Dog ate a yellow tang

[saix88]

The amount of cyanide in a living fish wouldn't be toxic to a dog unless it was a giant barracuda and a chihuahua type situation.

I dare you to eat one of your fish that have been QT and medicated, regardless of the location of where it was collected. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Reefman29]

Even if the tang got stuck in the dogs throat or stomach, the dog would not have had a seizure. It would have vomited or tried to. It may have had some blood in its mouth. I assume that thorough sweep of the tank was done, as well as around the tank?

 

[Zire]

Huh? You say tang venom is NOT a myth, but then say it's not venom at all...you say it's an allergy. Then you describe an experience of just that...an allergy. Which sounds an awful lot like something I've read lately. I just can't place where I read it...

:hmm5:




Exactly an allergy... induced by something which may include the fishes slime coat, which would make it a "venom." Its not a myth because it hasn't been disproven, that makes it a hypothisis... not a myth.

I thought a venom refers to a sbustance which is purposefully injected or otherwise forced into another organism(ex- scorpion with stinger, lion fish spines, male platypus spurs) whereas poisons are passive mechanisms(ex- toxic excretions by things like poison dart frogs)? I think in this case any toxin the tang has would be considered a poison due to it being ingested by the victim, not forcefully injected. I think you're right about the "myth" though, it won't be a myth until someone proves it false, right now it is a hypothesis.

 

[sslak]

I dare you to eat one of your fish that have been QT and medicated, regardless of the location of where it was collected. Let us know how it goes.

Huh? You remind me of the bully on the playground when I was like 8 years old....you learned how to type?

Copper, in the low concentration we use in QT tanks would not be enough to cause any harm. The fish itself would absorb very little copper, certainly not enough to be toxic to a human.

I agree with the other poster, you would need to have a very, very small creature consuming an extremely large amount of tainted fish flesh for the copper or cyanide present in a living specimen to become a problem.

Think about it this way, the fish is still alive...you or your dog are many, many times larger than the fish. You or the dog eat the fish, the toxin/heavy metal is further dilluted and if it wasn't enough to kill a small fish it certainly won't be enough to harm a human or dog.

 

[anbosu]

I dare you to eat one of your fish that have been QT and medicated, regardless of the location of where it was collected. Let us know how it goes.

Instead of daring me to eat my pets, I suggest you learn to research. Predatory fish everywhere have mercury in them, yet people don't seem to be dropping dead as a result. Theoretically I would have no problem eating a fish that had been treated with copper. I wouldn't drink the water it was treated in, but the fish itself would have minor traces as best. Below is a small excerpt on cyanide I found online.

Sources other than military: The cyanide ion is ubiquitous in nearly all living organisms which tolerate and even require the ion in low concentrations. The fruits and seeds (especially pits) of many plants, such as cherries, peaches, almonds, and lima beans, contain cyanogens capable of releasing free cyanide following enzymatic degradation. The edible portion (the roots) of the cassava plant (widely used as a food staple in many parts of the world) is also cyanogenic. The combustion of any material containing carbon and nitrogen has the potential to form cyanide; some plastics (particularly acrylonitriles) predictably release clinically significant amounts when burned. Industrial concerns in the U.S. manufacture over 300,000 tons of hydrogen cyanide annually. Cyanides find widespread use in chemical syntheses, electroplating, mineral extraction, dyeing, printing, photography, and agriculture, and in the manufacture of paper, textiles, and plastics.

 

[Elysia]

Very interesting info, Elysia! Did a little extra research and it looks like freezing the salmon for at least 24 hours kills the parasite, so I can just do that for her. I've informed the family about this too so the dog should continue to be fine .

Great to know! At least this thread taught the two of us each something useful!

 

[LukFox]

Great to know! At least this thread taught the two of us each something useful!

Yep! If only we knew what happened with the OP's dog... We can only hope the dog went to the vet. But even without that information, there's still a lot of useful info in this thread to make it a good read.

 

[TampaReefer79]

If a fish itself would become toxic after a copper treatment, or even 'carry' the copper with it in it's skin etc...then why can we place said treated fish back into a reef tank with inverts? It's because the water contains and then keeps the copper, the fish doesn't.

 

[Wolverine]

Exactly an allergy... induced by something which may include the fishes slime coat, which would make it a "venom."

No, that would not make it a venom, which, by definition, has a specific gland to inject it. You could make a very weak argument for calling it a poison in that case (albeit a very specific poison applicable only to those who develop the allergy), but even then, it's an iffy case.

 

[Wolverine]

I thought a venom refers to a sbustance which is purposefully injected or otherwise forced into another organism(ex- scorpion with stinger, lion fish spines, male platypus spurs) whereas poisons are passive mechanisms(ex- toxic excretions by things like poison dart frogs)? I think in this case any toxin the tang has would be considered a poison due to it being ingested by the victim, not forcefully injected.

Correct. That's why they're not called "venom dart frogs", and why rattlesnakes don't inject "poison".

 

[Wolverine]

I should also mention that I think this would also be coincidence. Seizures in boxers are certainly not unheard of. On top of that, we don't really know that the dog ever ate the fish. The tank may have been open, and they haven't seen the fish, and the dog had a seizure; not exactly a slam dunk hypothesis.

 

[tiffyreefer]

My cat has ate its fair share of reef fish, including a Golden Coris Wrasse, and a Purple Tang. Cat is fine, but I'm not! Not sure if a yellow tang would be very different from the purple in terms of consumption, but it may be similar....

side note: Cat puts paw in tank, fish thinks paw is food, and whack! Is your dog in cahoots with a family cat?

 

[uhuru]

How old is your boxer? Has he ever had a "seizure" before? If he is an older boxer I would suspect a brain tumor. Definitely get him to the vet for a full exam.

I think someone else mentioned this but do not feed your dog raw salmon. They can get a rickettsial disease which is carried by a parasite in the salmon.

 

[dclaghorn]

As it turned out, Uhuru, my guy did (likely) have a brain tumor, as the seizures got progressively worse. I guess the yellow tang was just serendipitous. We had to put him down this summer. Really, one of the absolute suckiest days of my life.

 

[LukFox]

As it turned out, Uhuru, my guy did (likely) have a brain tumor, as the seizures got progressively worse. I guess the yellow tang was just serendipitous. We had to put him down this summer. Really, one of the absolute suckiest days of my life.

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that. My condolences.

 

[Wolverine]

As it turned out, Uhuru, my guy did (likely) have a brain tumor, as the seizures got progressively worse. I guess the yellow tang was just serendipitous. We had to put him down this summer. Really, one of the absolute suckiest days of my life.

Sorry to hear about that.

 

[uhuru]

Yeah very sorry about that...

 

[tiffyreefer]

yes so sorry....a hard time for all im sure.....

 

[KrazyReef]

I was laughing when I read the title. I am sorry for your lost.