Vets And Fish

[Floyds mum]

I took my sisters ferret to vets yesterday for "THE SNIP" and they now have a tank, its more of a cube and looks like it hold similar amount of water to my 54L (mb a little bit more) but they have several guppies, about 10 mollies, an albino red tailed shark (if thats the right name, its blondy with red fins) and some albino corys and alot of fry. I know for a fact that if i got in and say its over stocked (kinda obvious it is) then they would have a go at me saying ive no idea what im on about, despite the fact that ive done various animal courses at uni. just poor fishies

 

[dave_oddballs]

it will be an albino rainbow shark.
from my experience vets don't know a right lot about fish, i had an outbreak of columnaris in my snakeheads last year, really bad, they was going from perfect to dead in about 12 hours. i needed antibiotics as its a bacterial infection for which there is no 'fish' medicine for, only antibiotics will treat it, and they hadn't a clue! really really annoyed me, they must of thought i was stupid, ringing the vets about my fish.
but the conclusion was, your average veterinary surgeon know jack about fish! hence why they have an over stocked tank at your vets!!

 

[Littlemonkey]

I would have a word myself, they may appreciate the advice, you never know untill you try.

 

[Wills]

it will be an albino rainbow shark.
from my experience vets don't know a right lot about fish, i had an outbreak of columnaris in my snakeheads last year, really bad, they was going from perfect to dead in about 12 hours. i needed antibiotics as its a bacterial infection for which there is no 'fish' medicine for, only antibiotics will treat it, and they hadn't a clue! really really annoyed me, they must of thought i was stupid, ringing the vets about my fish.
but the conclusion was, your average veterinary surgeon know jack about fish! hence why they have an over stocked tank at your vets!!

I had a similar experience a few years ago when I had a large group of angels, I managed to find a good list of vets that specialized in fish, it even had two sections one for marine and one for pond and tropical. Closest one to me on the list was York though and in all of the UK there were only about 20-30 maybe that were classed as specialist for fish. Though if you have major issues like that if you ask in an LFS you trust they might be able to advise you on where to go to get anti biotics, they will be able to help you out as far as ordering them but I think you are on your own to dose them.

To the OP I would write a letter, a relatively extensive one with evidence to back it up quoting books rather than websites and if you can find any advice from PFK either in publications or on the net include them, alternatively if you could find someone with fish keeping credentials, qualifications or just generally recognized in the hobby to include a small paragraph or few sentences it will help. You expect this in low quality pet stores but not in veterinary surgeries bit shocking really considering just how long it takes to become a vet.

Wills

 

[dave_oddballs]

i agree wills, but no one will just give out anti-biotics, they have to be prescribed, well unless you know someone on the 'inside', which i don't. the only thing my vets did was put me in touch with a fish specialist over the net, and she wanted me to pay about £30 just to talk through emails! the cheek! all i wanted was some anti-biotics!
thankfully i haven't had any such incidents since, but wouldn't know what to do if i did.

 

[Wills]

Ah right I spoke to one of my LFS and they said that I would be able to get a prescription through a local vet that they worked with, though this vet had little knowledge of fish they could still prescribe what I needed, though as you said it was very expensive. But then again all vets are IMO especially for the bread and butter vaccinations that cats and dogs etc need.

 

[Assaye]

it will be an albino rainbow shark.
from my experience vets don't know a right lot about fish, i had an outbreak of columnaris in my snakeheads last year, really bad, they was going from perfect to dead in about 12 hours. i needed antibiotics as its a bacterial infection for which there is no 'fish' medicine for, only antibiotics will treat it, and they hadn't a clue! really really annoyed me, they must of thought i was stupid, ringing the vets about my fish.
but the conclusion was, your average veterinary surgeon know jack about fish! hence why they have an over stocked tank at your vets!!

I got told not to waste their time when I phoned about a columnaris outbreak that was killing my bettas.

Not a clue and didn't even have the decency to give me a little support or sympathy. I had to find out about exotic pet vets myself despite asking if they had any contacts.

It's like when school biology departments have really bad fish tanks. You'd think they'd research instead of showing a common plec in a 20 gallon tank and never cleaning it.

 

[raptorrex]

it will be an albino rainbow shark.
from my experience vets don't know a right lot about fish, i had an outbreak of columnaris in my snakeheads last year, really bad, they was going from perfect to dead in about 12 hours. i needed antibiotics as its a bacterial infection for which there is no 'fish' medicine for, only antibiotics will treat it, and they hadn't a clue! really really annoyed me, they must of thought i was stupid, ringing the vets about my fish.
but the conclusion was, your average veterinary surgeon know jack about fish! hence why they have an over stocked tank at your vets!!

