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  1. #1

    Ochiba Constantly Chewing Concerns

    I made a video which explains my concerns but it's 8 minutes long. If you have 8 minutes to spare, here is the link (hopefully)...



    If that doesn't work, try....

    https://youtu.be/6gRi5l7BeIY

    For those that don't wanna sit through 6 minutes of self indulgent nonsense and 2 minutes of actually describing the issue, here it is in (as) brief (as i can):


    Short version:

    My ochiba is constantly chewing and has a lump on her tail.

    Last year my matsuba began constantly chewing....6 weeks later i had to euthanise her.

    There are differences so hopefully it isn't the same thing. There are some images somewhere below:



    Longer version:

    Last year my matsuba ballooned to an enormous size. I thought she was egg bound. I tried putting her in a "spawning vat" with various combinations of males. Nothing happened. I even tried putting 2 randy goldfish in there with her. Nothing happened.

    She was still feeding and i began exploring where to get carp pituatory (sp) gland from.

    She was doing this weird thing with her mouth where she appeared to be constantly chewing.

    Then one day i came down to find foam everywhere. Then i saw the matsuba was significantly smaller. I thought "Oh brilliant, she has spawned". I looked for the eggs. There were none.

    This was that really hot period we had in July 2018

    A few days later, the matsuba presented 2 small ulcers. If you looked at her from the back and said the bottom of her caudal fin was 6 o'clock and the top of her caudal fin was 12 o'clock, then the ulcers were just past her anal fin, at 4 o'clock and 8'o clock

    The image below shows a topical treatment applied to one of the areas (the ulcers were no longer small when the photo was taken)

    20180707_235955 (1).jpg

    I mentioned the chewing to a koi health professional. They said that it might be an indication of an internal bacterial infection.

    Then she stopped feeding. I got some baytril. I was confident that would fix her.

    But....The ulcers got bigger. I was terrified that they would join together as one big ulcer*.

    The baytril did nothing. I wished i had sent a swab off to be cultured.

    I tried amoxicillin next. I thought it was going to work because i did see her eat. I was so pleased. But it was false hope and the ulcers got bigger and moved up her body.

    I wish i had euthanised then but i still thought she would get better. The koi health expert was subtly leading me toward euthanasia but agreed one last throw of the dice with amikacin.

    After 2 injections there was still no improvement and i knew i had to do the decent thing. I cried and wailed and nearly took her out of the sedation overdose.

    I felt so low. Ashamed for letting that happen to her. I went over and over everything time and time again.

    I left her in the sedation fluid for 24 hours. I could see her fin moving. Or could i? I hadn't slept since Sunday and it was now Thursday night. I told myself that it was the wind blowing the water. But what IF she was still alive?

    Paula had told me a story of a koi sent to her for autopsy, that suddenly started flapping around just as she was about to cut it open ! Very much still alive !

    I couldn't risk even the slightest chance of burying that poor fish alive. So i took a screwdriver and hammered it through her head 3 times.

    I didn't even look at the pond for several days after that. My oldest, biggest and favourite koi was dead. I had failed to look after her.

    I felt wretched. So guilty. So ashamed. So empty and pathetic. This lasted for weeks. Someone at work asked me for aquarium advice. I advised them to ask someone else because i kill mine.

    Although that turned out to be like a trip to Alton Towers in comparisson to what happened in November....my dog died. I am still not over losing the dog. She literally was my best friend. I slept downstairs on the floor for the last 8 months of her life so she no longer had to go upstairs. I still sleep downstairs. In case anyone wants to see, there is a tribute video for Ellie (the dog) here...

    https://youtu.be/yijrCWE02eA

    I have digressed sorry. Back on topic....

    *They eventually did. The ulcers....meet in the middle and become one huge thing.

    20180726_140031_6777.jpg


    Now the ochiba is doing the same chewing thing. So i am worried that the same thing will happen to her.

    I'm going to press "submit new thread" now in case i lose the text above but i haven't quite finished.....



  2. Thanks john1, Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
  3. #2
    So yeah....the ochiba had some raised scales. Which i sorted twice with salt. The lump on her caudal fin went very red and angry. Then went back to normal.

    But she keeps chewing.

    I got a scrape on Monday. A decent bit of mucus from the gill operculum. The front if it, not underneath i am not confident enough to go underneath the operculum. Especially with this koi being such a struggler.

    I found nothing moving in the mucus. When i got back from work, some 9 hours later, i looked at the slide again. As expected, nothing motile but some weird looking things nonetheless.

    Here you go. Here are some images:

    20190813_022312.jpg20190813_022454.jpg


    What? You want more?

    Hang on then....

    20190524_062tail.jpg

    That is what the lump normally looks like.

    And this is how it looked on one day this year....

    20190605_122128.jpg

  4. Thanks Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
  5. #3
    Anyone?

    Update - In the end i did errrrrm nothing and errrrrm nothing happened to the koi.

    She had something on the bottom of her caudal fin whch looks like a tear. (Rhyme with pear....not a tear rhyming with fear)

    I was going to get her out and have a look but i haven't yet.

    This weekend i will be removing all the fish anyway as i need to fix / re-fix some holes in the liner.

    Note - Using a pressure washer to clean the pond wasn't one of my finest moments.

    And i will be giving 3-5 fish away to a friend of a colleague, assuming they scrape clean. The lady hasn't asked me to scrape them but there is no way i wouldn't scrape because she has no quarantine facility.

    So they are all coming out. I have a temporary pond set up ready.

    20190918_03190.jpg

    I'll get some photos of the ochiba and any others than i find with anything.

    Something for you all to look forward to eh?

  6. Thanks anne, Ajm, Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
  7. #4
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    Nice to see you back on Justin how you doing ?.
    lovely video of Ellie.... made me shed a tear...……...oh ok then, maybe a lot of tears, but I don't care we all
    have emotions..

  8. Thanks Ajm, john1, Frimley Koi keeper Thanked / Liked this Post
 

 

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