Freddy the fish has died.

[helen99]

Freddy, my office betta fish, died. Dag gonnit. He'd caught Ick, and I'd put some Ick medicine in there, and I think I overdosed him since it didn't seem to be getting better. Drat. Or maybe he would have died anyway - he was about 2 years old (some of them live to be 5 if you're like an expert animal empath and such, but I'm not that good).

My coworkers are encouraging me to get another one. One of them announced that we would have a naming ceremony for my new fish. They'd better not try to Christen it...

Anyway, dunno if I want to take care of a new one. It's kind of nice to just come to the office and not really have to feed a fish or worry about cleaning its bowl. Not sure if he really liked being in a bowl all that much anyway. Some things just belong in rice paddies, y'know? However, I miss saying "Good morning, my Fish! Here's your Breakfast!" every morning to the great amusement of JB, my Chinese office mate. (He and I are very easily amused).

I'll think about it.

Comments

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should bring in a carniverous plant instead.:)

So, did you give the fish a burial at sea? Is your boss going to give you bereavement leave? I think he should give the whole office bereavement leave and let all of you out for the rest of the day since it's obviously been very traumatic for the entire office.

[gleef.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should bring in a carniverous plant instead.:)

Nifty idea, I'm partial to Sundews myself, but the rest are cool too :-)

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

....or Helen could always convince her boss to buy her this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/habicase.shtml

so she can have a gerbil for a work pet.:)

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Gawd, the mothership has landed! (took me a while to realize it was a rodent habitat)...

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and you could make things even more interesting by putting a snake in there, too, and watching the snake chase the mice through the habitrail.:)

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Maybe Rialian can loan me Sarah, one of his Venus Flytraps. However, I'm not sure I'd be that good at taking care of one. He has a way with them that I just can't even aspire to...

[helen99.livejournal.com]

If by "burial at sea" you mean, "did I flush him", the answer is yes...
Although I enjoyed my fish friend, I don't think "bereaved" is quite the word for it. It's more like a "Dag Gonnit, I wish I was better at curing Ick, Dag, Dag, Dag!!". Of course, any excuse to get leave for the entire office would certainly be welcome...

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Well, he's been a consistent part of the office team for 2 years now, so I'm sure the level of productivity in general will be much lower today without him around. Sounds like the perfect excuse for leave to me -- then again, is there really a bad excuse for leave?:)

[saphire-unicorn.livejournal.com]

poor fishy!!

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Aw, it's ok. I think he was pretty old and all.

[dancinglights.livejournal.com]

aww, I'm sorry, hon.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Yeah... He was a good fish. Not as good as your ex-rat, but still rather a good little guy.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

Rest in peace, Freddy.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Hopefully his nutrients will make it back to the sea where they'll feed other fishies, and he'll be able to swim free in the ocean (or something)..

[silverbromide.livejournal.com]

We just got a betta and lost him. It was too late for our little guy, but i learned that they do really well with a little aquarium salt. They also like heat (which you may have had, i don't know) and either several 100% water changes a week or a good filter flow (though you say you clean the tank, so you're better than most betta keepers are). But the original point was that bettas get ick all the time, so you weren't just being a lousy fish keeper, and that they're kind of sensitive to medication so small doses only or preferably an aquarium salt treatment (which is a cure and a preventative.) Not that i'm anything near an expert, and assuming you will eventually get another...

May your fish find plentious shrimp pellets and clear, shallow waters in his afterlife...