My goldfish with the pop eyes has huge tumors-like things growing on one of her eyes. The other eye is fine but the bad eye continues to get worse. Now there is white stuff on the tumors. She rubbed against the bottom and a huge white thing came off. She only has these white spots and tumors on her one eye. The rest of her body is fine. I lifted her partly out of the water today and put hydrogen peroxide on the eye. I don't know what to do. The tumors keep growing and new ones are starting to grow. Plus the white stuff is starting to get bad.

I posted something about 2 months ago and I got some pretty sarcastic replies and no help. I am really concerned that this will kill her? I want to know if anyone has ever experienced something like this and if anyone can give advise?

She is still swimming and eatting-which is a good sign. I have asked Koko to post some photos. I think you really need to see the photos to see how bad it is. If anyone has any advise on how to make this better it would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!

interesting... could you send a pic. i have never heard of tumors before. it could be some sort of mouth rot but im really not sure enough to make such a diagnosis. could you paste a pic onto this message. thanks.

See if you can find it here: http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/eyes.html

Blinky and Lachfa thanks so much for the relpy. Since I am so new to the site I do not have the capability of posting images. I have sent them to Koko to post. Hopefully they will be up some time today. I would be happy to email them to either of you in the meantime. I really want someone to see what I am dealing with here. I feel so bad for the fish and if she is in pain I want to put her out of her misery. She swims and eats though ...

I checked out the website you recommended. There are a few descriptions that describe some of the problems but they all recommend different treaments so I am very lost on which one to treat with. The bad eye is much more swollen or popped then the good eye, then there are the 'tumors', the eye is cloudy around the iris, theres swelling and redness and now there is white stuff on the 2 tumors.

I know it is hard to diagnos without seeing photos. Thanks so much in the meantime.

Cammie, Koko is rather busy at the moment, but if you email them to me at RAJ-Pecher@msn.com, I will be more than happy to post them for you!....

I can't seem to see the images. Can anyone else?

I see them fine. Looks like a tumor to me.

I can see the pict too..

the condition is bad.. doesn't seem to be the work of external bacteria.. looks like it is being attacked internally..

I dun think hydrogen peroxide treatment helps, it only add on more pain to the poor fish.. I remember how painful it is when hydrogen peroxide is poured over my wound when I was little boy..

Looking at one of the 'tumors' tonight.. it appears to have an open wound in the center. This is where the white cotton stuff is coming out of. So if it is a tumor or an internal problem are there any treatments for her?

I was told in an old post to gently lift my fish to the surface of the water and put hydrogen peroxide on the wound with a Q-tip. Is this not right? Since I have no idea what I am dealing with here I was treating her in the .. I dont want to medicate her with anything until I know more.

Thanks

If it is in fact a tumor, no medications will work. They can be surgically removed, but that should only be done by a veterinarian.

visit http://www.koivet.com
there they perform surgery on their fish

I did not provide any solution becuz turmor indeed requires operation..

either u try or you dun.. I really dun know can I bring myself to do it..

alternatively, a method without using knife - I have heard breeders resorting to putting their prize fishes to their mouth and suck out whatever they think it is disturbing the fish internally...

My opinion...
For a problem this severe, resort to professionals...if not, euthanize the poor thing.
I think any attempts to cure it by a non-professional, with an extreme case like this, is well intentioned cruelty.
I wish you well in deciding what to do with this.
We're rootin' for ya!

Poor fish.

How's your water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)? How big is the tank, how many fish are in it, and what are their sizes? What kind of filter do you have and how many GPH does it pump? How often do you change the water, and how much do you change? How long since the last tank addition? What, if anything have you done to treat this in the past, and has the condition ever improved or only worsened?

It doesn't look like the lumps are *directly* on the eye, and if this is true, you should be able to safely swab them.

Cammie, after looking at the poor thing, I would suggest to try Koivet, like previously suggested. Doc Johnson is a vet specialized in fish health, and if anybody can help the fish, he can. We had a sick fish at the show, brought in by its owner for the purpose of Doc Johnson looking him over. He did an excellent job diagnosing the fish, and it was quite interesting to watch him. I am sure he can tell you whats wrong with your fish when he has a look at the pictures.....
Good luck!

Thank you to everyone that has offered help to me. I have gone to koivet.com and posted a note there. They will be getting my info to Doc Johnson to see if he can help. I will keep you posted on what he says.

Thanks again you are all so helpful!!!

Cammie

Ranchugirl and all-

I thought I would let you know that I did get a hold of Doc Johnson. Thanks!! He was great. He and my local vet corresponded via email and he walked my vet through removing the eye. Her eye is being shipped off so they can test it to see what kind of cancer it was. It was done yesterday and she is doing ok. She is swimming in her tank but she is not eatting and has not eatten for the last 2 1/2 days. Is this normal for a fish to not want to eat after a surgery like this?

Also, the water is getting slightly cloudy... I am assuming it is from her large open wound? There is no uneatten food on the bottom, I have been vacuming it out. The water was tested 2 days ago and everything was great. Any advise on how long a fish can go without eatting and when I should be concerned? Also any knowledge on the cloudy water would be great. The vet told me to change is 30 every few days but it looks like it should be done everyday until the cloudyness goes away.

