Ill fish advice please

Hi,
before i start yes i'm planning a vet visit!
but,
anyway, I have one goldfish left -i've had a few over the years, mostly won
from a funfair as a kid -one passed away last year aged 21, i still have the
other one.
in the past few days he has developed a problem -his sides are looking
rather nasty.
he is white, but hi sides look reddish in parts -bruised almost, and some
scales are sticking out slightly -rather like your dropsy example but not so
extreme.
finally he has what i can only describe as boils -nasty looking bulges in a
few places on his sides.
all in all he looks rather nasty although he's still feeding - he's a big
guy -must be over 5 inches in length.
this has all come on in the space of about 2 days.
is this anything you are familiar with?
thanks in advance -i'd like him to live for a long time to come but don't
want to see him suffer.
and when i do take him to the vet -how? -i don't want to stress him out so
much it kills him.


gareth

In article <bdmcuq$tgomm$1@ID-98824.news.dfncis.de>,
alan.lovedog.RemoveThis@btinternet.com says...
> Hi,
> before i start yes i'm planning a vet visit!
> ....
> and when i do take him to the vet -how? -i don't want to stress him out so
> much it kills him.
>

Did I read that right? 22 years? Man, that's an accomplishment
on both your parts (you and the fish). Congrats.

I'm no expert, but I've had fish develop "boils" on their sides,
like pimples. I've successfully treated them topically in one case:
gently express any matter within (pus, etc) using sterile swab
rinse with weak H2O2 solution
apply a daub of polysorbin ointment

However, I've also had a fish get one huge such zit that
sprang up overnight, and when I fished him out to treat it,
it burst, and had compromised most of the internal organs.
(I'll spare you the visual details.) He's now an ex-fish.

These were obviously two different problems: the former's
growths were clearly on the surface/skin. The 2nd's was
an eruption of an internal problem that may have gone
undiagnosed for some time.

If you've got a vet who'll check it out, go for it,
and good luck. Maybe he'll make a housecall?
That'd be the least stressful option.

Gunther