Saying Goodbye to Blub, Our Betta Fish. (Cw: Losing a Pet)

Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,

This is not the post that I wanted to be writing today, however, today on January 7, 2019, we lost a dear member of our family.

My partner always made fun of me when I got emotional when talking about how hard it would be to lose Blub, but I think tonight he truly understands how much Blub was part of our family.

It may sound stupid to say, but Blub was a fighter. As sad I am, I just chuckled at how silly that is to say since he’s literally a “fighter fish.” Glad I could find something to laugh and smile about at this time.

Blub was my 3rd pet, my first being Walker and second being Beau. Blub, however, was the first pet my partner and I adopted together, which made him extremely special to me. I don’t think I’ve actually ever told my partner that Blub was special to me for that reason.

I remember being so excited to pick our first pet together. We had looked at dozens of other Betta Fish, buy my partner loved Blub so we brought him home. I let my partner name him, in hopes of him bonding with our new fish friend and he chose Blub after the sound fish make while blowing bubbles. Little did I know that it was a name that really suited him since he constantly blew bubbles, showing he was happy and healthy. And it’s that moment that I start to cry again, knowing that my little guy isn’t blowing bubbles anymore.

Beau quickly became friends with Blub, sleeping next to him every night and meowing at me whenever they were separated for too long. He never really bothered Blub, he just watched him for hours and surprisingly Blub helped Beau with his Pica since Beau was entertained for the majority of the day. When we moved and Blub was separated from Beau, we didn’t realize how much he had missed his brother. As soon as he saw him he went crazy and was so excited to see his brother again, it truly made my heart melt.

As I mentioned, Blub was resilient. He was a fish that took a numerous amount of beatings as I learned how to properly take care of Bettas. He was a fish that piqued my interest in knowledge about how to properly take care of Betta Fish and go above and beyond what the training I had received at the pet store taught me. Blub went through some hardship this year, experiencing Popeye, which I had never been warned about. But as soon as I noticed something was different about him, my love for him made me research all of the illnesses Bettas can get and quickly saved his life, but he was the one who kept on fighting.

A few days before Christmas I admitted to you that Blub wasn’t doing well, I had kept it a secret because I was too emotional about it. I felt like a terrible pet parent who couldn’t take care of the pets he loved. I had written so many pieces about what to do in situations like mine, but nothing was working. It was clear that Blub wasn’t dying because sick, but because he was getting too tired/old to keep fighting, but I couldn’t admit it. And cue the crying again.

Blub didn’t stop fighting until today. He kept trying to get to the top of the tank to eat his food, when he had the energy he tried to swim to the front of the tank to say hello to me, and I can’t tell you how devastated I was to wake up yesterday morning to see him wrapped up in a ball, upside-down hardly moving.

I called my partner and let him know that I thought yesterday was going to be the day and I was right.

Blub really struggled near the end. When he heard me come close to his tank you could tell he was really trying to get himself into an upright position. I knew he wasn’t going to be able to eat, but I still put some food into his tank, just in case by some miracle he could make it, but today wasn’t the day for that.

He’s lost all of his colour and that’s what makes me the saddest. Blub was always so bright and beautiful and it just didn’t seem right to see him so white and pale.

But this morning we’re giving Blub his warrior salute. We’re so grateful to have had you in our lives Blub. Thanks for sticking around for the years you have. I’m so glad you stuck around with us this long.

I do take comfort in some words of advice my sister gave me yesterday. They went along the lines of “sometimes you do everything right, but it’s still time for them to go.” I hope he felt that way. I hope he felt loved and knew that I was fighting for him as much as he was fighting for his life.

I’m so sorry for such a depressing piece, I just don’t know how else to mourn Blub and also honour him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for letting me share Blub’s life with you.