# Meet Horton our new EE Rescue



## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

Well I went inland to get some things and pick up my cousin and we stopped at Petco...I need to stay away from Pet Stores...

Long story short there was this beautiful white EE with really bad Popeye. In speaking to the Aquatics person the poor guy had been there for over 3 months. They said that he had been treated for it but nothing had cured it...I thought, really??? So I asked if I could adopt him and they said he was merchandise and could not be adopted but I could purchase him for a discount. I saw people were looking at him and making fun of him at the store and he was being made a spectacle of. I could not leave him there! They said he had been eating but he looks pretty skinny to me. He hasn't ate for me yet. 

So I brought him home. He got an Epsom Salt Bath and I started him on Maracyn Plus. Both eyes are affected pretty badly and he has no pine-coning or bloat. We are keeping him in a darkened room as he was stressed quite a bit from the journey and new surrounding. So I am hoping to see him fully recovered soon! We named him Horton since he kind of looks Dr. Suess-ish with his ailment and big fins.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

It was sure fun feeding him Brine Shrimp last night. I used tweezers since I don't think he can see close up and he sort of bumped into the tweezers. He got a whiff of the brine shrimp, decided to taste it and then his whole body started wiggling in excitement! It was so cute! He ate 2 of them and then sort of quit eating. I fed him while he was in his ES bath. He looked sort of depressed when I put him back in his cup for his ES bath like, what did I do to be put back in here??? But when I put him back in his little HT, he got really excited and swam around a lot. He is a beautiful fish if you can get past the almost comical look of his poor eyes. They already look better today. I hope they heal up really fast!


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## PeanutTheBetta (Apr 11, 2016)

He sounds and looks so cute!  I hope he gets better, I really hate it when pet stores mistreat Bettas. I have a new betta, Peanut, his tiny cup was covered in filth. I felt so sorry for him, so I took him and am giving him a 10 gallon tank, just cleaned.


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## Rennie Sky (Feb 27, 2016)

Awwww! Good for you! He's a little cutie and I can't wait to see him all healthy again. Adorable name!!


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

PeanutTheBetta said:


> He sounds and looks so cute!  I hope he gets better, I really hate it when pet stores mistreat Bettas. I have a new betta, Peanut, his tiny cup was covered in filth. I felt so sorry for him, so I took him and am giving him a 10 gallon tank, just cleaned.


I am so glad that you brought Peanut home! I have brought home almost all of 4 of my Bettas because of dirty cups and worrying about them.

Rennie: We named him after Dr. Suess's Horton hears a Whoo! He reminds me of a Dr. Suess Character with his EE fins and his big bugged out eyes which will eventually not be bugged out anymore! He has some beautiful fins and is looking prettier all the time with the tannins in his water and the clean water.


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## PeanutTheBetta (Apr 11, 2016)

Peanut will be placed in a 10 gallon tank, (filtered and heated!) with a divider separating him from a lady friend, if she survives Ich. She's doing well! 

So the pet store's aquatic person you got Horton from really said they couldn't clear it? And you say he's looking prettier and prettier.. Sounds like the pet store didn't try much....


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

She did say she couldn't clear it up but she can't do for him the things I can like feeding him brine shrimp with a pair of tweezers and making sure he eats his pellets. She can't give him the ES baths and dose his medicine correctly like I am so I understand why he couldn't be cleared up by the petstore who has so many more fish to take care of. I brought him home knowing that there would be a lot of care involved. So I sort of understand but your right because he shouldn't have gotten popeye in the first place that is from dirty water.

His eyesight is getting better so his eyes must be responding to the ES baths and the Maracyn Plus. It is great to see him actually swimming around his hospital tank instead of sort of shuffling on the bottom on the edge of the bowl with his body pressed up to the side because he couldn't see to swim. He is enjoying the silk plants too and swims around them so I know he can see better which is making me so happy for my lil Horton...


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## Betta44 (Aug 9, 2015)

This is such a great rescue story! I am SO glad you decided to rescue him; he's a cutie and he's going to look wonderful when he's recovered. It sounds like he is well on his way to making a full recovery. Kudos to you for your compassion and your hard work on Horton's behalf!


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## Nox (Feb 22, 2016)

I can't wait to see more on his recovery, he is such a cutie potato


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## blackjack (Jul 19, 2015)

My longest living betta had pop eye. I didn't know about salt baths. I had read a care thing that stated you could cure them, but the eye would never go back to looking the way it should. That was what happened too. He lived a very long time and suffered no real affects (sight was fine, appetite was fine, etc.), but his eye always looked bad. I wish I'd known about the salt baths and that what I had read was wrong.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

Thanks Betta44, Nox, and Blackjack! 
I will keep updating his progress if you all want me to. His eyes are so much clearer today that I am amazed. He has been swimming and looking around all morning and he is really looking at things like wow is that what that shadow was! I was talking to him and he stopped and looked up at me and just took in my face. It was an awesome little moment. His eyes are still really puffed up and I noticed that the swelling affects how much he can open his mouth. I am hoping that the swelling will go down as the healing helps. He is on his 4th day of meds which was only 2 doses and I am seeing a difference.

