It would seem that the Methuselah of goldfish had to come to his end at last.
I’d posted in the Lounge last night, hoping to find my other forum friends who have fishies for help because he had been listless for a few days, and last night I noticed red streaks and blotches on him and he was obviously having trouble breathing, laying on his side at the tank bottom. I cleared his water and put some ich treatment in when I noticed white spots appearing on him, but I guess I was too late or incorrect with my treatment…I couldn’t tell if it was actually this illness, or if he was ammonia/nitrite poisoned or had the bends. (These were some of the conclusions I came to upon reading the online fish forums.)
He survived the night, before Mizmy went in to the vet this morning he was still fighting for breath. But by the time my husband had returned from town with the supplies we were going to use to try to help him, he was gone.
We’ve buried him in the back yard with all our other lost pets. This will be the second of my son’s animals I’ve had to lay to rest within the space of six months.
People will say, so what, he was just a fish? No, he was more than that. He was a miracle; going from being a feeder almost 15 years ago to the angelic creature that glided by on his gossamer wings in his own private universe across from my computer table. There is no way you can be irritable when you see that silent dance in motion. It is so soothing.
I will miss him. Worst of all, I wish I had known death was hovering so close nearby, so I could’ve eased his pain and suffering a little quicker. But I had so hoped he would rally as he has so many times before.
Goodbye Shims. Our dear Mr. Fishy. You will be missed, and never forgotten.
I’ll have to find and post his pictures later. They are hiding from me. 