why is my betta fish not eating and floating sideways at the top of the bowl

my fish has not eaten in 4 days and is very sick i want to save his life

I'm sorry people are giving you such DUMB answers. Betta fish can live up to ten years if cared for properly.

My fish had what your fish has(Swim bladdar disease) and he LIVED because I knew what he had and was able to take care of him properly right away. It helps to add a little bit of salt to his water(not table salt but special salt you can buy at pet stores for aquariums)- he must fast for a few days until he is swimming properly again. That means don't feed him until he looks like he is feeling better. Try adding a live plant to his tank, too. He may be able to nibble on it and get enough plant matter to pass the thing that is blocking him inside. It'll be a big old poo when he passes it finally but that's good. If you see he has made a giant poo and is swimming OK again you know he'll make it but continue to watch him for awhile after that.

A GREAT website for CORRECT information about Betta care is here: http://www.aquariumcorner.com/bettas.htm.

Please read it even if your fish had already died. Read it and learn the information so that if you ever own another Betta you'll know how to take good care of him.

I don't think it's funny to laugh about an animal suffering. The people on here who made jokes about it really need to grow a heart- and the people who made dumb, uneducated comments really need to grow a brain.

There are A LOT of myths about Betta fish. Pet stores even tell these myths to people in order to get them to buy Betta fish. It's a sad story for most Bettas because of this. They are treated badly even by people who do not mean to treat them badly. The solution is to do research and become well educated about the animal you own- learn how to treat it when it gets sick, learn how to keep the tank correctly.