[NagDasty]

Before going to bed last night I noticed one of the new pictus cats I got was acting a little off and I was preparing to possibly find him dead soon but this morning when I woke up I saw his tail sticking out of my JDs mouth. My JD is about 7 inches and female and the pictus cat was probably 2-2.5 inches long. I'm a little concerned with the safety of my JD because it's been about 5 hours since I found her like that and it hasn't moved. My question is if I should just leave it be or if I should try to remove it somehow, I figure she'll digest it over time but I'm kinda worried one of the pictus cat spikes is just keeping it stuck. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[Deeda]

Welcome to C-F @NagDasty !

I'm so sorry this has happened to your fish. Is any part of the pictus cat still sticking out of the JD's mouth? If just the tail is sticking out, you may want to wait a bit longer and hope the JD can digest it OK.

I have not had this problem before but have seen some people suggest catching the JD, place him in a wet towel, open his mouth and use small scissors to cut off the dorsal and pectoral fins of the pictus if they are within reach. You may need another person to help you perform this surgery.

Usually though both fish die especially if the procedure isn't done early enough. Hopefully your JD survives, let us know how things go for you.

 

[NagDasty]

Yeah the tail is still sticking out of her mouth, she's acting ok so far but I just don't know wether to wait to try to pull it out or not

 

[Deeda]

Well I wouldn't pull the pictus catfish out with trimming off the dorsal and pectoral fins first but it's possible the pictus is too far in the JD's mouth already to even reach the fins to remove them.

Sorry I can' offer any other suggestions for you.

 

[NagDasty]

Yeah I think the dorsal and pectoral fins are too far, she seems to be a decent bit bigger than the pictus cat and she's acting good so I'm hoping she'll pull through but idk. I've heard people talk about trying to very slightly push the fish in then pull out to get the fins unstuck and if worse comes to worse and she's gonna die anyway I'll probably try that

 

[smitty]

I think she'll be okay. The PIctus is probably dead at this point and the body will begin to break down. I had it happen to a Managuense. His mouth stayed messed up for a few days but he turned out fine.

 

[NagDasty]

I tried to get it out of her mouth last night and with no success but when i woke up this morning it was gone, i figured she digested it but then i saw it laying on the sand half digested. Now shes acting fine, a little lazy and chilling under her cave and her color is very slightly lighter but her breathing isnt labored or anything and shes reacting to the other fish when they get close so i think shes gonna be alright. thank you for all of your responses!

 

[Deeda]

Thanks for the update @NagDasty and I'm glad your JD is doing well after that ordeal.

 

[The Fish Lady]

hi!😃
I've just been reading your post and I'm sooo sorry. It can be heart wrenching....gwrenching....geez...how are things with your babies now?😞😞😞

 

[NagDasty]

pretty good, shes acting fine and eating, her color is a little lighter still but shes starting to color up and shes swimming around the tank and reacting to food so im pretty sure shes all good, thank you for your concern!

 

[Cygnus]

I had a fish take a catfish backwards and it was stuck in his mouth. I had to remove him and physically remove the dead fish. He took the cat tail first.