I got told not to waste their time when I phoned about a columnaris outbreak that was killing my bettas.

Not a clue and didn't even have the decency to give me a little support or sympathy. I had to find out about exotic pet vets myself despite asking if they had any contacts.

It's like when school biology departments have really bad fish tanks. You'd think they'd research instead of showing a common plec in a 20 gallon tank and never cleaning it.

unfortunately, though i wholeheartedly agree, anti biotics are too valuable, to humans, to be used, for the most part, on fish. especially hobby fish. and messin with "insiders" to get round it, just makes things worse for, everyone.

 

[dave_oddballs]

i don't think its that bad to be honest,i do not believe that enough people will come across a problem in their lifetime involving fish needing anti biotics, its only very serious cases that would actually need it.
so what your saying is why waste it on a fish when it could be used for a human? but to some people there fish are pets, especially for a lot of people like those on here where it is more of a serious hobby than just a fist bowl in the corner. some people would rather save the life of their fish than let it die.
i think its a shame that people would think its a waste saving a fish's life.

 

[Mikaila31]

Personally I would attempt to get the med from a human doctor.... say you need it IDK. Thats how I got a prescription for minocycline. Its a commonly prescribed acne med. Its availble from the LPS here in the form of Macrayn Two. I'm not sure what is available to those across the pond.

The reverse is usually much more common though at least in the US. You can find lots of info on the net about using fish/animal meds for human use. You can get a lot of meds here for fish that you would need a prescription for otherwise. Its not something I suggest of course, I prefer the doctor, I just know it is done. Usually by those who can't afford it, can't get a prescription, or because the bulk bottles of fish antibiotics are often 1/3 the cost of the RX drugs for the same amount. I find it kinda funny. Who really needs 100 (500mg) pills of penicillin, non-prescription for fish..... even if you have a ton of fish I can't see them getting sick that often.

I don't see why using them of hobby fish is a waste. I mean kinda like how we microchip our pets and even some hobby fish it serves its purpose. Yet why don't you microchip your kid too? Save the security at the mall a lot of work.

 

[raptorrex]

so what your saying is why waste it on a fish when it could be used for a human? but to some people there fish are pets, especially for a lot of people like those on here where it is more of a serious hobby than just a fist bowl in the corner. some people would rather save the life of their fish than let it die.
i think its a shame that people would think its a waste saving a fish's life.

you misunderstand me. its not that supplies are short. but, missuse/misguided use. results in the, types of, bacteria the antibac is intended to treat, can become immune. as we use these to treat ourselves, this is a retrograde step.

considering the amount of bacteria that are now, immune to many antibiotics. and being cold about it. yes, in comparison to a human, even on cherished fish its a, potential, waste. there is a reason Vets don't, often, prescribe antibiotics to hobby fish. after all if it were just the money, they would give it out wholesale. that reason, for the most part is, control. these drugs are just, too, valuable to humanity.

 

[GAB99]

it will be an albino rainbow shark.
from my experience vets don't know a right lot about fish, i had an outbreak of columnaris in my snakeheads last year, really bad, they was going from perfect to dead in about 12 hours. i needed antibiotics as its a bacterial infection for which there is no 'fish' medicine for, only antibiotics will treat it, and they hadn't a clue! really really annoyed me, they must of thought i was stupid, ringing the vets about my fish.
but the conclusion was, your average veterinary surgeon know jack about fish! hence why they have an over stocked tank at your vets!!

I got told not to waste their time when I phoned about a columnaris outbreak that was killing my bettas.

Not a clue and didn't even have the decency to give me a little support or sympathy. I had to find out about exotic pet vets myself despite asking if they had any contacts.

It's like when school biology departments have really bad fish tanks. You'd think they'd research instead of showing a common plec in a 20 gallon tank and never cleaning it.

might be off topic but my biology teacher who used to work at seaworld as one of the trainers (we took a field trip and the whale remembered her), knows alot about marine but jack squat about freshwater, she had a 20 gallon with mixed group of guppies mostly male, 2 neone tetras, 2 rainbow sharks, 2-3 gold fish, and a physically retarded danio.



also i think that you can specialise as a vet and therefore not have to learn about EVERY animal, which includes fish.

 

[OldMan47]

We have a veterinary professor at the local university in our club membership who is quite knowledgeable about freshwater fish, but actually using him to work on a pet fish would be prohibitively expensive for the average man on the street. He did a surgery to correct a swim bladder problem with a fancy goldfish, as the program at one of our club meetings, but it would need to be a very special fish to make someone willing to pay what he would charge outside of the club itself.