A Lort Smith Animal Hospital handout photo of goldfish ‘George’ lying on the operating table after having a tumour removed during an operation in Melbourne.
A goldfish called George was on the mend in Australia yesterday after undergoing “high risk” brain surgery in an operation the vet described as “fiddly”.
The 10-year-old fish had a tumour protruding from its head, leaving his owner with two options: to have it operated on or have the fish put to sleep.
The Melbourne-based owner opted for the delicate surgery.
“She was dedicated enough to give it a go,” the vet who performed the operation, Tristan Rich, told commercial radio station 3AW.
George was knocked out with anaesthetic for the 30 minute procedure and is now recovering well back in his home pond, Rich said.
He said the whole operation was done using three buckets of water, with different levels of anaesthetic in the first two to knock the fish out and keep him under during the procedure.
“It was quite fiddly as you can imagine and you have to control any blood loss. You can only lose half a millilitre,” said Rich from the Lort Smith Animal Hospital. “Obviously it was high risk but everything went well in the end.”
