The photos and video
that follow are quite graphic and make not
be advisable for the weak at the knee type
person.
Pond was accessed. Fish scoped, no
parasites found. Of the 32 fish in the
5,000 gallon pond all but about 4 or 5 had
ulcers, fin, tail or mouth rot. The
fish below, which by the way won koi of the
year award for our club in 2003, was by far
the worst. The Pectoral fin was just
barely hanging on to the body. As you
can see the infection rotted away in the
"pit" of the pectoral fin. The fin was
just barely hanging on. I knew it was a long
shot to try to stitch and have it hold.
I was hoping the fish would just hold the
fin to its body until it had time to heal.
|
The surgery table was
set up. Bath towels covered in bubble
wrap |
The damage. |
If you look close you will see the suturing
material
lying on the fish. Fish is put to sleep
using oil of clove |
Below are the videos to repair the torn fin.
I had to do short video's to make sure it
would work on a wider range of computers.
At one point the fish did come out of
anesthetic and had to be put back under.
|
I wish I could say it was a success, the
fish recovered from anesthetic and was
swimming holding the injured fin close to
its body, just as I had hoped. About
an hour later it decided to try to jump at
which point the 4 stitches ripped. I
will be going back on Tuesday and assess the
fish. Not sure what to do at this
point.
|
This fish was the 2nd worst. The mouth
rot had eaten away the lower jaw. The
owners report the fish is still eating.
It is just a "wait and see" now on how
much it will heal with antibiotic
injections.
|
All 32 fish from the pond were injected and
the wounds cleaned with Potassium
Permanganate. I will be returning in 2
days to Charlotte to check the progress.
The fish were moved to 2 show tanks to a
garage along with the filter. The
owners have a heater and will gradually
raise the temperature from 61 to about 75
over the next few days.
|
