# So. . . I found a Pathology Lab that will necropsy my betta.



## JaydeDancer (Feb 27, 2016)

Mr. Fish isn't dead yet, but he has been struggling for the last month and a half or so, and even though he will have moments where he perks up for a bit, he always ends up floundering again and I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before he passes away.

With that eventuality in mind, I decided to see if there was anyone local who could necropsy him for me so that I can figure out what it is that he ends up dying from. (A necropsy is an autopsy for animals).

Turns out there is! There is a lab relatively close to my home that has a pathologist on staff who specializes in aquatic animals. They would charge me $75 to necropsy him.

I realize that he is a $5 fish, but I really want to know if whatever this is was preventable or curable or if there was nothing I could do. His symptoms don't match ANY of the diseases I have researched online and the only thing I can think of is maybe he has something wrong with him genetically. Or it's fish TB. Which hopefully it's not. That would suck.

Anyway, if anyone else wants to take the same route, the place that I found is called Animal Reference Pathology. (http://animalreferencepathology.com/) They are located in the Salt Lake Valley.

Utah State University in Logan, Utah will also necropsy fish for private owners. Not too sure how much they charge though. Might be less than $75 since they are a school.


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## Rennie Sky (Feb 27, 2016)

I'm very sorry about your fish. I think it's awesome you're going to do a necropsy. Please do share synmptoms and the results. This is how we can all learn.


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Man, I was looking for something like this back when Speckles and Kip passed, since they passed of something so mysterious. Please definitely share what results you get back. 
I'm so sorry to hear your boy isn't doing well, I hope his passing is peaceful. <3


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## JaydeDancer (Feb 27, 2016)

Thanks. I will definitely post the results if whatever this is ends up killing him.

Small update: He is still kicking. He is trying so hard to live; he is still eating and yesterday he consumed 10 or so pieces of food. 

I took pity on him yesterday and I ended up taking him and his entire tank in to see a veterinarian. I figure if he can fight so hard to stay alive, the least I can do is try to help him. I thought for sure the stress of the car ride would have killed him, but nope! Still alive this morning.

The vet wasn't able to tell me what was wrong with him without doing testing that was cost prohibitive. He gave me an anti-biotic to try and Mr. Fish is currently "soaking" in a bucket on my desk with his heater to keep him warm.

I'll detail the treatment in another post under the "Betta Care" section. 









^ Mr. Fish in his "bath".


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