To seal or not seal ulcers

[Brockp]

Hi Guys.... the first opinion poll

A medium or large penetrating ulcer in a fish represents an open tap for water to ingress down the concentration gradient putting an extra strain on heart and kidneys to maintain in the internal environment.

My practice is to take time to thoroughly clean these ulcers treat with HP and mercurochrome/MG pr iodine based topical treatment and then seal. Many others are arguing against this and saying you don’t want to trap infection in (true) an you must therefore not seal these ulcers.

What does this team think ?

Peter

[Gazza]

Hi Peter,

Easy answer for me and that is to seal and i always would

Now for the not seal train of thought when ask why not seal they will say as you can seal in the infection/bacteria my answer would be then you have not cleaned it out good enough in the first place

When you have a wound like that it is most important to make sure you take the time to clean out/off the wound 100% and that includes removing any dead or decaying scales or flesh,anything that is dieing off has to go as if left will only stop the healing process and slow things down. Once the wound is clean dry it off and add a topical or your choice (i only use Duncan's meds as i have been for years as i find nothing comes close ) and work it right into every area and let it dry off.if it is a bad one i will also double seal sometime where i will add lock & seal and sprinkle oraheasive powder onto the wet sealer blowing off the access powder then pouting lock and seal over the top of the powder and letting it dry and this will stay on the fish much longer giving it a better chance to heal..........................hopfully

[boogatee]

Since this is a poll ... I agree with Gazza - the only bit I would add is to take care when cleaning as sometimes the rubbing action can spread the infection and I don't apply the second lot of lock-n-seal over oraheasive as the action of applying the lock-n-seal will wipe away the oraheasive. I too only use Dunc's lock-n-seal and it tends to stay put.

[Gazza]

Hi Chris,

See i knew you would like it hear

I don't use the brush on Duncan's meds to brush the meds on i use it to sprinkle the lock and seal over the wound and i also split the meds out the bottle into pipit bottle so i can just put little drops over wounds without disturbing them

[boogatee]

ahhh, I see

.... and yes I do like this new zone. We can challenge conventional thinking without getting into a "my koi is bigger than your koi" battle

"There are always going to be different schools of thought in Koi keeping, driven by different motives, for the hobbyist it's a case of considering the facts presented and making decisions based on them."

[StuW]

Following Gazza I would clean with cotton buds and not wipe but dip to clean and then use a new one, expensive but less chance of spreading bacteria which could then be trapped under the skin.

[Gazza]

Hi Chris,

I have never said my koi is bigger than yours............you already know it

Stu,

Yes i never wipe always dab with cotton wool or tissue and if i was treating a wound which may be bad or infected in the scale sockets i would actually put pressure on these area to get the puss/liquid out and just a light pressure across the scales and you will be surprised what can come out sometimes.

[tomy2ponds]

Hi I agree 100% seal the wound nothing else to add it had already been said

[Duncan]

you all covered the pros and cons well enough but dont forget one of the main reasons is to seal the body off from water ingress and thus stop dropsy or at least lighten the load on the kidney

but also dont forget if you are injecting you are also making sure the much needed antibiotic is not fighting everything in the pond that comes in contact with the ulcer

for things like fins i generaly dont bother to much unless its really bad

yes i have heard people say dont seal because your sealing the infection in but as gazza rightly points out if you have sealed the infection in ( entriley possibe) you still have much to learn about the ways of the force|! and those who say this are a few sandwiches and the Mayo short of a picnic

dunc

[Brockp]

Hi Guys


Looks like we have a group consensus....clean the wound very well and seal to protect against water ingress and leeching of antibiotic in pond rather than staying in the fish.

We should post it in the droups public archive for others to reference.


Peter