank. She immediately took a straight line into her house and is resting/sleeping there. Will know the x ray results in the next day or two. The fluid smears will take a week.
I will go into more detail and post pics of her vet visit soon. Avian Exotics of Rockville is da bomb. And the doctor asked me about Monsterfishkeepers after hearing about all my fish and wants to check it out. So she might lurk here!
Today was her big follow up day at the vet. She was mildly sedated and given an aspirate with x-ray. Everyone remembered her...she continues to be a hit. The giant lump she's been lugging around like a float device was fluid of unknown type. Sometimes it was the size of a golf ball. Nobody could believe how she kept swimming with the thing. Anyway the doc drew out about 70% of it. She couldn't get it all because it was so much the needle was full. Since it left a small hole the doctor didn't want to make a second hole. She expects Patch could expel more through the hole before her body closes it up.
Patch was more relaxed this trip. Instead of having her in a bare white foam box with bubbler, I put some sand in. It seemed to calm her. (she also had floating lily pads to tuck under). There was no banging around in the box today. After the aspirate the doctor said her buoyancy would improve (it has, she's pretty normal direction swimming now). Whole process took an hour and a half, with a 15 minute break before the x-ray to avoid stress. She seemed pretty relaxed on the long ride back. Mom went along and we stopped for a late lunch. Traffic on the beltway was heavy. We left at 11:45 am and Patch's appointment was at 1pm. We got back just after 7pm. So it was an all day affair.
I removed the medicated water from her tank and did a 100% w/c. Doctor agreed with me doing that since the vet meds I bought online weren't affecting the fluid much and it wasn't good for her to keep soaking in it. Most baffling was why epsom salt didn't work at all!
So Patch was put in her newly cleaned tank. She immediately took a straight line into her house and is resting/sleeping there. Will know the x ray results in the next day or two. The fluid smears will take a week.
I will go into more detail and post pics of her vet visit soon. Avian Exotics of Rockville is da bomb. And the doctor asked me about Monsterfishkeepers after hearing about all my fish and wants to check it out. So she might lurk here!
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For most any other fish I wouldn't go this far but Patch is unique. I've never had a fish just fight and fight like she does, and I don't just mean fighting in the normal sense. Despite her odd health issues at times, she's tough and durable. And doesn't get phased at anything. I thought initially this condition would kill her, but 8 months later she's still here and acting like its no big deal! So my attitude was if she didn't quit neither would I. 8 months of watching her struggle was more than enough.
One of the reasons she was so hungry was lugging that golf ball lump around used a lot of energy. She would just power through it to keep swimming. I would see her jerking herself straight to compensate for her bad buoyancy. Like she was pissed off. She's recovering nicely but gives me a stink eye when I get too close and goes into her hutch. She still has a bit of a bump but it's a thousand percent better than that ball stuck to her side.
Also I'm doing this because from a medical standpoint its fascinating and may give valuable information to anyone down the line with this problem. Plus, I almost was a vet in high school but art won out. It was close!! Pics coming later.
One of the reasons she was so hungry was lugging that golf ball lump around used a lot of energy. She would just power through it to keep swimming. I would see her jerking herself straight to compensate for her bad buoyancy. Like she was pissed off. She's recovering nicely but gives me a stink eye when I get too close and goes into her hutch. She still has a bit of a bump but it's a thousand percent better than that ball stuck to her side.
Also I'm doing this because from a medical standpoint its fascinating and may give valuable information to anyone down the line with this problem. Plus, I almost was a vet in high school but art won out. It was close!! Pics coming later.