Prolonging

So you know we have the three kids.  And you probably know we have a naughty little dog.  You might not remember that we also have Timmy Thomas, our beloved blue beta fish that has been swimming among the mess on my kitchen counter hot zone for about 2 years now.   Like any fish, he arrived as a starter pet for Hi-Hat and Fancy and quickly became my project.  I clean his bowl, feed him, hold my finger above the water to make him jump (that's really about the extent of beta care, in case you're considering one).  In a strange way, I enjoy that he tracks me when he senses movement and I am tickled by the jumping. 

Well, T2 is not well.  It seems that something infested his bowl, and literally overnight last week something green bloomed and took over, even creating this kind of film over the surface of the water.  T2 was still kicking (or whatever the equivalent for a creature without legs might be - finning?), though sluggish.  I cleaned the bowl and was careful to gradually ease him into the new environment so as not to totally shock his system (I mean, I would probably have a heart attack if I just walked into my bathroom and found it clean, white, shining, disinfected, no laundry, no gook in the sink, no stains on the grout, no toys in the tub . . . you get the idea. An utter shock). 

T2 has been limping around the bottom of the bowl for about 3 days now.  He pitifully tries to get to the surface, but he can only get about halfway there, so he can't eat.  We had the brilliant idea of trying to gently raise him to the surface in his fish net and feed him in the net when he got close to the surface, but he kind of FREAKED OUT and was more concerned about thrashing his way out of the net than finding the tiny color-enhancing nutrifin pellet.  So much for that idea, and it probably took an hour off his life. (And actually, I'm thinking now that maybe I could lower the water level for him and maybe he could get to the surface to eat.  And then he could start regaining his strength... when did I become the medical director of a beta ICU?).

*Just checked on him, and he's still laying on the bottom near his big rock, gills pulsing and fins flapping, but looking pretty straggly.

So every trip into the kitchen fills me with a little apprehension and a little sadness.  Partly because I really like T2 and will miss him if he is indeed on the way out.  And partly because I will have to break it to the kids (Fancy is pretty aware of his decline and she talks to him with encouraging words in the kind of voice reserved for pets and small babies; and Hi-Hat gives a good tap on the bowl whenever he goes by, just in case T2 might be thinking of leaving and needs to be shocked back to life).  But mostly because he looks terrible and seems to be really struggling. 

*Let's break to remember that he's a $2.49 beta fish that has been kicking (or finning) for 2 years now.  But precious nonetheless.

Geof's suggestion was that perhaps we need to put him out of his misery.  Send him to that great big fish bowl in the sky by way of the City of Raleigh's sewer system.  Fancy was interested in finding out what that meant, so we explained that people usually dispose of dead or dying fish by flushing them.  This was APPALLING to her, and she said there was no way she was going to flush her fish.  Totally understandable.  I really hate the idea, too.  I started picturing The Cosby Show scene with the whole family dressed in black paying homage to Lamont the goldfish around the porcelain throne (Rella has a nice black velveteen outfit, Hi-Hat would have to wear black sweatpants and his Tobymac shirt, and Fancy would be the one wearing her leotard and tap shoes).  Do you remember the scene?

[I have no idea how to insert the video clip, but here's the link.  An amusing diverion.]

Wow, have I gotten off track.  The whole point of this post was that I told Geof we would not flush T2 to put him out of his misery because we would never consider doing that with one of our kids!  Pretty much as soon as I said it I realized the argument didn't hold a tank full of water. He kind of looked at me like, "seriously, you think I would consider flushing one of our sick and ailing children?" Sheesh - I'm too attached to that little fish.

So let's all root for Timmy Thomas today, and if things don't turn out well, let's root for a sale on beta fish at the pet store.