Florida vet school uses novel approach to save seahorse

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (AP) — A Florida vet school turned to an unusual treatment to save a woman’s seahorse.

In February, Carol Benge purchased a seahorse as a reward for marking five years cancer-free and named it Louie.

In September, Louie began having trouble swimming. After extensive research, Benge suspected he had something called Gas Bubble Disease, similar to a human diver getting the bends from surfacing too quickly.

Benge felt like 2020 was too difficult of a year to allow her aquatic friend to die and drove Louis to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. There, vets asked if they could do an experiment: putting Louie in a hyperbaric chamber.

With one treatment, Louie was cured.