Is my goldfish’s growth harmful?
QMy goldfish has a growth – is it possible to cure? It eats and swims normally. My pond has a small number of goldfish and Koi carp, and I hope it isn’t catching.
AThere are several possibilities for solitary growths on goldfish. My own experience with goldfish diseases is limited and when confronted with questions such as yours I look to sources of information from my own library, the online peerreviewed scientific literature, and from contacting vets with a special interest in this area.
Goldfish solitary lumps are said to be quite common, but there is little information on exactly which type.
Fibromas, nerve sheath tumours and warts are the most commonly mentioned, but after a search, I could only find one-off case reports.
It isn’t possible, unfortunately, to know for sure what type of lump your goldfish has from your picture, but that is true of any animal.
The only certain way of diagnosing a lump is by removing it, which some fish vets can do, and sending a sample to a veterinary pathologist.
My reading suggests that most solitary external tumours in goldfish are benign.
There are some virus conditions that cause lumps in goldfish, generally related to problems with water quality, and this aspect would need an examination by a fish vet.
A useful site is the Fish Veterinary Society (fishvetsociety.org.uk), which has a list of 19 vets that treat fish.
QA friend’s cat has severe gastroenteritis which has not responded to various medications. Blood and other samples have not helped in diagnosis, and her vets are at a loss in finding a cause. Can you give me some advice about what can be done?
AThese are among the most difficult problems that vets in small animal practice face.
The main problem is that there are many diseases that can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in cats.
This means that getting a diagnosis is a matter of ruling out one by one the possible diseases, hence the sampling that your friend’s vet has already done.
At the same time, there are various treatments that can be tried, which in many cases are successful even without a definite diagnosis.
Unfortunately, in this case, no treatment has helped to date, which, taken together with the negative sampling results, accounts for the frustration I’m sure everyone is feeling.
My usual response to cases like this has always been to get help. In the last decade or so it is possible to get specialised training in virtually any area, leading to many younger colleagues studying for and passing diploma examinations.
A vet with a diploma in veterinary internal medicine would be my choice for help, and the first vet normally arranges a referral.
This will involve some expense, perhaps including biopsies and ultrasound examinations of the gastrointestinal tract.
In my view, this course of action is normally cost-effective because it offers the best possibility of achieving a diagnosis and therefore an effective treatment plan.