Monday, April 28, 2008

Something fishy

Well on the up side I got better but on the down side the fish just died. I mean "just" died - I found the body about 40 minutes ago. Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. Little fishy eyes staring up at the surface; its silvery body huddled up against the pump and resting dolefully against the rainbow gravel. I am traumatised and I am in my forties - what is it going to do to my seven-year-old? It had to be his fish of course when he is the one so desperate for a pet. This is so why I did not want pets. And what is worse is the length of time it has taken. First, one fish got sick, then this second one got sicker, the third one is OK (so far but you have to wonder). The first fish is still sporting what is apparently a bacterial ulcer but the second fish looked like its fin was thinking about coming off. I thought pets were supposed to make you feel more relaxed and at one with the world. I knew its chances of survival looked slim. This afternoon, it had taken to swimming but not moving forward, either at the bottom of the tank, at the top or hiding in the green stuff. It looked so bad, I had decided to set the alarm early to make sure the seven-year-old did not make it downstairs and find the corpse before I did. As it is, I am still going to have to get up early because I had to put a plastic bag on my hand and pull it out the tank and he will come down to find the damn thing is missing. There is no getting around it - I am going to have to tell him it died . Unless I tell him it escaped.

I do not know whether he will want to bury it. At first, I pulled it out, wrapped it in another plastic bag going "eeeeeurgh" and put it in the kitchen bin. Then I thought: "What if he is really upset and wants to bury it?" So I had to "fish" it out of the bin, dig out a plastic box from a bicycle repair kit, cover it with silver foil, line it with a baby wipe and lay the fish in there (still going eeeeeurgh.) I also had to make sure it was lying with its good side up because I really do not want him getting a close look at the other side. I then wrapped it in a third plastic bag and put it in the freezer. (Perhaps I could hold out cryogenics as an option?) It certainly has not had what you would call an ecologically sound death so far. God. Now all I want is for the next one to die and the waiting to be over.

15 comments:

softinthehead said...

Sorry but I had a good chuckle at the picture of you preparing the departed for burial. Let us know how the announcement goes. I know I sound a hardened old b**ch but we have seen off a few pets around here...not deliberately of course, and possibly not so ornately!! :)

Frog in the Field said...

Poor Thing!
We have had a pet death this weekend, never a happy occasion.
Seriously have you tried that anti-fungal powdery stuff from the pet shop?
You just sprinkle it in the water and the fish get rid of their ickies.
Our fish, Fluffy, died when we went on holiday last year, we told the girls Grandma drowned it.

annie said...

Try rabbits, they are easy to care for, undemanding and if ours are anything to go by - tough as old boots and frightened of no-one.

Frankofile said...

If you really want nightmares, read my now-grown-up daughter's blog post about her childhood pets. http://what-a-mysterious-world.blogspot.com/2008/04/two-gerbils-they-dont-have-names-yet.html

thewriterslife said...

Bless your heart...I'm chuckling too but this can be really hard on your if you're attached to it. I've got 3 dogs and a bird and if either one croaks, I'll be a goner. Love your blog, btw. ;o)

Rachel Green said...

Pets are supposed to prepare children to face death. I won't let my daughter have a rabbit because she killed the last one through neglect.

ADDY said...

Or you tell your son it has gone on its holidays and buy a replacement!!

Whispering Walls said...

I think it's worth complaining to the shop although perhaps you couldn't face any more fish after this.

Iota said...

At least you didn't have to put it out of its misery. I think that would have been worse.

Sarah said...

I'm still of a mind that your kids will survive the ordeal better than you-
I really, really hope you don't have to contradict me on that one!

DogLover said...

I agree with Leatherdykeuk. It'll be a good preparation for your seven-year old, though perhaps he's a bit young. Then you'll be able in due course to get a dog for him - the death thing is even worse with them.

doglover, alias hard-hearted

Laura Jane Williams said...

RIP, fishy...

mountainear said...

I had boys. They were more interested in the yuck factor than the death. They were and still are - 20 years on fascinated by the fact that the gerbils ate each other.

Susan Moorhead said...

Oh, the funerals we have had. There is a medium sized pet cemetary in the far back yard which has seen quite a number of very sincere funerals. I feel your pain.
I am sorry, Annie, I don't get your comment about rabbits being easy - the two we had were a year long trauma! One escaped, ate a neighbor's pesticided lawn and died and the other we gave away because we couldn't take the rabbit drama anymore.

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