[hannat]

I need honest opinions here, folks. My first betta, Sherlock, has had Lymphocytosis for almost a year now, and up until now it appeared to be manageable and not spreading. He for a while has had four spots near his eye that I figured would grow eventually, but now they are beginning to. He also has had issues with chronic popeye which I cannot get to go away. I have tried Epsom salt and KanaPlex (separately of course) and his tank holds steady at 80F. After going away once, the popeye came back within a week. He is still eating and gets around well enough; he doesn't flare like he used to and likes to rest but is still what I would consider active, even if it is less than he used to be. I talked to one of the owners of The Betta Shop of MN, and he suggested Epsom salt for two days, then to right away treat with KanaPlex. While that might cure the popeye, I know it won't cure Lympho. Take a look at his picture and tell me what you think: should I just end it now? The lympho appears to be spreading faster. I don't want to put him down (who does) but I don't want to fight a useless battle either. The only thing I'm hung up on is that he still acts fairly normal, even though he looks horrid. Though to me, he's still beautiful.
You can see the growing four lumps by his eye/head, and his fins are very slow to heal after he had a biting episode. Please, give a girl a hand and tell me what you'd do.

 

[Mousie]

Oh bless his little heart, and yours.

I never ever want to say this, but in all honesty I would let him go (I hate the word euthanize). Geeze, I hated even thinking it. It hurts and he isn't even mine. :-(

*Hugs*

 

[hannat]

Thanks, Mousie. In all honesty he has been living fine with the Lympho because it wasn't spreading; it's the returning popeye AND it spreading now that's pushing me over the edge with this decision.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

When I have had to make that decision for my dogs I want "no" to:

1. Is he or she active?
2. Is he she eating?

And "yes" to:

1. Has he or she given up?

If the answers are the opposite I don't do it. Might not help but that's my criteria.

 

[Mousie]

Thanks, Mousie. In all honesty he has been living fine with the Lympho because it wasn't spreading; it's the returning popeye AND it spreading now that's pushing me over the edge with this decision.

Do what you feel is best for him. Regardless of what you do, I hope you know everyone here supports you.

 

[tiffanylucky]

Seeing that poor little guy and hearing your story is making me cry a bit because I feel so bad for the both of you. I remember having to watch my poor boy taffy die slowly and it angered me because I couldn't save him and he kept fighting till he died. I later found out it was a inflamed gills caused by a bacteria infection, so I now know there was nothing I could have done to save my sweet boy. During the last hour of his life, I was laying on the end of my bed close to his tank and tiffy was also as close as she could get to him in his tank to comfort him (she was right by his side when he was sick). Around a month later, after my dad and I used warm water with some bleach mixed in and rinsed the tank, caves, and everything else that could be washed sanitized and re set up, the first thing tiffy did was swim over to the spot that taffy died at and just was still for a minuet, just morning him. I was tearing up over that.

 

[hannat]

When I have had to make that decision for my dogs I want "no" to:

1. Is he or she active?
2. Is he she eating?

And "yes" to:

1. Has he or she given up?

If the answers are the opposite I don't do it. Might not help but that's my criteria.

That's the thing though. He's less active than he used to be but not completely lethargic and still gets super excited over food. I can't get him to flare at anything anymore though. Oftentimes I catch him acting lethargic then he up and goes to explore. It just depends with him. His body condition is also lacking: even though he's fed as much as my other boys who are in good condition he looks to me at least unhealthily skinny. That could just be because the lympho throws off his proportions though. That is good criteria though, and thanks for the advice.

 

[hannat]

Ended up putting him down tonight. He was beginning to struggle to eat and move around, but still was feisty when I tried to catch him. Rest easy, little guy.

 

[Soriel]

I felt sad reading your post and when I saw his photo, I welled up.