I had to Euthanize my Goldfish..

IRTehDuckie

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Clove oil will Euthanize a goldfish naturally and without physical pain of burning with an alcohol solution. Some people say they can't feel anything anyways, so I dont know .. but here, this is the video I watched..


and this is my fish.. I think he is pretty big, do you guys? or is he like an average sized one?
He weighs 4.2 grams, without the weight of the towel.

I remember him when he was the size of a quarter, he was so cute =]

He is dead here =[

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IRTehDuckie

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Well We've had him almost 7 years now, or something close to that.. and he was with another fish we got them at the same one, but that one died, he was just old and run down I think. The pet store had him for 15 years on top of that too. When the first one died, this one just started to go too, he was never really really swimmy after that lol and then we just got some more fish for my son, and they got big too, just by getting bumped around he got an eye issue, called pop-eye actually. It got horrible in 2 days, I didn't know it would have gotten bad like that, but ah well.. He did live a good life.
 

dmmj

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Sorry to hear, it is never easy to put down a loved pet. and fish feel pain, they just don't verbalize it like mammals do.
 

leigti

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Sorry you lost your fish. How long had you had him? Fish do feel pain. The best way I know of to euthanize is to put them in a bag with enough water to cover fish and place in the freezer. They slowly go to sleep no pain.
I'm sorry about your fish. I think he is a very large goldfish and he did live a very long life.
 

bouaboua

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Sorry you lost your fish. How long had you had him? Fish do feel pain. The best way I know of to euthanize is to put them in a bag with enough water to cover fish and place in the freezer. They slowly go to sleep no pain.

WOW!!!

That is good to know. But still very sad and scary.
 

Prairie Mom

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Clove oil will Euthanize a goldfish naturally and without physical pain of burning with an alcohol solution. Some people say they can't feel anything anyways, so I dont know .. but here, this is the video I watched..


and this is my fish.. I think he is pretty big, do you guys? or is he like an average sized one?
He weighs 4.2 grams, without the weight of the towel.

I remember him when he was the size of a quarter, he was so cute =]

He is dead here =[

View attachment 116828
Sorry you lost your fish. How long had you had him? Fish do feel pain. The best way I know of to euthanize is to put them in a bag with enough water to cover fish and place in the freezer. They slowly go to sleep no pain.
Thanks so much for these tips!! Recently, we had a beloved fish die of dropsy. The fish had gastrointestinal issues its whole life and had to be fed mainly a diet of peas in order to help constipation and keep away the bloating. It was amazing we were able to keep her for the several years we had her. When it was obvious my attempts to treat the dropsy wouldn't work, I really wished I could humanely euthanize her. I had read online that you can get fish anesthesia and if you administer a double dose, they will sleep and die, but I couldn't figure out where to get it. The tips you provided are helpful and it's nice to know people care about these often over-looked little creatures.:)
 

wellington

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I work at an aquarium store. The owner is a big lover of fish, and really cares about how they are treated. He won't sell you a fish if he knows it won't live in the set up the buyer has. That is one of the first things I asked him, how to euthanize a fish humanely. I always thought just flushing it was okay, but learned the freezing is most human and flushing them while still alive is cruel, as it burns them like it was stated alcohol in the video does.
 

Prairie Mom

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I work at an aquarium store. The owner is a big lover of fish, and really cares about how they are treated. He won't sell you a fish if he knows it won't live in the set up the buyer has. That is one of the first things I asked him, how to euthanize a fish humanely..
That's really REALLY cool. What a respectable aquarium store. You may be my go-to person with fish questions, so be prepared:)
 

jaizei

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Turtlepete

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Seriously?
Wasn't about to read that whole thing. I bet though, they have their reasons why, one of them being it doesn't make them any money.

As a vet, most are interested in the well-being of animals….I was going to address that statement as well. Outright freezing ectotherms can form internal ice crystals, and on the skin, and actually cause quite a bit of pain and distress. This is documented in frogs, snakes, turtles, etc.. I assume this extends to fish. Unfortunately this is a common misconception.

If you DID bother to read it, you would find many suggested methods of euthanasia that stand to make vet's no money.

That said, over-sedation via clove oil to cause death is probably a very good way of doing this.
 

wellington

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As a vet, most are interested in the well-being of animals….I was going to address that statement as well. Outright freezing ectotherms can form internal ice crystals, and on the skin, and actually cause quite a bit of pain and distress. This is documented in frogs, snakes, turtles, etc.. I assume this extends to fish. Unfortunately this is a common misconception.

If you DID bother to read it, you would find many suggested methods of euthanasia that stand to make vet's no money.

That said, over-sedation via clove oil to cause death is probably a very good way of doing this.

Not going to argue here, much respect for most vets, I worked with one for a few years. However, seeing most vets don't specialize in fish, I will stick to the person I know could outwit any vet when it comes to fish.
Infact, many fish (gold fish or koi)has been frozen in a winter pond accidently, yes I know a few that it has happened to and come spring they are still alive, as if nothing happened. Lots of ponds in the north are not heated except for a very small spot for gas exchange. The fish are in very cold temps, just above freezing, except the frozen top layer, no pain and except they always can breath, it's the same as the fish being frozen. Heck, my koi layed their eggs in the winter and lots of fry were hatched in the spring.
 

Turtlepete

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Lots of ponds in the north are not heated except for a very small spot for gas exchange. The fish are in very cold temps, just above freezing, except the frozen top layer, no pain and except they always can breath, it's the same as the fish being frozen. Heck, my koi layed their eggs in the winter and lots of fry were hatched in the spring.

It's not the same as being frozen….Frozen to death implies temperature is being lowered to the point that the body can no longer function correctly, resulting in death. If you are putting them in the freezer in a bag of water as cold as a frozen pond, you are suffocating them, not freezing them to death….
 

wellington

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It's not the same as being frozen….Frozen to death implies temperature is being lowered to the point that the body can no longer function correctly, resulting in death. If you are putting them in the freezer in a bag of water as cold as a frozen pond, you are suffocating them, not freezing them to death….

Actually, you are quite wrong, they do freeze to death before suffocating but that's okay if you don't get it. You have your way, I will stick to my way. If one wants to use the clove oil, go for it, if one can't find it, then freezing is the pain free way to do it!
 

wellington

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There is another very quick painless way. However, it is very disgusting in my opionion, but it is painless. You must be very accurate or it will be very painful. That is to smash their heads in.
 

ascott

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There is another very quick painless way. However, it is very disgusting in my opionion, but it is painless. You must be very accurate or it will be very painful. That is to smash their heads in.


Wow...nothing like violent death to not feel a thing???? So, here the thing to the initial poster....death is not easy, usually does not occur without some type of discomfort, hell I am pretty confident that even folks who "peacefully die in their sleep" felt something at the moments just before they died....death is not without some type of abrupt end.....so, if you are dealing with putting something down, come to grips with the fact what you are looking to do is to offer up as little discomfort as possible...there is no way to not have any.....just my opinion anyways.
 

smarch

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I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to a fish you had so long. Must have been hard to put him down. I only just recently discovered the clove oil method, i'd never thought about having to do it. I'm one to insist of treating the fish until I lose that battle, since I've recovered some lost hope fungus fish that surprised even me.
Its sad to think how little others care about the pain of the fish, how to others the idea of euthanizing a fish is probably foreign and flushing seems like an out of sight out of mind solution.
 

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