fish very ill

Question
I have a beautiful siamese fighter (betta fish) who has very bad dropsy. We have been trying to treat it for a few months but i think its more than just dropsy. His extreamly swallown, scales sticking out and gills are swallown also. His has very little water in his tank so that its not a struggle for air. His been sitting verticly in the tank the last few days. (head up towards water) but if you approach him he swims over so its obviously more of a comfort thing. I feel his in pain and he looks very ill. Is there anything i can do to help him untill its his time is over or should i try to help this along (eg. am i just keeping him alive by keeping water low) I dont want to him to be in pain and i hate seeing him like this. please help..

Answer
Many times dropsy is an indication of many differnt problems.  He could have internal parasites, internal bacteria infection, poor water quality, etc.  How often do you change the water?  What size tank is he in? Is it filtered and heated?  At this point, I would consider euthanizing him to end his suffering.  To do this you can take a bowl of water and put it in the freezer.  Once a layer of ice forms, pull the bowl out.  Break a hole in the ice and place the fish in the water.  Put the bowl in the freezer again for 10 minutes.  he will die nearly instantly from temperature shock.  I am really sorry about your fish, but dropsy is almost never cured.