by Goldfish Sᴀᴠᴇᴅ From Lifetime Of Swimming Upside Down By A Home-Made Life Jacket
A goldfish is probably the last thing you think may need a life jacket, but as it turns out, this little goldfish’s life has turned around — literally.
Unfortunately, the goldfish’s owners were told that this case of swim bladder was ᴜɴᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴀʙʟᴇ. Saddened by the idea of their goldfish swimming upside down at the bottom of the tank for the rest of its life, the pet owners sought out alternative ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛs. The ᴘᴏᴏʀ goldfish was sᴛᴜᴄᴋ swimming upside down after it developed a buoyancy ᴅɪsᴏʀᴅᴇʀ AKA swim bladder. Thankfully though, the life jacket was just what was needed to sᴀᴠᴇ the fish from spending the rest of its life upside down. The unfortunate goldie found himself constantly living upside down and at the bottom of his tank after contracting the ᴜɴᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴀʙʟᴇ illness. Unprepared to see him suffer his family sought help from a nearby animal sanctuary. Their quest to get the fish righted led them to The Garden Sanctuary, an animal shelter in Wolverhampton, England, and its founder Stacey O’Shea. Taking pity on the upside-down fish, O’Shea used her animal expertise to craft a little life jacket for the swimmer. O’Shea used tiny plastic tubing, the t junctions used in air conditioning filters, and polystyrene to create a goldfish lifejacket, which is weighted just enough to keep its wearer righted without dragging it to the bottom of the tank.
Good Samaritan Stacey even periodically changes the polystyrene and ᴄᴜᴛs it into different sizes so that the fish can swim at other levels and see every part of the tank. To ensure the goldfish got the most out of life, O’Shea made the weight of the lifejacket adjustable, so the fish can swim to every part of its tank. Stacey, 41, said: “He had been living on the bottom of his tank upside down for some time and his lovely family were desperate to get him help so he came to us.”
