Can't believe it actually happened, but one of my cats managed to get to my gourami and did some damage. Two years they've had no problems with that fish tank, but I guess Ruffy was just in the right place at the right time and finally got the dang fish. 
The tank has now been sealed up like Fort Knox and it will NOT happen again.
I'm trying to figure out if there's anything I can do to help the gourami heal both physically and mentally. The external damage resulted in a large chunk of his lower lip having gone missing, along with partial paralysis - he can eat and breathe alright, but he can no longer extend his mouth out as if to fight. (He would always fight his reflexion and cannot anymore.) What's worrying me the most are the scratches on his right side. It's how I know the cat got to him rather than it just being an in-tank injury - he's got a perfect paw swipe up his side. Three of the cuts have healed, but the fourth is still looking raw and shredded and is swollen. It doesn't look like there's an infection, but I want to make sure he doesn't get one.
I'd also like to try and help him get over the attack mentally as well. He's not the same fish anymore. Not at all. His behavior is actually what made me go over and check and that's when I found the wounds. He's hiding constantly, is so jumpy that he will not come over when I feed him, and he's stopped torturing the other fish to the point where they're out swimming again. Okay, so I'm actually happy with that last one because in all honestly I was just a few days away from listing him on craigslist because he had become so aggressive. I was hoping he'd change his behavior, but I never wanted it to happen this way!
Any thoughts on how to get him back to normal?
The tank has now been sealed up like Fort Knox and it will NOT happen again.I'm trying to figure out if there's anything I can do to help the gourami heal both physically and mentally. The external damage resulted in a large chunk of his lower lip having gone missing, along with partial paralysis - he can eat and breathe alright, but he can no longer extend his mouth out as if to fight. (He would always fight his reflexion and cannot anymore.) What's worrying me the most are the scratches on his right side. It's how I know the cat got to him rather than it just being an in-tank injury - he's got a perfect paw swipe up his side.
Three of the cuts have healed, but the fourth is still looking raw and shredded and is swollen. It doesn't look like there's an infection, but I want to make sure he doesn't get one. I'd also like to try and help him get over the attack mentally as well. He's not the same fish anymore. Not at all. His behavior is actually what made me go over and check and that's when I found the wounds. He's hiding constantly, is so jumpy that he will not come over when I feed him, and he's stopped torturing the other fish to the point where they're out swimming again. Okay, so I'm actually happy with that last one because in all honestly I was just a few days away from listing him on craigslist because he had become so aggressive. I was hoping he'd change his behavior, but I never wanted it to happen this way!
Any thoughts on how to get him back to normal?
