Stomach Bulge in Catfish

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

My Striped Raphael has a bulge in its stomach (looks bigger than it is in the picture because his tail was bent) any idea what it could be? I don’t know how old the fish is, I’ve had him for a couple years now and he was full grown when I got him. I did not have time before work to check the parameters.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Could it have eaten a fish? Have you done a headcount?

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

On 7/8/2023 at 8:03 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Could it have eaten a fish? Have you done a headcount?

It hadn’t been fed yet that day, and his only tank mate, a Jack Dempsey, was still there.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@Colu

[Colu]

On 7/9/2023 at 8:10 PM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

It hadn’t been fed yet that day, and his only tank mate, a Jack Dempsey, was still there.

It could be an internal blockage or growth have you noticed it pass anything recently is the bulge larger on one side of the fish or is it symmetrical 

Edited July 13 by Colu

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

On 7/12/2023 at 11:03 PM, Colu said:

It could be an internal blockage or growth have you noticed it pass anything recently is the bulge larger on one side of the fish or is it symmetrical 

It’s hard for me to say if it has passed anything or not, but the bulge is only on the one side. I believe this fish is pretty old, are cats prone to fatty cyst as they age?

[Colu]

On 7/15/2023 at 2:00 AM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

It’s hard for me to say if it has passed anything or not, but the bulge is only on the one side. I believe this fish is pretty old, are cats prone to fatty cyst as they age?

As it's only on one side your more than likely dealing with an internal growth could be a possible fatty cyst or a benign or cancerous growth what I would do is monitor if it's eating ok and and not showing any signs of deterioration I leave it be for now try and see if passes anything just to rule out an internal blockage