

At first, Carol Benge and her three-inch seahorse Louie had a pretty good life together. He bobbed around Benge’s fish tank while she fed him tiny brine shrimp. Then Louie got the bends—at least, he got the seahorse version of the bends.
In September, Louie wasn’t acting like his usual peppy self. He seemed to have trouble swimming. Small, pearl-like bubbles clustered on his tail—the telltale sign that led Benge to guess the sinister underlying cause was gas bubble disease.
Gas bubble disease happens when gases in a fish’s water get into its body.
It’s similar to the way the bends affect humans. When people stand on dry land, the air around them has pressure—just the right amount for a person to live in. But since water is heavier than air, divers going deep breathe extra-pressurized air from tanks. Even the blood and tissues in their bodies are under more pressure than usual. If a diver comes to the surface quickly, the pressure releases fast, kind of like bubbles in a can of soda. Those bubbles don’t belong in the human body. They can harm tissue or stop blood vessels from performing their imperative functions. Sometimes the bends make someone a little sore, and sometimes they paralyze or even kill.
The stakes were high for Louie too. “I wanted to save my little friend,” says Benge. She stowed Louie in a temporary tank and drove him an hour to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, where curious experts were eager to do an experiment. They wanted to put Louie in a hyperbaric chamber—precisely the treatment given to human divers suffering from the bends. In a hyperbaric chamber, a person breathes in pure oxygen at high pressure. This oxygen enters into the blood and can fix injured tissue.
Veterinarian-in-training Tatiana Weisbrod gently moved Louie into a Pyrex glass container along with water and a plant from his home tank. In the chamber, pressure applied over time shrank the gas bubbles in Louie’s body. Then the veterinarians released the pressure in the tank little by little. Just one treatment cured Louie.
God “made heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” He “keeps faith forever.” (Psalm 146:6) Diving marine animals almost never get the bends. God made these creatures with particular abilities to store and redistribute oxygen through their bodies deep underwater. But gas bubble disease is common in aquariums, often affecting seahorses. Now—thanks to Louie—people know how to treat the problem in seahorses and other fish.
1st comment!!!
I saw this on WORLDkids, that is interesting. She must really love that seahorse....
Seahorse!!!!!!
I think Seahorses are SO CUTE and I'm So happy they rescued that little seahorse! Does anyone know how long a seahorse lives?
Yeah I am at it on world kids
Yeah I am at it on world kids too lol sometimes they have articles that we don’t get
Nice!
I know how it feels to save a pet's life! way to go to keep trying, Carol Benge! I think sometimes if an animal is wounded or sick terribly, people put it down too early. hey, my dog broke her neck, was literally torn to pieces, and now she still runs in lead on my dog team. It just goes to show, keep trying for your pets! my dog took me sitting by her head for 24 hours without getting up, and more work besides! Keep trying for your animal!
(i have no idea why i said all that. i am ANIMAL CRAZY!!!!!! so yeah... and i love seahorses)
@ Elise W
Google says 1-5 years.
:)
This is like save the turtles, but a seahorse. GO LOUIE!
@grace
SAVE THE SEAHORSES! XD
7th comment! :)
this is the first time I've commented but anyway. I'm so happy that they saved louie!
@Desare Rose
First of all, good for Louie! Dessie, unfortunately, I didn't have your luck. I had eight healthy chickens in my flock plus a hamster and now I have THREE healthy chickens and no ham-ham. Two were given away for attacking and killing one of the birds, and the rest got paralyzed and died gruesomely. The ham was just old :(. At least your dog lived:). And yes, I tried everything I could for them!!! My dad and I made a 'paralyzed chicky wheel chair' device for Alpha before she died. It worked so well! At least Shadow (nicknamed Honk), Sunshine, and Libertybelle are OK.
@Above
@James: Welcome to the commenting section!
@Seahorse: Wow yeah she must really love the seahorse. I am glad they are trying to save it. Hey who on here knew that the MALE seahorse actually gives birth to the young seahorses?
@Riley D
Yes Riley, I did know that from an episode of Wild Krats. That show is so cute and informative!