Dropsy

[CACAdmin]

Last night I came home to a Platy who appears to have Dropsy (really bloated... all scales sticking straight out)... poor thing looks like a balloon. I have quarantined her in nice clean water, added some Melafix. She still looks the same today. Other than that does anyone have any recommedations?

[Melody]

Dropsy is a symptom more than a condition. Its normally an internal infection they say. Unfortunately, most don't recover from it. You could try treating for constipation if she'll eat.

[traco1]

Would epsom salts help something like that? Worth a try maybe.

[Katalyst]

I don't know about treating platys with dropsy, I do however know about treating dropsy in goldfish. I'm sorry that's all I have to offer. There is a medicated food called Metro Meds which is usually pretty successful in treating dropsy along with using both Maracyn 1 & Marcyn 2 at the same time. Epsom salt will help but it is not to be combined with regular salt. Turning the heat up to kick their immune systems into gear is also advised.

I'm sorry I can't be of anymore help with your platys. If you can't find the metro meds I can pop some of mine into a baggie into the mail for you.

My breeder (The Fish Sempai) carries the metro meds but I believe mops.ca does as well.

www.fishsempai.com (http://www.fishsempai.com)

[Melody]

I don't know about Metro meds or Goldfish for that matter, but I do know that antibiotics rarely cure it in any fish I've heard of. Granted, antibiotics rarely cure anything in fish it seems.:rolleyes: Advanced dropsy is a result of the organs starting to shut down if I recall correctly.... kidney's I think? Which is why they figure it is beyond curing at that point. If constipation is the cause of the swelling, then they can be cured. Goldfish are prone to constipation, so that might be why the success has been more frequent.

Guesses and parroting of course, I'm no vet. Hope she gets better!

[CACAdmin]

I appreciate the input. I shall try her on some peas just in case. I appreciate the offer of sending Metro Meds, Katalyst, but I think I'll hold off for now and just see how she does.

[Katalyst]

Yep you're right Melody it is an infection that is caused when a bacterial infection invades the body and attacks the kidney's. I've treated one fish successfully (Koi) but it was a combination of metro meds, heat, both maracyns and a series of 5 baytril injections which wouldn't work well on a fish that small unfortunately. They can come back from it but it can take months and it is a lot of hard work.

Still wish I could help.

In my next lifetime I'm going to be a Vet...

[CACAdmin]

Glad to hear you had success in that instance... a lot of effort on your part so it's a good feeling when it works. :idea:As for being a vet in your next lifetime... what the heck... down the road if you get tired of teaching, that could be your next career.:smile:

[Katalyst]

Glad to hear you had success in that instance... a lot of effort on your part so it's a good feeling when it works. :idea:As for being a vet in your next lifetime... what the heck... down the road if you get tired of teaching, that could be your next career.:smile:
LOL I've only been a teacher for 3 years! My other lifetime was spent as a mortgage underwriter which you can only do for so long, then your soul turns black-honest!

[CACAdmin]

LOL I've only been a teacher for 3 years! My other lifetime was spent as a mortgage underwriter which you can only do for so long, then your soul turns black-honest!

:offtopic: Good thing you got out of that line of work before that happened. And so career change isn't new for you. Maybe not a career as a vet then but I'm sure you'll find your way into doing something related at some point down the road... the goldies and snails and their care is a start. (& you can incorporate all this into the curriculum one way or another, I am sure.)

As for the platy, status is the same.

[Katalyst]

Poor lil thing have you isolated him/her?

[baycitybettas]

The only thing I have ever had ANY success with is Kanamycin. I have caught a few cases early and treated it sucessfully with Sea Chems Kanaplex. Still a crap shoot though. As someone mentioned before, "dropsy" is more of a symptom then a "disease". So many things can cause the "pineconing" effect.

I strongly advise against the use of Epsom Salts unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing. You can do alot more harm then good if you are not experienced in their correct use.

[Melody]

Hope it all works out for you - sometimes I quite enjoy being wrong ::D: .

[Melody]

The only thing I have ever had ANY success with is Kanamycin. I have caught a few cases early and treated it sucessfully with Sea Chems Kanaplex. Still a crap shoot though. As someone mentioned before, "dropsy" is more of a symptom then a "disease". So many things can cause the "pineconing" effect.

I strongly advise against the use of Epsom Salts unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing. You can do alot more harm then good if you are not experienced in their correct use.

I've heard before that Kanamycin is the best, now that you mention it. Can you still get it? I thought I read somewhere that it was taken off the shelves but I could be confusing it with something else.

[baycitybettas]

Oh man, they had better not take it off of the market! It is the handiest, most effective med I have ever used. I got it here http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/skus/me/MESE-08810.asp?L+scstore+lzqh1116ffde46de+1182129969

And at 6.99 you cant beat the price!

[Melody]

Seems to me that someone told me its most effective if they eat it. You have to soak food in it to do that though, and its tough to tell how much any fish gets.