How sad, I'm sorry to hear this Michaela. I used to have several aquariums, both salt and fresh water, and yes, you can get VERY attached to a fish.

That's a beautiful photograph!

I know your are sad, and I think I know how silly you are feeling by being sad. But a loss, is a loss. I was forced to put our old cocker DeeDee down a couple of weeks ago. At a recent party, I was teary eyed talking about it. We can all relate

Dog, bird, fish, reptile, whatever, we all become attached to them.

Michaela, sorry about your fish. I never knew a fish would jump out of a tank, very strange.

We went through a string of birds that after we got them to be real friendly, they would be real friendly with the dog when we weren't around, they all seemed to learn how to open their cage. We finally gave up on birds.

Michaela, that is just awful and I'm sorry for your loss. I love animals and know what it feels like to lose one.

It's not your fault Michaela. Alone, middle of the night, strange noises. You SHOULD have stayed where you were. You probably should have called the police. Don't beat yourself up over this.

I had an Oscar that would fly out of the tank every time I tried to feed it. I had to distract it with one hand while i slipped the food in with the other. That Oscar would eat ANYTHING (including any other fish in the tank).

I'm so sorry for your loss, Michaela.  I love pets also and understand how you feel.  

I'm so sorry, Michaela.  It isn't silly to be upset about your fish. I am very attached to all my babies and it hurts terribly when something happens to them.  I've had many cats die and I've had several that I've had to make the decision to put down.  If I think too much about it, I still get misty-eyed about a cat that I put down in 1988!  :`(

I especially hate it when stuff like that happens when my husband is away!

I once had an aquarium and I really cried for days when the Wrasse died. He was my favorite.

It was definitely not your fault, just unlucky timing,

Michaela, I am so sorry. I know there are some (none here) who may find your attachment odd, but I think we can all empathize.  I have had open heart surgery performed on a parakeet (Gandalf) and had a New Orleans style funeral for a guineau pig we owned for 2 days (Guiness 1. And complete with trumpet, badly played by a friend's 12 year old daughter, because that was my daughter's request.)

No pet, no matter how small, exotic, or how long you've had it, is insignificant.  They're all members of our families.

You did the right thing by not venturing in the middle of the night.  The noises could have been anything.  I'm glad you're safe and that we're not hearing a different story involving you, personally.

Rest in Peace, Pacu.  You were obviously loved very much.

Blessings to you and your family, Michaela.

Cathy,

That was a really sweet, and well written comment!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your fish friend Pacu, I do not think it strange to be saddened by the death of a fish.

My business partner and I had a bank owned house that when we went to check it out for the bank the first time back in April we found a fish tank in the master bedroom with a very large goldfish still alive. Now mind you this fish has survived in a house that had been vacant with not electricity to run the pump and filter system and no heat since last October. There was food left by the tank so everytime we went to check the house or show it we fed him. When the house went into contract we asked the buyer if they wanted to adopt him but they declined so we spent the next few weeks trying to find a home for him. Neither one of us have ever had good luck with fish so we wanted to find him a GOOD home; hey he made it this far he deserved the best. We named him Brook Golden because he lived on Beaverbrook Dr and he was a goldfish. We were successful in finding a fabulous home in a friends backyard pond where they have several other fish that have resided there for several years.

The only commission we charged him for finding him a new home was to live a happy fish life.

Susan

I'm sorry for your loss Michaela.

I don't mean to make light of your thread but I had to add something in here about an experience I had once.

I was sleeping and was awoken by a loud bang or thud noise.  Like someone kicking in a door almost.  It woke me up right away.  I laid there for a minute listening to what it could of been.  Didn't hear anymore noises.  So I got up and turned the lights on.  I happened to glance up at the ceiling fan and notice one of the blades missing.  It was spinning around now lop-sided.  So I look around the room and sure enough, one of the fan blades broke off and flew into the wall while the fan was on high!  Thank goodness it didn't break anything or knock me out while I was sleeping.

Try explaining that one to someone.  Getting knocked out by a ceiling fan paddle.