Blackjack, your fish was so lucky to have you to care for him. You did your best and look what a wonderful life you gave him! There is no telling if his eyes or Horton's will ever be normal even with all the treatment. It is a wait, do your best, educate yourself and hope that your lil guy will fully recover.


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## blackjack (Jul 19, 2015)

I'm so glad for Horton. He sounds like he's recovering fast. I'm happy for both of you. I hate petshops like that. They know the animal is sick and his treatments (whether he's actually had any or not) haven't worked. He's going to die there without help, but he's merchandise, so no adopting. You're forced to give the abusers money just to save the poor little guy's life. :evil: 

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear, I don't have him anymore. I only have the one fish and he's healthy as can be. He was just my longest living. I can't remember how old he was, but I definitely had him several years.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

Horton is doing pretty good but his popeye is not gone. One eye is smaller than the other but he is not cured yet. I had him on Maracyn Plus for one full course with no changes in his eyes. I than fed him KanaPlex mixed with food for 1 week as per directions. One eye is a little less swollen but I believe that he actually has flukes causing his Popeye after examining some waste in his HT. So I am going to rest him for a few days before trying General Cure for the flukes. I have been doing ES baths the whole time. I put ES in his tank Yesterday and will keep him in it for 3 days to see if the swelling will go down. 

He is a little doll with such an awesome personality. He swims around his tank all the time and can see so much better than when I first got him. ! I still have to feed some of his meals by tweezers but when I feed him pellets and I put them near his face, he will snap out until he gets them. His depth perception is off a little but he is learning to compensate for that. He seems to be a very happy fish and I hope that the GC will do the trick and his eyes will return to normal.


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## Nox (Feb 22, 2016)

Yay for Horton. I didn't know flukes could cause popeye. Really rooting for him though


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## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

Poor little guy. I am rooting for him!


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

I have been researchin what causes popeye. The normally most causes are bacteria but there are some parasites that can cause it too. I have seen flukes in the water changes so I am going to try getting rid of them.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

Today is the second day of having Horton on General Cure and I am seeing the swelling in one of his eyes going down and I think the other eye is much smaller too. It is hard to tell but I think that the GC is helping more than the Kanaplex did. I also gave him an MB/ES bath today instead of just the ES.

Since I put him on General Cure I decided that he needed some aeration to go with the meds so I put a bubble stone in his HT. He has been so darn cute because he is playing in the bubbles. First he just tried eating them which was so comical to watch because he would get this look of what the heck this isn't food! Then I swear he was just swimming around in the bubbles for the pure joy of being able to! He sure is enjoying them and I love watching him.

He is also getting better at finding the pellets that I feed him in the morning. I still have to put them close to his face and he sometimes snaps at them and misses because of depth perception but he is getting much better at it. Overall I think that I am seeing some improvement and I am hoping that his eyes will get back to whatever normal will look like for him. I have posted pictures...


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## Betta44 (Aug 9, 2015)

He's a cutie! What beautiful colors! I'm so glad he's doing better, thanks to your dedicated TLC.


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## LittleMan (Jan 16, 2016)

Good luck, how wonderful you are trying to help this little soul.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

I haven't updated on Horton for a while. He is still such a little cutie with a wonderful, adventurous personality. He swims around constantly and explores every inch of his little HT. He can see a lot better but still has problems eating pellets. He likes to follow my finger in his tank. 

Unfortunately, he still has popeye but one eye is much smaller than the other eye and they have gone down considerably since I brought him home. The General Cure that I used on him did get rid of the critters that were on him but did not totally rid the popeye. So I rested him for a week and then put him on KanaPlex in his water and have decided to feed him KanaPlex also to see if I can speed his recovery up a little. He does not act sick at all. He has taken to hiding from me when I come to do his nightly baths. I do not think he likes them at all. In fact, he acts like it is the cup of shame...He reverts to "crawling" on his fins in the cup and then goes back to happily swimming when I put him back in the HT. He is quite the character and I tell him when he comes swimming, "Horton did you hear a who?"


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

I have started Horton on KanaPlex and Furan2 together to try and tackle his popeye. He is still just the cutest, adventureous lil guy. He is so friendly as long as it isn't night time and bath time. He hides from me at night because that is when he gets his baths. These pics are from before the double meds but I couldn't upload the pics. He is a pretty smart lil guy to hide when he knows it is bath time.


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## firewood04 (Dec 24, 2015)

Update on Horton: He is still the most adorable, happy little fish that swims all the time but I have not been able to cure his Popeye. All of my research says that he either has tuberculosis or some internal uncurable disease....BUT...I think he was injured when they shipped him and will just live out his life the way he is. He is way too happy to have any horrible disease and I have tried every thing that is supposed to cure him with no luck. I will say that he needs antibiotics to keep his eye from swelling too much but I have decided to just let him carry on with his life the way it is because I haven't been able to cure him and he is a happy little guy. 

If anyone knows of any tricks that can help him, please let me know because I have tried 3 different antibiotics, epsom salts, Rioboos tea, AQ salt (never again made his eyes swell huge), it seems the Triple Sulfa has worked the best. I would love to see him cured but I accept my guy just the way he is if he never gets any better. He can see but it is like looking through 2 tin cans on either side of his face and he is very near sighted. I recently added a hide to his tank and he can't figure it out yet...he is so cute.


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