injured fish

[marsha]

Came home today and found 4 fish gone and 1 fish appears to have a injury buy its gill, is ther anything I can treat it with like melafix or furan 2, will one of them work, should I put in hostpital tank or leave in pond,thanks

 

[MitchM]

How bad is the injury, Marsha?
Can you post a picture?
Are there any signs of what it was that attacked your fish?

 

[marsha]

Hi Mitch, just put fish in hospital tank while I waited for a reply, here are a couple of pics

 

[marsha]

I cant figure out what got to it, by the looks of the fish I am thinking a cat, forgive my typing errors I am so upset I am shaking, the biggest fish was only about 4 inches so it is hard to believe a heron did this, fishing line around pond

 

[marsha]

I have a bottle of melafix on hand and also 2 packets of furan 2, just not sure what to do, also have aquarium salt but don't know if that would do any good to put in hospital tank

 

[MitchM]

That's a very nice looking fish Marsha!
The injury doesn't look too serious, so I think if you have it in a hospital tank with good water quality, it will heal fine on it's own without any additional medication.

 

[marsha]

Thanks, in your opinion does it look like a cat did this, the fish is so small I cant see a heron making this kind of slice, and looking at it close it kind of looks like a puncture in it to.The remaining fish were all at the bottom but this little guy/girl has been swimming around since put in tank so he is active.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Great Blue Herons are not the only birds that prey on fish. The Green Heron is considerably smaller than its cousin and prey only on small fish such as goldfish. The are about as common as Great Blues just not as well known. If it is a puncture wound it was inflicted by a bird. A cat would have left remnants of the four missing fish.

 

[peter hillman]

Such a beauty hope he pulls thru. You got raccoons in your area?

 

[marsha]

No raccoons and I believe this happened at night,the puncture wound is very small and in the picture you can see a slice behind the eye, but what ever it was I hope the motion sprinkler keeps it away. I went to lowes and picked up an orbit motion sprinkler and hope to get it set up tomorrow.

 

[marsha]

Looking at the cut today and it seems worse than I thought,it is kind of pulled away from the rest of the fishes head. He is active swimming around and seems to go after things in the water that look like food (Pond Water)but does not open its mouth,maybe to soar. I wish I could do more for him.

 

[barryian]

Looking at the cut today and it seems worse than I thought,it is kind of pulled away from the rest of the fishes head. He is active swimming around and seems to go after things in the water that look like food (Pond Water)but does not open its mouth,maybe to soar. I wish I could do more for him.

With perfect water parameters Marsha, he might heal up on his own. It's not a disease, nor bacterial yet. I'd watch it closely, then if needed, if you can catch him ... then anesthetize him and treat the wound. Possibly even with Betadyne and a water sealing ointment or Debride on top of Betadyne.
There are many things you can do. I saw a vet use crazy glue to seal a treated wound on a koi. I've used crazy glue on myself, my wife and kids. It's also used in surgery.

Furan is for gram negative or gram positive bacterial infections. If you're talking topical and not injectable, it would have to be covered with another topical. I've used dental paste with a few things as a mix. I have them in my kit and can tell you the ingredients to the mix to cover the antibiotic if needed.

If it get's worse quickly, then you might want to take further action. I've seen wounds heal untreated amazingly well in good water ... Good luck! Someone will be here if you need them... Barry

 

[marsha]

With perfect water parameters Marsha, he might heal up on his own. It's not a disease, nor bacterial yet. I'd watch it closely, then if needed, if you can catch him ... then anesthetize him and treat the wound. Possibly even with Betadyne and a water sealing ointment or Debride on top of Betadyne.
There are many things you can do. I saw a vet use crazy glue to seal a treated wound on a koi. I've used crazy glue on myself, my wife and kids. It's also used in surgery.

Furan is for gram negative or gram positive bacterial infections. If you're talking topical and not injectable, it would have to be covered with another topical. I've used dental paste with a few things as a mix. I have them in my kit and can tell you the ingredients to the mix to cover the antibiotic if needed.

If it get's worse quickly, then you might want to take further action. I've seen wounds heal untreated amazingly well in good water ... Good luck! Someone will be here if you need them... Barry

Thank you! He looks about the same today. I just gave him a few flakes of food and at first he went after them but did not eat them,almost like he didn't want to open his mouth but then he started eating. I am watching him and the water closely.

 

[marsha]

Just an update, the fish that was injured seems to be doing good,he is back in the pond. It was a cat that clawed him. I caught a cat on my trail cam two nights in a row coming to my pond,the motion sprinkler I set up seems to be working. The cat went running both times. Didnt make it to ponds edge.Thanks for everyone's help.!

 

[barryian]

Just an update, the fish that was injured seems to be doing good,he is back in the pond. It was a cat that clawed him. I caught a cat on my trail cam two nights in a row coming to my pond,the motion sprinkler I set up seems to be working. The cat went running both times. Didnt make it to ponds edge.Thanks for everyone's help.!

Sounds great! They can heal well in good conditions.