UF veterinarians now make house calls to help sick fish

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Sick fish? Forget phoning Dr. Seuss. Instead, dial up Allen Riggs, D.V.M., a University of Florida veterinarian who’s begun making house calls to residential aquariums and private ponds through a new statewide service thought to be one of a handful in the nation.

UF’s aquatic animal health program aims to help a segment of the pet-owning public long neglected by the veterinary profession.

“There are very few veterinarians in this state, or in the country, for that matter, who do fish calls,” said program director Riggs, a lecturer in aquatic animal health. “This program is unique because we deal exclusively with fish and are available at all hours to respond to pet owners’ needs however is most appropriate, including house calls.”

UF’s veterinarians also offer in-house diagnosis and hospitalization in one of several indoor or outdoor tanks, as well as telephone and e-mail consultation around the clock.

Aquarium fish are the most popular pet in America. Nearly 12 million households own more than 159 million fish, according to a 2001-2002 survey of national pet owners conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Pet fish can fall prey to numerous ailments, from fungus to fin rot to flukes, a type of parasite. Yet it’s not often you survey an animal clinic’s waiting room and find fish waiting for treatment alongside the most common clientele — dogs and cats.

When he receives a call, Riggs determines whether fish owners need to bring their pets to Gainesville for treatment or if the animals can be treated on-site.

Some types of fish, such as koi — colorful carps related to goldfish — are quite valuable, and a single sick fish can endanger the health of an entire pondful of specimens.

“Many koi ponds have more than 20 fish,” Riggs said. “So preventive medicine and disease control of fish in some ways resembles a herd-health or population medicine approach, exactly like veterinary care is performed in food animals such as cattle.”

Riggs said he recently worked with two koi cases, the first involving a hobbyist in Archer, the other constituting an emergency case called in by a commercial wholesaler from Broward County who was rapidly losing fish.

“In the first case, I performed a pre-purchase examination, just like you’d do on a horse, before the client added a fish to his main pond,” Riggs said. “We found the fish had a few parasites — known as gill flukes. We put the fish in a separate quarantine tank to isolate him while we treated him for this condition, which is contagious. If we had not quarantined the fish first, we’d have contaminated the owner’s other fish in his 9,000 gallon main pond.”

In the second case involving the wholesaler, Riggs drove to the owner’s facility and made a diagnosis of a fluke infestation with secondary bacterial disease.

“The treatment we instituted was able to stop the losses this owner was incurring, which was a significant cost savings to his business,” Riggs said.

Riggs said prevention means everything in controlling disease in fish, just as in other animal populations, adding that clean water is key to keeping fish healthy.

“Understanding filtration systems is a must for the hobbyist and commercial fish operation,” he said.

Riggs also will be assisting Ruth Francis-Floyd, D.V.M., UF’s extension veterinarian for aquaculture and an internationally known aquatic animal medicine specialist.

In addition to providing clinical care, Riggs and Francis-Floyd work closely with state and federal officials whenever there is any disease outbreak of major concern. They collaborated to help put out a paper on spring viremia of carp, a contagious viral disease that is the first federally reportable disease affecting ornamental fish in the United States.

“There are no human health implications that we know about regarding this virus, but it has the potential to kill a lot of fish and thus has serious implications for the hobbyist and for the commercial industry as well,” Riggs said.

The cost of a basic examination or consultation is $35 an hour. “Many people are willing to make the investment in veterinary care because of either the value of the fish, their emotional connection to them, or both,” Riggs said.

Anyone seeking more information about UF’s new clinical fish veterinary service should call Riggs directly at (352) 392-4700, ext. 5686, or e-mail: riggsa@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu.