Don't be fooled like me and think your animals will never get sick. In an emergency you might not have time to try and find the location of your local Vet.

Here is a list of all the Vets in your area:

http://www.flourishingfairies.co.za/vets%20free%20state.htm

Hi Marius

Vets....hmmmm... Vets know nothing about koi and are not intrested either. To get one that specialise or know about koi will be very difficult.

They are only good at dogs, cats and getting percriptions from. The MUCH better alternative is to get a good koi dealer in your area - build a relationship with him and he will be able to get everything you need and help you 95% of the time.

Invite your koi dealer over for a braai every now and again, phone him up and have a chat, visit his shop even if you need nothing....this will help in the long run.

Vets will be also very relactent to hand you anti-biotics and a needle but they might give it to a koi dealer. So far i have bought my anti-biotics like baytril and amicazin (or something like that) via my dealer and most of the other medications that you use for koi you can order via the chemist and mix the raw ingredients yourself for 1/4 of the price.

Wayne

Only a handfull of vets in the country are willing to work on fish. However, most of them have the basic anti-biotics available and it is normally quite "fresh" as they dispense Baytril and other antibiotics for cats, dogs and various other animals and have a large turnover.

In our area, they do not have a problem to hand you antibiotics over the counter although they technically may not do that.

Before I bought bulk directly from a vetenarian supply company, I use to buy syringes and take them to the vet to fill with whatever antibiotics I needed. They never charged me consultation fees. Only for the medication.

To get it from vetenarian supply companies, you have to make friends as Wayne suggested.

A lot of dealers do sell antibiotics, but only to customers they can trust, (or to Wayne who invites them to braai's ) because they may not legally do so.

I am keeping stock of the basic anti-biotics, but give it away or administer it myself free of charge as an after sales service or favour)

One very important issue to consider, there are dealers and hobbyists that have very old stock or who failed to keep it cold and prevented it from exposure to too much light. In this case it is useless and only put your fish under stress.

After a few months from opening for instance Baytril, you should throw the rest away. Some people say three months, some say 28 days, some six months, some say even twelve months. Maybe someone on the forum can shed light on the shelve life on antibiotics.

Thanks for the helpful info gents. Yes, I agree they don't know much about Koi's. The first place I phoned sells animal food now ( Vet closed down 3years ago)

Second place nearly put the phone down when I mentioned Koi. Third time lucky and it will be collected after 5.

Maybe it will be a good idea to stock up on the more basic medicine just incase I run into this sort of problem in the future. Bloem is not always on the map, so it takes ages to order things for Koi. Mostly I use online services and find most of them good

Marius,

gaan kyk hier

http://www.vetproductsonline.co.za/

ek gebruik hierdie mense vir spuite, naalde, terramycin, SaponverPlus ens.
Gaan loer 'n biedjie daar.

Baytril shelf-life obtained directly from Bayer

Shelf-life of the product as packaged for sale:
3 years

Shelf-life after first opening the container:
Following withdrawal of the first dose, use the product within 28 days.
Discard unused material.

Special precautions for storage
Do not store above 25oC.

Most people are unaware that Baytril is actually designed to be given intramuscularly for the initial treatment and then orally for subsequent treatments. It is not designed to be given repeatedly into the muscle yet this is the primary approach utilized in most instances by some people.

Orally? hier vissie, vissie kom drink jou mideseine.

Perhaps one need a list of reputable dealers that will come out and have a look. (Luckily this forum helps a lot)

I got someone out the day after my ogon was hit by lightning(January) and for pox on another fish. Reputable dealer. She had a look, chatted, didn't even test my water, didn't catch one of the fish, but confirmed what I thought. R250. And chatted about the dog...

Perhaps I was expecting too much, but I was just expecting more.

Wayne

The oral part is still fine. If you look at the possible side effects it even gets better. “Possible limping, blindness, Diarrhea and vomiting’’. Just imagine cleaning that up ha-ha.

Most info is based on cats and dogs.

The Vet also phoned me to confirm if I wanted 0.45ml or 4.5ml as he was not sure what dosage a Koi will need. He asked me if I added fresh water to the pond, so I replied ''no, they still struggle to finish the previous day's water''. He found it funny that I wanted to inject a fish.

Marius Bezuidenhout wrote:

The Vet also phoned me to confirm if I wanted 0.45ml or 4.5ml as he was not sure what dosage a Koi will need. He asked me if I added fresh water

Im sorry, that is just scary. Do they not learn about fish AT ALL in university?! If an "EXPERT" asks me that questions then i will quickly find someone else or do it myself. (At this point in time you and your girl firiend might know more than the vet)