Pictus Cat Whiskers

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Trouser Cough

Trouser Cough

Aimara
MFK Member
Nov 7, 2022
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About 40 years ago I was moving fish from tank to tank and a pictus cat became stuck in my net. I reached in to extricate it from the webbing and wound up getting scuffed up pretty good by those whiskers. Sort of like a chemical burn and harsh enough that I recall it well these many years later.

Ever since I've avoided handling catfish as that lesson soaked in however, I had noticed that several of the other cats I've had look like their whiskers might almost be rubbery.

My question is, am I just a delicate little flower and everyone can handle pictus cats but me or is that particular variety well known for having nasty whiskers and most others don't? What's been your experience?
 
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I agree with Milingu Milingu . You probably braised the spines of the dorsal or pectoral fins while catfish was moving in the net. I know some species of catfish have venomous spines but not strong enough to kill a human.
 
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If this came from the barbels and not from the needle sharp spines, then this would be a first to me, and if so, barbels on catfish are nothing special versus the rest of their body (except the sharp spines) and I'd guess you were having an allergic reaction to the catfish's slime; their entire body is covered and protected by this mucus layer, including the barbels. Again a first for me but who knows, maybe it can happen.

Yes to the gentlest of the flowers :)
 
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Milingu said:
Are you sure it was the whiskers and not the spine of the dorsal fin? I got stung once and it felt like a mixture of a wasp sting and bad nettle burn.
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Now that you mention it, I'm actually not sure. I had no idea they had venomous spines in their fins and assumed the problem stemmed from the one obvious feature that distinguished them from everything else in the tanks. I don't know what nettles are but this was a lot like a wasp sting and a lightning bolt and it took several days for the pain to taper off.


thebiggerthebetter said:
...barbels on catfish are nothing special versus the rest of their body (except the sharp spines) and I'd guess you were having an allergic reaction to the catfish's slime; their entire body is covered and protected by this mucus layer, including the barbels.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that catfish slime is different from the standard slime coat that other fish have and that catfish slime is more prone to either allergic reaction or that it might contain a toxin?


thebiggerthebetter said:
Yes to the gentlest of the flowers :)
Click to expand...

Hey now!
 
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Sorry if I overstepped with a joke.

AFAIK there is nothing special to catfish slime coat vs that of other fish.

The slime on the catfish sharp spines may contain an irritating or pain-causing agent but most usually the pain subsides in minutes, not days.
 
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I got stabbed by my lima shovel nose's spines once, hurt pretty bad. like a stinging/burning sensation. I washed it off and used some hydro peroxide and it was fine 5-10 minutes later. sadly my stupid crawfish stabbed my lima through the tail and eye while I was at an amusement park...I got home to a terrible surprise of him spiraling around and bleeding. I had to euthanize him because there wasn't a chance he would survive and wanted him to go out as peacefully as possible. that was pretty sad. I have the crawfish in a 10 gal now and while I kinda hate him he's also very cool, he's about 3 inches and he's albino, and has a HUGE set of claws....anyways thats kinda off topic lol
 
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