swollen Nautilus....

[monty]

I'd really thought it was on the road to recovery.

 

[cuttlegirl]

I was worried about this little guy, given the amount of swelling in the mantle. My guess is that the infection was too massive by the time you discovered it for any treatment to have had an affect. Try not to be too hard on yourself - you did the best you could.

 

[Architeuthoceras]

So sorry for your loss.

......Anybody wanna see the necropsy pictures?

Yes.

 

[robyn]

they're coming - quite surprising actually. I'll put them in their own thread.

 

[Jean]

Sorry. RIP wee guy.

J

 

[tonmo]

Thanks for sharing, Robyn.

 

[corw314]

Sorry for your loss....

 

[Heather Braid]

I'm so sorry to hear that he died...

 

[DWhatley]

Robyn,

The antibiotic thing is definitely a pain but it is my understanding that some of the perscription drugs can be obtained without a perscription. The rules are strange because you can't get some drugs for dog/cats but you can for farm animals and fish. Me thinks lobbying is involved here . Anyway, if you will look on the net for a known drug, tetracycline for instance, and add the word fish to your search you may find the needed drugs without a perscription. The search will expose a number of sites that sell various antibiotics that are commonly used for fish.

For seahorses, a drug called Diamox is used for Gas Bubble Syndrome. It is not recognized as a "fish" drug(it is used in Glycoma treatment for humans), however, and is more difficult to obtain without a perscription. Since seahorse keepers need it "on hand" getting a vet to openly prescribe it is difficult. I have found that you can order drugs like this from overseas but it takes several weeks getting through customs and sometimes it does not make the trip. If you decide to keep something like this available, order from a guaranteed source as they will reship if it gets "lost". Ordering on-line, overseas, is by far the cheapest approach.

 

[Bob the kracken]

first of all, sorry for your loss.

a strange thought sturck me as i was reading this thread. how would an average vet react to someone bringing in a sick nautilus?

 

[shipposhack]

I would assume their first reaction would be along the lines of "What is that?!", then would be followed by an "Oh." showing that he unquestionabally has no idea how to treat this animal, or even knew it existed beforehand for that matter. If you weren't turned off by then, I'm sure you would be by the time he got into his diagnosis.

I don't think vets see many fishy organisms. Sick water-dwellers especially do not like being moved around a lot, and no one wants to add stress to their animal when they are sick. Your best bet for diagnosis and treatment of a fish related illness is online.

 

[Jean]

I would agree, in fact the part of the vet nursing course in otago that is about fish & fish health/disease is taught by our staff at the aquarium not the vets who train the nurses!

J