soberdog

Hi, I've had my pleco for about 13 years, he is about 16 inches long, in a 50 gallon tank by himself with a bog log, some large smooth rocks, two heaters, two whisper filters, and a medium size bubble wand. He has a long history of moves, a couple of bad injuries which he recovered from with frequent water changes and Maracyn/Maracyn two. I thought he might die especially the one time but he recovered in a week. Now, he has one small injury, with white fuzzy stuff on it, which I discovered Sat night. I had some Maracyn left from last time, so I put some in. The scary part was that he was "wobbly", like falling over backwards, hitting his head, etc. I went to the Fish Store (the main fish place in Seattle) and they told me to do both the maracyn meds. I've done this Sun and Mon, and at first thought he was getting a little better but really he is just more "active" because he trying to gulp air from the top. I lowered the water level as far as I could for the filters so he'd have less distance to go to get more air, and I'm putting another bubbler in there for him. The thing is, I found him this morning leaning over backwards against one of the heaters, which doesn't happen to have a cover because I just got it and couldn't find one for it yet, but it didn't seem overly hot to the touch. I've been gently nudging him over into an upright position when he falls backwards; sometimes he tries to right himself but it's such a struggle and he can't do it sometimes. He was normally afraid of the net but not now. I am going to consult an exotics vet, but I think he might have had a stroke or a blodclot or something (my friend the vet tech says). He seems to not be able to move his side fins much or at all. I will euthanize him if I have to , I do not want him to suffer anymore, but at the same time I thought he was going to die twice before and he recovered. However he was never before this severely lethargic and never did fall over. Has anyone experienced this before? Can anyone help me?? I love him.

alicem

Gee, that's really sad, soberdog. I'm sorry your buddy is ill.
I did a little research and the average life span of a pleco is 7 to 15 years, so yours has lived to the higher end of average.
He's not as strong as he was when he was younger, so recovery with quality of life will be harder for him.

I'd say you've done what you could, but it may be time to let him go.
You don't want your old friend to suffer any more than he should.
It must be difficult for you to see him like this.

When I've lost pets that like this it helps me to put a note in the burial bag.
These notes are to the pet saying how I've enjoyed it's company all these years and what a good pet he was.
My husband has saluted my fallen pet friends, after burial, and I find that rather endearing and sweet of him.

Best of luck to you and your friend,
alicem

agabr123

poor guy i'm sorry that he's not doing well. i'm sorry i don't have much advice for you, but it sounds like you have given him a very long and happy life.

soberdog

Hi, thanks everyone for posting. My Pleco was passed away when I got up yesterday morning. I can only hope and pray he didn't suffer very much or at all. I am so so sad. But he did live a long time. I did my best. I will do even better for the next one I have. I am going to read up on them as much as possible. Anyone recommend a good book on Plecos/catfish?? I will post pix of him soon.

alicem

I sent you a pm.
alicem