Pop eye and blindness

[J. Holmes]

As first time fish owners, we are learning fish sickness the hard way. We caught an awful case of fin rot too late in our betta and are trying to save him. His fins are SLOWLY growing back, but he developed pop eye as we were treating the fin rot. We THINK the pop eye has resolved, but he seems blind now. He was a great hunter and ate well… now he misses the food we put right in front of him :(. Can pop eye cause blindness? Is he still dealing with pop eye or is he missing his food still due to his lack of fins (he lost his entire dorsal fin)? His eyes do not seem cloudy at all. Thanks for the input! 

[Zac]

On 7/31/2022 at 9:45 AM, J. Holmes said:

As first time fish owners, we are learning fish sickness the hard way. We caught an awful case of fin rot too late in our betta and are trying to save him. His fins are SLOWLY growing back, but he developed pop eye as we were treating the fin rot. We THINK the pop eye has resolved, but he seems blind now. He was a great hunter and ate well… now he misses the food we put right in front of him :(. Can pop eye cause blindness? Is he still dealing with pop eye or is he missing his food still due to his lack of fins (he lost his entire dorsal fin)? His eyes do not seem cloudy at all. Thanks for the input! 

Popeye can cause blindness. If his personality is back, he has an appetite and his eye doesn’t look abnormal I’d say he’s okay. It’s tough to tell. I would try putting your finger or something close to him to see if he reacts. If it seems like a delayed reaction he may be partially blind. I think dorsal fins are more for stability so if you see him struggling to swim I would say that’s because of the dorsal fin, not missing the food

Edited August 1, 2022 by Zac