Goldfish, Betta and algae eaters

[Elisabeth83]

My boyfriend and I went to the vet to get our kitten it's second set of shots. Well the vet is in the same building as a pet store. On the vets desk in the entry way they have a tall vase thing that probably holds 3-4 gallons but because they had almost all the bottom filled with gravel there was only 2 gallons of swimming room. In the vase they had 3 goldfish!!! 1 betta and either a couple little plecos or algae eaters..I didnt look too close. This tank didnt have a filter either

The water didnt look so great and all 3 of the goldfish were sucking air at the surface.

What a bad combination in such a small vase thing eh???

 

[Fiori]

A bit worrying that it was set up like that at a vets - you'd think they would know better

Or was it just in the same building? Sorry - I think my brain has finally gone!

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah you'd think so It was actually in the vets office on their desk in the entry way

 

[Fiori]

Poor show - did you say anything to them?

 

[debiasir]

if that was in my vets i would change vets

 

[Elisabeth83]

I've said a few things to the pet store before about their fish ...but I didn't say anything to the vets...I should of

edit: This was our first visit to this vet clinic...we got our kittens first set of shots at another place but then found out this place was a little bit cheaper so we decided to go there instead. I'm thinking now maybe we should just go back to the other place.

 

[wrs]

being a vet has nothing at all to do with fish. You cant get mad and not go to the vet thinking they must know better. It is not their responsibility to know about fish.

 

[littlefishie]

It may not be their responsibility to know about fish, but you'd think since it's a vet's office, they'd know they should at least take care of the animals..

You really should go back and say something to them. I know I would.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

being a vet has nothing at all to do with fish. You cant get mad and not go to the vet thinking they must know better. It is not their responsibility to know about fish.

No, but they should know better than to just buy fish without actually knowing about them, seeing as the are a vet's surgery and I would think they should realise that they have to research fish care, just the same as you would with any other animal. And while it is not their responsibility to know about the fish, it is their responsibilty to look after them properly, and not just keep them for show. They should really know better - seeing as they proberly get upset when a cat or a puppy or a fluffy rabbit gets treated cruely, so what's the difference when fish are treated cruely like that? Just filling up a vase with water and chucking about seven fish in. Wouldn't they be able to see that they haven't got enough room to swim?
Don't feel guilty Elisabeth about not saying anything to them - I'm sure that another fishy fanatic will come across these poor fish and put them right.

Doh! Sorry, I just had to let that out... )

 

[RandomWiktor]

being a vet has nothing at all to do with fish. You cant get mad and not go to the vet thinking they must know better. It is not their responsibility to know about fish.

As a veterinary technician (or "animal nurse" of the term doesn' say enough), I feel the need to comment on that. First off, a vet should know better than to buy an animal without doing research on it; what kind of message are you giving your clients by having animals in such poor conditions? It is immensely hypocritical to preach proper animal care and not exersize it yourself. If I was a fish knowledgeable person, and he told me something about how to care about say, my mouse, I'd double check what he said because his lack of knowledge on that subject would make me insecure of him as a vet in general. Maybe he's a perfectly wonderful vet, but what I'm trying to say is that he is giving a negative image to his clientel. The fact that they are "just fish" doesn't mean you don't need to do your reading before getting one.
Furthermore, don't assume that vets never hear a peep on fish care in all of their years of schooling. There was a whole CHAPTER in my animal husbandry and nutrition text book devoted just to fish (there was even a section on madagascar hissing cockroaches). There are even aquarian vets. So chances are, he/she probably was exposed to at least some fish care knowledge while in school. And besides, even if he doesn't know squat about fish, as a vet, he should have some concept of the humane care of animals. I don't know about you, but I don't see two gallons as being especially pleasant for any fish, let alone several. Most educated people really frown upon the fish-in-vase setup because they realize that retailers lie to sell more, at the cost of the fish dying, be it bettas from improper diet (plant roots for a carnivore... joy), goldfish from too much ammonia, guppies from cold water, etc.
So, as a role model for the proper care of animals, it is very poor on the vet's part to have such a setup in his office. He probably wouldn't listen if someone brought it up as a lot of vets have an ego about how much they know even when they're clueless, but it might be worth mentioning anyways. Either way, poor fish!

 

[wuvmybetta]

It may not be their responsibility to know about fish, but you'd think since it's a vet's office, they'd know they should at least take care of the animals..

You really should go back and say something to them. I know I would.

True. I took our dog to a new vet for a check up and a dip last summer and they had a few bettas in bitty,bitty tanks. I of course mentioned how every full grown betta deserves a gallon etc and the receptionist said she would get them one right away.

 

[Elisabeth83]

The weird part about it all is that the vet clinic is connected to the pet store. The place is 3 stories high and on the second level it's the fish section and then in the corner it's the door to the vet clinic. I'd assume the people who work in the fish section set the vase up for the clinic and would be the ones giving the vets/nurses information on how to take care of it Isn't it just common knowledge that 2 goldfish, a betta and algae eaters can't live in a 2 gallon vase?? Especially when it's a vet clinic attached to a pet store.

Then again this is the same pet store that I've spoken with on a couple occasions about how they treat their bettas and other fish. Seems the people who work there really dont even have knowledge about fish. I've spoken with the girl who works in the fish section (theres more than just her who works there) a couple of times now I really think she doesn't like me anymore I'd rather she didn't like me though than be quiet and watch their fish suffer.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Most pet stores - and I don't care what they're selling, from fish to puppies - want to make money, and they don't care how they do it. Sad but true. They sold our school PREGNANT RATS to be used in vetmed practice... now come on. They were completely useless because we couldn't do any tests so long as they were carrying, and once they had the babies we still couldn't use them because they were then nursing mothers. I'm sure the pet store told the vets it would be perfectly OK to have those animals in there. After all, they say you can keep bettas in an unfilted, unheated cup of water, goldfish in a bowl, and non-compatible species in a community. I never trust a single thing a pet store tells me because about 99% of the time they're lying to make money. Which is why I shop at supplies-only stores, because I feel like funding the other places is just adding to the number of sick, neglected pets I have to care for in my day to day work.

 

[SMSBrunetteGirl]

THAT just makes the vet look careless and stupid

 

[wrs]

I wouyldnt trust the petstore. For all you know the vet minght not even be responsible for it. The store could have sold it to them, or it could have been a receptionests.