Injured Oil Cat

[Becca]

We got a shipment of fish this AM that mostly look great, but one of the little oil cats arrived with a broken pectoral fin. He's unable to right himself and keeps listing to his side or goes belly up.

Any advice for how to help him? We are acclimating them now... Too bad he's not a really bulbous goldfish, or I could make him a life jacket... I'm only half kidding.:unsure:

 

[Becca]

On closer examination, this poor little cat also has a subcutaneous air bubble slightly above the broken pectoral fin. If I had to guess he somehow managed to puncture himself when his fin snapped either during capture or shipping.

If I had a really fine gauge syringe I might be able to attempt to remove it - any advice?

 

[Avatar]

Insufficient data

Picture? Have an idea...

 

[Becca]

Body of proof

Here are some photos.

 

[Becca]

Here's one where the air bubble has an arrow pointing to it and the fin is circled.

 

[Avatar]

Bigger issue?

Think maybe the fin is the least of his problems. Would treat as if he has an infection (no real idea how) and let the fin issue take its course.

 

[Becca]

He's in quarantine with salt at 1tsp per gallon and melafix in the water.

He's managing to get down to the bottom of the quarantine tank and sort of wedge himself under some plants to stay down. I'm not going to try the syringe unless he reaches a point where he fails to do that. The increased pressure from being in deeper water might help the air work its way out on its own. The bubble might've come from lack of pressure during shipping... we'll see.

 

[dogofwar]

Best thing is quarantine and melafix...

Matt

 

[msjinkzd]

I havent had much luck with them recovering from such a damaged pectoral. It is not an uncommon occurrence, if they are netted, as their spines are very "sticky" and it is not hard to rip them out in their entirety.

 

[Becca]

I havent had much luck with them recovering from such a damaged pectoral. It is not an uncommon occurrence, if they are netted, as their spines are very "sticky" and it is not hard to rip them out in their entirety.

Yeah, I'm very careful with cats and will transfer them using my hands or a cup. This must have happened in transit, or prior to it.