frances
Koi Lover
Mar 15, 2007, 2:35 PM
Post #3 of 4
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Hi Zoul,
I actually posted a very ranty blog about DIY koi cosmetic surgery but the forum ate it. We do learn about fish heath and disease management in school and I do think that thing are going to change in the not so distance future regarding the scarcity of fish vets. The fish doctor who gave us lectures so far was a salmon vet but he has also done some work for the koi community.
Do not despair, the food fish industry will probably remain the main driving force in the advancement of fish medicine but also remember that kois were also regarded as food fish not so long ago. There are very exciting advancement in fish medicine going on, especially in Tasmania at the moment as vaccines are being developed for a few of the common infectious disease of salmons. How would this benifit the koi community? Well, the byproduct of these reserch trials is that we are learning more and more about fish immunology (it is quite different from that of mammals and birds), perhaps one day, with enough support from the community of course, kois can be immunised for things like KHV.
I think the lack of vet services targeting the koi community is much due to ignorance, when i told my friends that i might become a pet fish vet, the automatically think of $2.00 goldfish and guppies, not that fish that is living in some mud pond somewhere that is worth more than a house. A reptile vet told me that the niche was very hard to crack starting off but it got easier once people started to know him, I think, this is much the same with the koi community. I think it would be great if people who organise shows and auction and things like that invite vets to the events (dog, cat and horse shows have vets around) the profesionals will be more informed about your existance! Of course, vet students tend to be the ones most easily influenced, they can be taught using positive reenforcement involving food and alcohol.
I think it's great that you have access to 5 different vets, maybe the fact that 80% of the graduates here end up working in the UK for some time also indicates that the ones trained there aren't very good at what they do:P I am looking to do some internship time in the UK so I'd better shut up now:P:P
Cheers!
Frances
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