Thanks

Hi again-

Sushi is doing great months after her eye removal. There was a small spot on her tail that we did not remove at that time because we were not sure it was cancer but recently it has begun to grow. So she is going to go to the vet to get it removed and then she will be all free of cancer.. I think... this is where I need some advise...

There is one other spot where I see a white growth that could be cancer or maybe part of her anatomy. I don't know. The white circular growth is under her tail, at the hole/butt where she poops from..... I don't know the proper teminology here. It is literally right on the anus... and I don't know if this white thing is a common thing for a female fish? (I know she is a female because she laid eggs) It is large and looks as though it may completely obstruct her opening... like she eventually may not be able to go to the bathroom. I know this is a wierd question but if it is a common thing I don't want to have it removed but if it is not common then I most definatley do want to remove it. So if anyone knows Goldfish anatomy and could let me know if this is normal or not that would be great.

Cammie, that is so AWESOME that you did that for your fish!!! I got all teary eyed reading and seeing the pics, thinking that the poor little thing would have to be put to sleep, cuz, well, it looked........ well, horrible!!! I dunno what you're talking about for sure, but here's what I think may be what you're seeing. Female goldies have a "protuded" *ahem*... hole. It's more convex, rather than conCAVE like males. Do you think that this is what you're possibly seeing? Either way, I would definetly bring it to the vet's attention when you go back!! Keep us posted on your little friend!!!


Erika

P. S.--- Don't worry about the sarcasm that you found here at first, I'm sure it wasn't intentional whoever did it.

Thanks for the quick reply. Honestly, it was pretty amazing to have this done... I did not believe that it would work and she would survive but she acts like she never had the eye today. When I tell people that I did this they look at me like I am nuts... they tell me I should have just flushed her. My response is... you better hope I am your owner if you ever come back as a sick fish in your next life!! All in good fun of course!!

I am not sure my vet knows fish anatomy that well so I want to describe it a bit more so everyone can get a better idea of what I mean. If I am looking under neath at her rear... her tail fin comes down, then there is this white thing.. like a large white egg.. then there is this small opening. So the white thing is positioned between the undertail and the "@#$@" hole. Is this what you mean by protruded?

Wow Cammie thats awesome. I never saw this post a couple months ago, so this is my first time reading the whole thing. I think that is totally awesome, it did look quite bad, Ive never seen anything like it before, didnt know that goldfish got cancer, trippy. So they took her eye and then those tumors went down or they removed eye and tumors? Amazing that she made it through all that, thats one tough fishy.

I am no good at anatomy, so maybe you could take her butt out of the water and possibly snap a pic, so everyone can see what it looks like, im clueless.


You rock girly!!

Thanks so much for note!! Its amaxing how well she is doing. I will email Koko an image of what she looks like today. They completely took the eye out. The photos you will see were taken immediately after the surgery. So her eye socket looks hollow. Today it is completly filled in with scar tissue and looks flat.

Unfortunately, I do not have the digital camera anymore to take a picture of this white thing. I think it may be a spot of cancer but I am not sure.... maybe Koko will know?

Look for some images later. Thanks again for the nice note!!!

Yeah, I'd ask Koko. My females are still pretty small, so their "area" is kinda hard to see to compare to what you're seeing. Koko will know.

wow, I am glad Dr Johnson from Koivet has managed to solve the problem.. I am also proud of you for what you have gone through for your fish.. many people would have given up hope and put her to sleep.. I am proud of you cammie..

You go girl!!! What dedication to your goldies!!!! I'm so proud of what you've gone through! Continued health for that survivor!!!

Thanks to you all for the great replies. Thats why I love this site/message board... its filled with fish lovers!! I am a sucker for animals.. there was no way I could put her down without trying to save her first... and it worked!!!! She just has one more round of surgery and she will be all healed!! I had no idea cancer was even a possibility in Fish. Doc. Johnson said that it is mostly found on fish in the wild where we (humans) pollute the waters. Which is to freaky to even think about because it affects us all not just the fish.... sorry I just got all environmental for a moment

I have sent some after surgery images to Koko to post. You can see the small spot of cancer on her tail that will be removed on Wednesday.. along with the other white thing.. if Koko says its not normal.

Thanks again to you all!!

Cammie

Hi Cammie,

I too have just read about your amazing ordeal and would like to say congratulations on your successful outcome! I can completely understand how you felt about your fish and not wanting to just 'flush' her. I have a sick fish at the moment and have been chasing all over town for a cure, finally ending up at a veterinary surgery. I really did think I must crazy for going to these lengths to try and save my fish, so it's nice to read your posts and see I'm not alone in my sympathy for the suffering of animals of any kind. If only more vets took an interest in treating fish, and advertised their services! One surgery I rang told me right out "no, we don't treat fish". This put me off cause I thought this would apply to all vets, but in my desperation I kept trying and found one who would.

dun worry, we are all behind you.. mentally and emotionally..


here we even advise our friends on issues like how to speak to their husband in getting a new tank and so forth.. so there is nothing we will not talk about..

I know there will be people who will say that you are crazy about this process.. Heck, no.. I am proud of you.. You have our support and we all will agree that you have done something that we are proud of.. something that most of us have not even tried!!

keep it up.. we will be here..
keep us posted..
cheers

Are you talking about the black and white on on the tail of the fish???

..........

the before pics were horrifying! poor thing! im glad to see you had it removed. how much did it cost? you must really love your baby.