How A 10-Year-Old Goldfish Had A "High-Risk" Surgery To Remove A "Life-Threatening" Tumour
The 45-minute operation was described as "fiddly" with vets saying that the operation went "swimmingly."
By Sadho Ram — 16 Sep 2014, 10:22 AM — Updated about 10 years ago
Last week on 11 September, George, a 10-year-old pet goldfish had a 45-minute operation to remove a life-threatening tumour at Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia
George's owners were quite attached to the 10-year-old goldfish. They knew something was wrong with their longtime pet when they noticed he was having a tough time breathing and swimming in his tank.
When they spotted the growth of a lump on his head and also saw that the other fish had been bullying poor George, they rushed him to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne to see what was wrong.
nypost.com
Dr. Rich offered the fish's owners, Lyn Orton and Pip Joyce, the option of putting the animal to sleep or paying for a life-saving operation to remove the tumor in its head, according to the Herald Sun. The owners, who weren't ready to let go of their beloved pet, opted for the latter.
telegraph.co.ukSo how do you operate on a goldfish?
Well, first you call someone like Tristan Rich, head of Lort Smith's exotic and wildlife veterinarian team. Rich set up numerous buckets with different levels of anesthetics, as the hospital's Facebook post described. Once George was knocked out, Rich ran a tube into the fish's mouth to pump water with a smaller dosage of anesthetic so that he remained under.
washingtonpost.comNext, the doctor removed a "large tumor" from George's head, using a specific type of medical sponge to help control George's bleeding. The size of George's wound made it "difficult to seal," according to the hospital. Rich managed to put in four rows of stitches, then used tissue glue to seal the rest of the wound.
washingtonpost.com
After the operation George was then placed in a recovery unit and given oxygen, pain relief injections and antibiotics. He took a couple of breaths on his own, and he was back swimming in no time.
Vets say George is now expected to live for another 20 years
The brain tumor had grown over the course of the year, and Rich told Yahoo7 News of Australia that "the fish was having trouble eating, getting around and he was getting bullied by other fish."
George's owners have 39 goldfish, some as old as 18
The procedure "was so impressive, everyone was just amazed," Lyn Orton said. "Now he could live for another ten, maybe 20 years," she added. Her beloved fish, she said, “are not just things in the water ... they’re characters."
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