| | So I have been putting this off for a really long time. But it being Tuesday and all, tonight is the night.
This story begins my freshman year of college at NDSU. We were told there are to be no pets allowed in the dorms, except for fish with less than 10 gallon tanks. Well I thought nothing about it at first, but in about November I started wishing I had a pet to keep me company. I decided, however, with Christmas break coming up, that I would wait until January to make any rash decisions.
The week we came back from Christmas break, I made my way to the great oasis that is Wal-Mart. I purchased a small beta tank, and picked out the coolest, most lively beta they had. Now I had a fish tank at home, but there are about 50 fish in it, and our guppies died and reproduced every other day, so I was never attached to any. I had a beta one time also, but he only was around for a few months. So naturally I was hoping for the best, but since Wal-Mart has a 24 hour guarantee on fish, I wasn't getting too attached right away.
I got my tank all set up, and my newly purchased beta in his new home. I named him Killer Kyle, and he was immediately at home. He kept me company at my desk when I was doing homework. Hell, every beta that I have ever known doesn't do anything but sit there, even when you feed them. Not Killer, the second I dropped a beta pellet in the tank, he gobbled it right up. He was just a fun fish to watch, and even feed.
He went through several near death experiences. First, Easter of freshman year I loaned him to Jesse to fish-sit while I went home. He was so excited for her to feed him that he jumped out of his tank on to her desk! And he made it through several trips back and forth from Fargo to Bismarck. After every journey, he looked so pale and sickly I was sure he wasn't going to make it, but every single time he surprised me. He even survived a whole summer at my house with my cat not even eating him. But his closest near-death experience occurred last winter, when I brought him home. I usually kept Killer in a butter dish with holes poked in the top for car rides, so water wouldn't splash out like it would in his tank, and I would duct tape him to my center counsel so he wouldn't slide around anywhere. Well a few hours after arriving home, I realized that I had forgotten him in the car! I rushed out only to find that I had elbowed him into the back seat, and he was only hanging on by a piece of the tape, with nearly all of his water drained out. He was seriously in just enough water to cover him, as long as he didn't move. I rushed him into the house and into our fish tank, with no doubt in my mind that he was a goner especially since fish do not handle cold water well at all. Needless to say, he returned to his normal red and blue color the next day.
Now a few months back, Killer started to grow some white bumps by his top fin. I thought nothing of it at first, and just changed his water thinking it would go away. Instead, these two bumps continued to grow. I thought it might be Ick, so I bought treatment and added it to the water. It did nothing. These two white bumps grew into pea-sized balls. I like to think they were cancerous tumors. I was amazed he could still swim around with these huge tumors, one on each side of his top fin, but he acted as if nothing were wrong. Then a few weeks ago, one of his tumors broke open, and his water got extremely cloudy. I researched everything I could find on the web, and nothing could explain his condition. He was slowly getting less active, and I was feeling horrible. However, when I changed his water, he seemed happy and normal the next day. His other tumor was so big though, that Jess even suggest that we try to dissect it off. I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, since he seemed to recover fine. A few days later though, his other tumor burst and his water was once again cloudy. I continued to change his water daily after that, but it was always cloudy, and there was even blood coming from his gaping wounds. And on May 18th, Killer Kyle Dosch swam his last swim, and took his last breath. I can honestly say that was the saddest day of my life.
I will never forget the coolest fish I ever had. He made it through a few scary swims to the desk, some near-death trips, a summer with a cat watching his every flap of his tail, and battled two huge cancerous tumors for several months. He always made me smile. He was greatful when I fed him twice a day, and seemed to enjoy watching and swimming next to Dexter, Jesse's fish, in the tank next to his. Not only did he make it through his 24 hour guarantee, he made it through two and a half years, two dorm roommates, a summer and holidays at home, several pet-sitters, and one year at an apartment. So Killer Kyle, I hope you rest in peace, free of your cancerous tumors, temperature changes, and car rides. You are greatly missed.
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| | Posted 6/4/2008 12:00 AM - 43 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
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