Precious, Princess and fishies! (RIP Cupid)

[Nili]

Hi guys!
You may have read in a few of my threads stories of my cats waking me up and me getting a spawn because they woke me up.. lol. I think it's time I post my own pet thread while I'm camping. ^-^

This is Princess and Precious:


And this is their story...

We were moving out of our flat and into our new home about this time last year. We had bought a giant aquarium for our fishies and had just cycled it through and set it up. We bagged our fish up and started heading downstairs. Two flights down, and there's this TINY little ginger kitty looking up at us with such sad eyes. We figured he might have been someone's kitten in the building who followed my husband up the stairs. We left him there because a) we had fish who were being transferred and b) the husband didn't want anything to do with him. Night passed and he was nowhere to be seen.
The next morning, the husband had the day off for moving stuff. We went outside and this kitten was eating spring rolls our Chinese neighbors had left for him. I scooped him up and cradled him. I wasn't letting this little bundle go.. but I told the husband to call RSPCA just incase. They told us strays were everywhere in Manchester during that time and they couldn't send anyone to pick him up. I begged the husband to let us keep him inside, where it was warm.



We thought he was a girl, so I kept calling him, her.
The moving men came in and picked up our sofa, tv, fridge..while he was locked in our bathroom. When we got everything sorted-ish during the afternoon, we made a little cat town for him to sleep in.


His first night in our new home, October 4th 2010.

We took him to the vets, where my husband told me we were keeping him. Again, we thought he was a girl..we named him Precious.



He grew up to be dependent on us, and followed us everywhere.

Sleeping with my husband.

Christmas '10, his first real toy.

Around six months ago, Precious started wrecking havoc on our curtains, he had already re-decorated our bedroom walls.. he preferred them bare!
We spoke to this woman from a cat rescue home, and she reckoned he needed an older female kitty to teach him how to behave properly...
Madam Princess!

Her original name was Lily, but we wanted a name that began with Pr as well..
She was so shy when she first came to us, sweetest little thing. Unfortunately I don't have many photos of her, as she just blends in with everything! I'll take more photos soon ^^;;
Now she's like a mommy cat to Precious, grooms him.. but doesn't correct his behavior.. so now we have two trouble making kitties! But we love them all the same <3

I'll update this thread with the story of our fishies, Siamese fighters being up front and center for this.

[Miyon]

Those are so cute! And I love precious' nose, so pretty :p
And good husband for deciding to keep him ^^

[Nili]

It didn't take much persuading, Precious did most of the work! ^^
And yes, that's what's different about him. Even a year old and he has permanent kitten face!

[Miyon]

It didn't take much persuading, Precious did most of the work! ^^
And yes, that's what's different about him. Even a year old and he has permanent kitten face!

So adorable and plushable! *cuddles*
*thinks* now, where is Kira.. */end think*

[Nili]

Well our male fighter fish, Cupid, our third one that we bought near valentine's day. He's getting old. His fins are all but gone from fighting with another fish we think. It's not rot or he'd be dead by now. He's still fighting, so we've put him in our hospital tank in hopes that his finnage will grow back. I love him to death, but this may well be his last night with us. I love you Cupid. ♥

[Nili]

I sat by his hospital tank all day, he'd sit up straight whenever I'd talk to him, he was making an effort. Then, when I was eating downstairs, he passed.

Rest in Peace, Cupid.



One year, three months old.

In the above photo, six months old, flaring for his love of his fishy life, Princess Flame (passed two months ago).

[Miyon]

Now I almost wanted to cry.. Sorry for your loss, he was a very pretty fish. <3

[meepitco]

awww
He was indeed, a very pretty fishy. I am sorry for your loss

[Nili]

Thanks guys, I know some people reading this are probably saying ''it's just a fish''

When I love an animal, I love it wholly and unconditionally. I give each of our fish a name and they in return give me a personality and something to watch and admire. Cupid, like most siamese fighter fish I've owned, are like great big fishy puppy dogs. They come up to the front of the tank to greet you, their whole bodies waggling in happiness, and if you have enough patience with them, you can even teach them a few tricks. They're smart, kind, and make amazing companions.

