Wen Trimming

[aquila]

Everybody, meet Chubby.

This was Chubby two years ago; a fat but otherwise healthy oranda.

Here he is today...

Apologies for the bad photo but these guys don't stay still for long and I didn't have anyone to take a picture while I held him!

As you can see, his 'wen' or headgrowth has grown very rapidly and is now covering his eyes. The eyes are fine and intact underneath - they're blocked by a projection over the top of the eye, rather than covering the surface of the eye itself. He has limited vision in one, and no vision in the other one. He has no trouble finding food - they seem to use smell rather than vision - and I make sure he's hand fed anyway so he gets an equal amount as the others who are fully sighted.

Now, the outer surface of a wen has no blood supply. It's kind of like a rubbery coating rather than skin and flesh. I've seen and heard of many people trimming the wen themselves if it grows too large - there's a number of posts about it on goldfish forums etc., with step by step guides.

On a scale of one to ten, how mad am I to consider doing this? Or if he is still finding food, shall I just leave him to it?

Are there any 'fish vets' who would consider doing something like this? I think I'd be laughed out of the surgery if I asked at my local practice, but surely somebody specialises in fish somewhere?

 

[Snick]

I dont have these fish, but if it living on just fine... why would you put it through stress and suffering if it is perfectly happy as it is? A guess there is some type of vet that will do the job for you, and if you consider cutting off part of your fish's face off, i would probably want a pro to do it

 

[Honeythorn]

Oh wow ok, that's really overgrown! If he's eating ok and swimming fine then I don't think you really need to do anything. But as Snick say's , if you do decide you have to trim it then try to find a vet who specialises in these things. Maybe ask on a goldfish forum? If you can find such a vet, maybe ask them if they can show you how to do it yourself or just trim small areas?

 

[Kets]

IMO wen trims should only be undertaken if the wen has started to cover the operculum of the gills.

 

[aquila]

IMO wen trims should only be undertaken if the wen has started to cover the operculum of the gills.

Kets, that is my fear - the wen entirely obscures the operculum on both sides.

Just taken some new pics, hopefully these will demostrate the extent of the wen. It is incredibly thick and fleshy, very squidgy to the touch, not like normal body tissue at all. It is almost totally spherical in shape. Very bizarre!

 

[silverrabbit]

This isn't a helpful reply at all, but Chubby is one of the cutest things i've ever seen

I hope you find a solution!

x

 

[pippoodle]

Either ring the rspca or phone round your local vets to see if any of them can do this for you
my grandad got a number for a vet that would trim the wen on his 11 year oranda in his pond ( went from my old fish tank to his pond and he is huge )
the vet anethetised him in a bucket then removed the excess with the scapel and treated with a blue dye (just as a precaution) to prevent any infections but the vet did stress that this is best done by a vet to prevent damage to the fish
the fish was kept in the 6ft outside fry tank for 4 weeks (over protective grandad with his fish) but he is still going this was done 2 years ago and luckily it hasn't grown back so yet , the vet said it might not now as hes not growing so much

 

[pippoodle]

how is chubby have you found anywhere to do him ?

 

[jennybugs]

Check this out HERE. Not something I'd really want to undertake myself but that link makes for an interesting bit of reading

 

[aquila]

Check this out HERE. Not something I'd really want to undertake myself but that link makes for an interesting bit of reading

Thank you very much for that link - it made for some informative reading! It also firmly cemented the idea that I don't want to be doing this myself.

I spoke to a nurse at the local veterinary clinic on the phone yesterday afternoon - she sounded somewhat taken aback by the idea (surprise surprise, lol), but did mention that they'd done surgery on koi carp in the past. Someone will get back to me on Monday about it.

 

[jennybugs]

How did you get on with this?

 

[aquila]

Well guys, bit of a sad ending to this one - Chubby sadly died late last night.

The local veterinary surgery got back to me on Wednesday to give me the number of another surgery about eight miles or so away that specialises in exotics and such. I rang them up and spoke to a very helpful receptionist who knew exactly what I was talking about - what a relief to be able to use the words 'oranda' and 'wen' and not be looked at like a leper! One of the vets there had performed surgery on wens many times and was totally familiar with the procedure. I booked him in to be assessed next Monday with a view to doing the surgery later in the week - phew!

I was so pleased and relieved to have found somewhere to treat him that I could hardly wait to get home yesterday - sadly there was a horrid sight to greet me. Chubby was wedged behind the filter intake pipe and not moving. I scooped him straight out into a bucket and into the hospital tank. He'd lost most of the scales off one side and the wound was bleeding noticeably. He'd gone very pale and was only breathing intermittently. I don't know whether he'd perhaps been bullied by the other fish, or if he'd had an underlying secondary infection all along that suddenly got too bad and weakened him, but he was in a very bad way.

Sadly, despite being left quietly in the dark in the clean water, he died a couple of hours later that evening.

RIP Chubby; you were a good fish.

If anyone in the Shropshire/West Mids area would like the number for the vet that agreed to treat him, please feel free to PM me. I can't recommend them enough, they really seemed to know their stuff, sadly just a little too late for the Chubster.

 

[silverrabbit]

Oh my goodness, i'm so so sorry

RIP Chubby, you gorgeous little guy.

*hug* x

 

[jennybugs]

Oh what a sad ending to this tale! I'm so sorry you've lost Chubby!

RIP Chubby!