sunken eyes on my pictus cats

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Get an API liquid test kit and post here the results of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
How are the gills?
What were the past eye issues? Cataracts? Blindness?
Pics of the eyes?
Are you sure you have no sharp decors that could injure them?
Prior to their deaths, what other symptoms were observed?
How old are these?

Admittedly, sunken eyes are rare but not unheard of. A few cases I've seen were from goldfish, mostly telescopes. I wonder if something is causing the fluids in their eyes to drain off thus resulting in this. Old age usually causes this and even injuries.
 
knifegill;4470833; said:
Tubifex are suspicious. I'd be suspecting parasitic activity. Is their poo white and stringy? If so, I'd use a full dose of Prazi-Pro for the full three days, then repeat. This med is gentle and can safely be used on catfish. And it works. Once it knocked a thimble's worth of big white worms out of a raphael cat for me.

Pics would be good, and don't take my guess as a conclusive diagnosis. We've only just scratched the surface here.
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knifegill;4470848; said:
Melafix probably won't do a thing to a bug like this. Do you have the bodies of the dead to inspect? You could gut them and check for worms or gray liver.

I'd suspect malnutrition by the sunken eyes but the diet sounds rich enough and this would have been a gradual onset, as in months not weeks or days.

Come on, you vet-types. Jump in here and help out!
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1. No live tubifex worms should have been encouraged. If these were frozen or freeze dried, they're far safer than the live ones. The live ones carry potential risk of transmitting myxosporidian parasites. These parasites use tubifex as their intermediate host. Once they latch on to the fish, there is no way you can save them, not unless you have access to very few particular meds that can actually kill them. Evident symptoms would include white spores appearing on gills, crunching up of jaw muscles and labored breathing.

2. Unless I am mistaken that the OP is feeding a variety of commercial foods (quality pellets), both flakes and live tubifex are absolutely trash. The reason I banked the flakes as one is it cannot even hold the much needed vitamins without light and oxygen totally degrading them as soon as it is exposed. Considering pictus are bottom dwellers, there is no way they are receiving nutrition from flakes at all.
 
well the flakes were purely for my baby angelfish that are too small to eat the pelets or worms, the bigger fish get tetramin crisps, spectrum pellets(the antiparasitic kind) and live worms... the discuses in my tank wont eat anything else for some reason and thats what my lfs feed them... theres nothing on the gills, but my pictus' always seem to breath fast, with the sick ones it was a little sluggish, ill get pics if the current sick fishs eyes sink in, it will probly happen within a couple days, it did with the other two... i lost the first one last night and didnt notice any of the same symptoms on any of the cats when i took him out...it seems to be very fast acting... ive had them for about 8 months and got them at 2 inches
 
there are def. no sharp objects and they havent had eye problems before this... the only symptoms that i noticed were sunken eyes, droopy wiskers, and sluggish movement/breating
 
I think you should have separated all sick fish. Do you have a hospital tank at all? If not, get one or a rubbermaid tub. Transfer some established media to a new filter to be used for the hospital. Make sure water is well aerated. At this point, switch their foods to just fresh foods only such as shrimps, frozen bloodworms and even scallops. Forget the live tubifex worms. All pictus must be separated and place under observation. You may add plastic plants and pots for hiding places but do not add substrate.
 
ok, i dont currently have a hospital tank, or even a tub to put them in... ill try to figure something out though, thanks for your help, ill keep this thread updated
 
Did you separate them at all? Are the other two exhibiting any signs of weakness at all?
 
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