George the goldfish lives to swim another day with $200 surgery
A doctor knocks out a goldfish with anesthetic before removing a tumor from its head on Sept. 12, 2014. Credit: Facebook / Lort Smith
Pets are a part of the family — even goldfish.
A woman in Australia paying $200 for her pet goldfish's surgery proves pet owners will do just about anything to save those they consider members of the family.
Per the owner’s request, doctors performed a lifesaving procedure to remove a tumor from the head of a sick 10-year-old goldfish named George.
Dr. Tristan Rich, head of the exotic and wildlife veterinary team at Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, operated on the fish last week.
The clinic explained the procedure in a lengthy Facebook post on Sept. 12.
The veterinary staff set up three buckets for the fish — one with a full level of anesthetic, one with a maintenance level and one with clean water, which was used as the recovery unit.
Once George was anesthetized, Rich ran a tube from the maintenance bucket, which was being oxygenated, into George’s mouth, "so that the water with the maintenance dose of anesthetic washed over his gills,” the clinic explained on Facebook.
Rich was able to remove the large tumor within 45 minutes.
Once the tumor was removed, Rich put in four sutures, sealed the rest of the wound with tissue glue and gave the fish injections with long acting pain relief.
George was soon able to breathe on his own and began to swim around.
"The surgery went swimmingly and George has now returned home with his loving owner," the clinic posted on Facebook on Sept. 11.
Some people praised the hospital for "treating fish with the respect they deserve," while others criticized the surgery, calling it a "waste of money and resources."
According to the clinic, the only thing that matters is that “George is still alive and happily back in his home pond."
