Goldfish euthanasia - help!

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Sorry - not horses - but the amount of knowledge on this Forum is staggering. I have an outside pond with mature Koi, Shubunkins and Goldfish. I've also got an indoor tropical fish tank. Tiny tropical fish can be humanely euthanised by popping them in an inch of water in a tupperware sandwich box and slowly adding some crushed ice, then popping the box in the freezer. The tiny fish - most only as big as a bumble bee - slip into hypothermia, a coma and die peacefully in about 3 mins. But I have a huge goldfish (9 inches long) in the outside pond who clearly has a swim bladder infection. Bless him, he's hung on for over a week now, floating upside down at the surface. Every time I try to move his sad little body he perks up and flops away. I don't know how to humanely end his suffering. The crushed ice/freezer would be cruel to my mind as (a) goldfish are coldwater fish anyway so the death would be protracted and (b) his body size means that he would suffer for ages. Does anyone know how I can help him?

 

[AmyMay]

Bash it on the head??

Sorry, bit grim...

 

[WoopsiiD]

Oil of cloves or .............Vodka!
thats what I have been told in the past.

 

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

Bop him over the head the way fishermen do to kill fish they catch?

 

[Madam_max]

I did my indoor cold fish like that. It told me to in a book???

 

[Cop-Pop]

Could you not do it the other way and slowly heat the water up? They might slowly go to sleep in the warmth?

or ask a vet?

ETA: http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/forum/viewtopic_502.php

 

[mattilda]

Is it not treatable? He's obviously a bit of a fighter.
Other than the whump on the head that fishermen seem to do I'm afraid I have no idea how to send him on his way nicely...sorry.

 

[ihatework]

Surely you'd just knock it on the head?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

I can't bash him on the head. I'd cock it up, I just know, and he'd be horribly injured as well as having a swim bladder infection. What's the vodka thing? Do you just put them in a container of neat voddie? Oil of cloves - how does that work?

 

[BSJAlove]

[ QUOTE ]
Could you not do it the other way and slowly heat the water up? They might slowly go to sleep in the warmth?

[/ QUOTE ]

HAHAHAHA i cant stop laughing. it might go to sleep in the warmth. if my fish ever look like their suffering, ill try out your idea

hehee

 

[WoopsiiD]

this is the site I used
http://thegab.org/Articles/Euthanasia.html
as for the warm water idea.....spose you could chuck a few spuds in there too and have fish and parsley sauce!

 

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

I'm sorry but I think bashing on the nead is the kindest thing. Take him by the tail and bash him into something like a wall etc. HARD. If needs be a coupe of times. It sounds awful but perhaps better than boiling him alive!

 

[WoopsiiD]

The vodka has to be added with water as like the site says it can burn, I can't find the details on how many parts water to how many parts vodka. Sorry.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

ATG - what a brill link! Many thanks. I too had a laugh at Z's heartless option to turn Fishy into dinner. Knowing my luck, he'd have revived on my plate as the parsley sauce was poured on him. Alka Seltzer sounds good x

 

[LadyRascasse]

unfortuanlty with fish there is no way to put them to sleep, an treating them is even harder as if the water isn't quite right it can cause all sorts of problems. you have my sympathys.

i think the best course would be to get a nice strong man to bash its head as it would be the most instant and humane.

 

[BigRed]

I have done a lot of research on the internet about this, because I have a goldfish pond that is stuffed full of fish and needed to cull some of them. Putting them in the freezer is NOT a painfree death even though lots of people seem to think it is.

Apparently the quickest and most painless way, it to take a very sharp knife and slice them through the back of the head, they might twitch a bit, but they die instantly.

To make sure you grip him firmly, either wear gloves, or a kitchen towel.

 

[Mamamia]

10 drops of clove oil in 1 litre of water. We have done a few large fish like this and it seems pretty stress free and quick (though to be honest the other half always does it as I can't bear to - euthanising fish is so horrible, I feel for you

)

 

[ridebumble]

if you can't face bopping him on the head, pop him in a bag and drop a brick on him, same result without the hands on bit, plus no mess ... sorry still a bit gruesome though

 

[PennyJ]

I just flush them down the loo when they've gone terminally wrong or feed them to the great big ugly carp/koi type thing outside in the pond. (All the other fish we buy to put out in the pond disappear without trace, it has got to be him being a cannibal) You must think I'm a really horrible person...

 

[Theresa_F]

Put fish in thick carrier bag, take bag to car, place under the wheel so lightly wedged. Take off handbrake - remove bag and place in dustbin - done.

Whatever you do, do not put fish under wheel without carrier bag - I made that mistake once - bits of fish flew everywhere - including eyes popping over 3' away out much to the delight of the horrible 9 year old whose fish I was pts as it was dying slowly.

It is instant though a bit messy - I have done this for lots of fish who needed a bit of help to go to the great fish tank in the sky.

 

[GinaB]

Swimbladder is easily treated, have you given him any treatment?

 

[blackcob]

Goldfish breeder/enthusiast checking in here.

Quickest, kindest thing to do is bop him on the head, then sever the spinal cord, or simply sever the spinal cord quickly. Large, heavy knife or cleaver brought down just behind the gills will do the job very quickly. The body may continue twitching after death but no pain is felt.

The clove oil method is tricky at best and doesn't work well for large fish, also the oil can irritate the gills and cause discomfort before death.

The freezing method is not recommended as ice crystals can form in the tissues while the fish is still conscious and cause pain.

If in doubt, take it to the vet - sounds daft but my local vet is happy to stick a water-soluble anaesthetic in the water to knock out a sick fish. I am lucky to have a specialist fish/exotics vet in my area who can inject large fish to put them down too, although this is more costly.

ETA: Have you tried treating the fish?

 

[alison247]

I'm standing back ready for the backlash!
But when you take fish out of water they die don't they?
So why not just take him out the pond?
When fish are caught in nets don't they just die or do the fishermen hit them on the head?
Sorry for being think but I thought they just died quickly when out of water!

 

[simplyme]

I know I shouldn't....

but this post has had me laughing out loud.

On a serious note, I hope you resolve your fishy problems

 

[PopStrop]

Oil of cloves is used as an anaesthetic/sedative, particularly with large and expensive koi carp when/if they need medical intervention.

If you overdose the fish with oil of cloves, the fish dies.
I can't remember how many drops of oil to how much water, but if you google it I'm sure something will come up.

 

[Tinkerbee]

Cat?

 

[kellyeaton]

i was told by an vet that you put a large dose of asprin in the fish tank he is in put make sure he his on his own. a lot of my mums fish have had swimm bladder infections recently and they said try to help buy buying these stuff for swimm bladder did not work and give them peas out of there pops they loved them!

 

[Sooty]

We always found a car wheel highly effective for goldfish.

Not sure about a larger fish though, although I suppose cars are quite good at killing rabbits so a fish should be no problem...

 

[Cash]

[ QUOTE ]
Cat?

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[natalia]

this is making me giggle, I used to have fish and used the bag./brick method but to be honest if they had got that slow the cat/heron normally got them first. Car wheel would be just as good. I wouldn't worry, goldfish are even more stupid than chickens and have no idea what's going on at any point in their lives, so a quick clonk round the head should do the job fine.