[cowmuflage]

Well great big fishy puppy dogs that fight to the death

Anyways I wanted a Beta but the fish in my tank proberly wont get along I'm talking mosty about my grumpy old Skunk loach. Haha. Personally I'd rather have fish than say a dog

That black and white cat looks alot like mine but younger.

[Nili]

We've got a great big community tank, we have one semi aggressive fish in there, a swordtail, whom I suspect finished off Cupid's fins and we realized too late. He doesn't chase, he doesn't even bite at the other fish, he saw Cupid's tail split a month ago and it's been an ongoing battle to get him better. It didn't happen, obviously. But overall, Cupid has had a more than avaerage life span and three gorgeous lady fighters to fawn over. He never once fell ill until this time. Overall, our community tank gets along quite well, including this big fellow:


Diablo, the 9 inch plec. He'll be a year in a few months.

here's a better photo of Princess the cat to compare to your gorgeous baby kitty ^^

[cowmuflage]

Yeah we have a plec too a big 12cm female Bristlenose. Very handy to have those guys are. Shes pretty old now she must be 4 or so.

Heh if you took some of the white of Princesses back legs and the white on her face you would have my Sylvester. :3 gotta love classsic black and whites.

[Nili]

I grew up with all white cats, their temperment was a bit more...high maintenance..
It's so strange having such a casual and relaxed cat in the house, unless you're at the computer desk and she wants attention! She'll roll all over my keyboard and randomly spam trade sometimes. <3

[Zuilu]

Oh no..was he kept with other females? That is probably what did him in.. :c

[Nili]

We've kept two other male fighter fish with their females, we always made sure to have two or three in the tank with them. They all did well, no aggression from the males or females, so I don't think that's what did him in. He did have a bout of depression when Princess Flame passed away, so we introduced two more ladies to cheer him up, and they did, for a bit.

[Zuilu]

I'd be too nervous to do that, at least not in a tank under 30-40 gallons..I've kept sororities of females together, but my males have always been completely solitary or in community tanks with no fin nippers, my red crowntail betta is about..3 years old now, something around there..I'm even hesitant to put females together anymore, they seem to have much shorter lifespans when they're kept in sororities.

[Nili]

three years? How have you managed that?
Our local fish shop breeder guy says their average life span is a year. A year and a half if you're super careful. And we buy all our fish from him, all the males he puts up at six months.
As for the females? Yeah, they don't live very long, especially if there's not male around for them. They tend to focus more on each other when they're alone.
I trust our fish supplier, and when we asked if they'd be alright in the same tank (it's huge, can't remember the exact gallon size atm), he answered, yes as long as we have lots of foliage (check), places for them to hide and rest (check), and plenty of food (double check). Ever since then we've had three males and six females. All living much longer than our breeder told us they would live for.

Unfortunately, because they live together, they do get attached like humans do and become quite listless and depressed when one of their mates dies.

[Zuilu]

three years? How have you managed that?
Our local fish shop breeder guy says their average life span is a year.

Oh no no nononononno >< Goodness no. I suppose a betta would only live a year or less if they were kept in a cold, unheated and unfiltered bowl, but when kept in tropical temperatures with a filter they can live significantly longer that most aquarium fish, my first betta I had lived for 6 years, though he was pretty long lived.

The other thing that contributes to the short-lived rumor is that a lot of bettas wind up sitting in pet stores for a long, long time--partially because if they sell them too young their colours haven't 'popped' yet, and also because a lot of places just can't get rid of them.

This was an interesting poll I found if you're interested, 1459 people voted on how long their betta lived.
1 year
(411)

2 years
(305)

3 years
(319)

4 years
(156)

5 years
(132)

Over 5 years
(115)

Edit: Totally forgot to include this.

Unfortunately, because they live together, they do get attached like humans do and become quite listless and depressed when one of their mates dies.