Michaela, I'm sorry about your loss and as anyone who has ever had a pet knows, we treat them like children, possibly better.

awwww, Michaela, I'm so sad for you.  We have fish, too.  We just lost a red demon Cicalid.  Mucho personality.  Unless you have them, you can't understand how attached you can get to them.  I hope the new one helps you feel a little better.

It is sad. I had a turtle I gave my mom. This turtle lives a good long life. He grew to about 6 or 7 inche. He and another fish about the same size. The fish died first. The turtle died a few weeks after my mom did.

Thank you, Sharron.  I have always loved my Owners.

Michaela, my parakeet, Gandalf, came into my life at age 16.  Tough time.

He was a character and my buddy!  Loved Cheezits and Coca Cola (I used to have a special glass for him.  I have pics of him sitting on the rim, tipped upside down to get the last of it.  Imagine a parakeet on cheezits and caffeine?). He had free reign of my bedroom, and used to fly onto my head, crawl down my forehead, slide down my bangs until he hit the rim of my eyeglasses and "read" with me.  Then, when he wanted attention, he'd fly onto the book and start pecking at the pages.  I never had to write my name in a book that I was passing around school.  The gnawed pages always identified to whom the book belonged!

He ended up with a tumor on his heart, probably because of the Cheezits and the caffeine, at the age of 3, the size of a small marble.  Imagine that on a parakeet.  It was huge in relation to his size.  And it arrived almost overnight.

I went searching for someone who could help him.  Found a Vet who specialized in birds.  I'll still never forget him telling me "If Gandalf survives the night, we're good."  He didn't, and I was devastated. Cried for days.  My Moms still remember it.

Point being.....about GD time, dontcha think?

Well, I think you got my point, already.

Pacu!  Here's to ya!!

(Drinking to Pacu & my ferret, Shadow, who died under anesthia being descented - I cried for two days.

I have a ferret now that was born on my birthday!

Oh yea (drinking to Cathy's parrot) hiccup!

That's funny, Michaela.  My current ferret is named Marley.  Ferrets are so much fun.  We keep her in a large cage in the corner of the family room so she can see what's going on.  She gets out about an hour a day and runs and hops and chortles and play fights.  So cute.  She's afraid of the lab, though.  He wouldn't hurt her on purpose, but he IS 105 lbs. of dog and she's about 1.5 lb. of ferret.  I don't blame her.

Michaela I know how you fell!  I am also a pet lover and fish are one of my favs.  I had two very unusal colored fresh water Angel fish that were breeding the night before our big '94 earthquake.  It hit in the wee hours of the morning and I didn't give a second thought to my fish - I was too worried about my family, dog and cat.  Once the sun came up and our nerves settled (and I was sure the after shocks were getting smaller and not bigger)... we headed into the house to see what was left.  My tank did not fall over or break, but half of the water was on my familyroom floor.  My husband found the male Angel and believe it our not he was still alive!  We got him back in the tank but within an hour he was dead.  I felt so bad because he had been laying in that puddle trying to survive for at least 3 hours!  

Anna I too had to put down my sweet Shadow two weeks ago.  Shadow was 15 and had lost the use of her back legs last fall.  We did pretty good at first.  We would help her up then she could get herself around.  But for the last month she couldn't even move around on her bed without help.  So it was time and it was very peaceful.  But I miss her and I know Sammy does too.  Even though he has Zoe he still is acting funny.  Kind of like he doesn't know his place.  You see now he is the big dog.

Jana

That's happening around here too.DeeDee was a REAL Alpha B.  Killer, aka: Jerry Lee doesn't know his place in the pecking order. I am attempting to convince him that I am the Alpha. Alas, he has other ideas.

Shadow trained Sammy. She really tried with Zoe too and that made me cry.  My sweet old gal!  Did you get Jerry Lee a buddy?  I have no idea what kind of shape Sammy would be in without Zoe.

Jana

I am sooo sorry to hear that Michaela!! I couldn't imagine what i would do if one of my 3 schnauzers passed. Muriel, Ruebin & Seymour (he is a 13 year old rescue doge) are the light of our lives. They really are our children nd probably do get treated better than most children.