A goldfish was operated in Australia to remove a deadly tumour when the owners' decided to pay $200 for the treatment to save its life.
Last week, a goldfish named George, was brought to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, Melbourne for a check up by its owner, according to Daily Mail.
The 10-year-old pet was finding it difficult to breathe and swim in its tank. The owners noticed the growth of tumour and thus decided to bring him to a veterinarian. A large tumour had grown on the head of the fish, which was making him unable to see properly, reports Daily Mail.
Dr Tristan Rich, who operated the fish, said, "George had a quite large tumour on the top of his head that was growing slowly, and it was beginning to affect his quality of life," reports BBC.
The owners were given a choice whether they want a surgery or want to put their pet to sleep. That moment, they took a big step by spending $200 for the surgery of their beloved pet.
"For the owners, it's not about having a fish, it's about having this fish," said Dr Rich.
According to Lort Smith's Facebook post, the hospital described how the surgery took place. It said that Dr Rich, set up three buckets for George - one with a knock out dose of anaesthetic, one with a maintenance level of anaesthetic, and one with clean water at the recovery unit.
"Once George was asleep, Dr Tristan ran a tube from the maintenance bucket which was being oxygenated, into George's mouth, so that the water with the maintenance dose of anaesthetic washed over his gills"
The tumour was then carefully cut out as it was quite critical if it would have not been removed. Dr Rich says that it was not his first time to operate such tiny creatures and says if one has a pet then they should take the responsibility to look after them properly.
"If your pet gets sick, take them to the vet and find out what the options are," Dr Rich told.
Currently, the 80-gram George is recovering soon.