I apologize if I come off as offensive in anyway, but I just don't see this happening..in the wild, betta fish are very solitary and only come into contact with females to breed, and after they finish that they just..swim off and never see eachother again. Sometimes they'll kill eachother after breeding. And if a male and female manage to meet up in the wild before one of them is ready to breed..almost always results in death.

[Nili]

three years? How have you managed that?
Our local fish shop breeder guy says their average life span is a year.

Oh no no nononononno >< Goodness no. I suppose a betta would only live a year or less if they were kept in a cold, unheated and unfiltered bowl, but when kept in tropical temperatures with a filter they can live significantly longer that most aquarium fish, my first betta I had lived for 6 years, though he was pretty long lived.

The other thing that contributes to the short-lived rumor is that a lot of bettas wind up sitting in pet stores for a long, long time--partially because if they sell them too young their colours haven't 'popped' yet, and also because a lot of places just can't get rid of them.

This was an interesting poll I found if you're interested, 1459 people voted on how long their betta lived.
1 year
(411)

2 years
(305)

3 years
(319)

4 years
(156)

5 years
(132)

Over 5 years
(115)

Edit: Totally forgot to include this.

Unfortunately, because they live together, they do get attached like humans do and become quite listless and depressed when one of their mates dies.

I apologize if I come off as offensive in anyway, but I just don't see this happening..in the wild, betta fish are very solitary and only come into contact with females to breed, and after they finish that they just..swim off and never see eachother again. Sometimes they'll kill eachother after breeding. And if a male and female manage to meet up in the wild before one of them is ready to breed..almost always results in death.

Not offensive at all.
But, that's the only explanation I can offer when one of my male's females dies that he had fawned over and courted. He'd go in his hidey trunk and wouldn't eat for days on end. But, my husband and I are pretty amateur, our oldest fish being three packs of Corydoras at nearly three years of age now. We're learning and taking whatever advice we can get.

So there's no confusion, I don't think Cupid died of old age. He died of an infection from his torn fins that we just couldn't get right. We tried, and he seemed rather happy in his tank. He was the boss, the pimp daddy, and he was my friend.

edit:
gonna pass out now and read whatever advice ya'll have to offer in the mornin. Thanks for not calling me a bad mommy to cupid...<3

[Zuilu]

Not offensive at all.
But, that's the only explanation I can offer when one of my male's females dies that he had fawned over and courted. He'd goes in his hidey trunk and wouldn't eat for days on end. But, my husband and I are pretty amateur, our oldest fish being three packs of Corydoras at nearly three years of age now. We're learning and taking whatever advice we can get.

So there's no confusion, I don't think Cupid died of old age. He died of an infection from his torn fins that we just couldn't get right. We tried, and he seemed rather happy in his tank. He was the boss, the pimp daddy, and he was my friend.

'Tis entirely possible that he got accustomed to having her around, a buddy of mine said that his goldfish had gotten quite depressed when the second one passed, though I've never seen it myself. Captivity does strange things to fish

If you happen to find yourself with nipped fins/fin rot again, I strongly recommend using Melafix. It kills external bacteria and wounds that cause things like sores, ich, fin rot, etc. It's midly irritating and the fish produce more slime on their scales to protect themselves from cuts, parasites, anything like that. Some people have reported that it hasn't done anything for them, but it's solved a great deal of problems for me in my 3 tanks-- infact, my Blood parrot cichlid probably wouldn't be around if I hadn't used it ^^
The same brand also makes an alternative called "Bettafix" for Bettas though I've never tried it, so I can't recommend it.

Once I had purchased some live plants and stuck them straight into my tank, turns out it carried fin rot into my whole 55 gallon aquarium >.< Melafix saved nearly all of my fish, I only lost a couple tetras- one of the female bettas I had in there at the time lost about 90% of her fins and had trouble swimming but she grew them back and lived for quite awhile after that ^_^

This was her, after she regew most of her finnage..awh, I miss her :c