We all love our pets, but this family went a step further to show their love for Bob, their 20-year-old goldfish who was diagnosed with a tumour on its fin.
Bob's owners had earlier noticed that the he was finding it difficult to swim in his tank.
The owners, whose identity has not been revealed, could not bear to see their 20-year-old pet in agony, and decided to get Bob operated to save his life. They spent $374.79 to get Bob treated!
The owners consulted Dr Faye Bethell, director of Toll Barn Veterinary Centre, located in Norfolk, England. Dr Bethell is a highly skilled veterinary doctor and also has experience treating a constipated goldfish.
So they took their three-inch goldfish to Dr Bethell right away for surgery.
Dr Bethell revealed that the owners said that Bob was older than their children and very much a part of the family, according to Mail Online.
The operation took 30 minutes and Bob's owners are thrilled with the results. Bob was discharged on the same day and the owners say he is making a speedy recovery post-surgery.
"The operation took about half-an-hour and he was returned to his owners the same day," Dr Bethell said, according to Mail Online.
A special operating table was used by Dr Bethell, along with micro-surgical equipment and a miniature heart-rate monitor to conduct the complex procedure on the 20-year-old goldfish.
"The option was to remove the lump or put him to sleep and now he is doing brilliantly," Dr Bethell said.
Dr Bethell specialises in exotic pets and even owns a special certificate. She first fed Bob anaesthetic water with the help of a tube. With the help of the mini-monitor she checked Bob's heart rate, and when he was sedated, she used miniature scissors and forceps to remove the tumour.
"It's pretty complicated because everything is so small. They don't have a massive volume of blood so you have to make sure they don't lose too much blood, Dr Bethell stated.
"We've done several operations on goldfish but this one was the oldest fish we've operated on. We keep them wet throughout using their own tank water so they don't dry out," she stated further.
Bob is back to his normal self and is having fun swimming normally again without any hindrance! Thanks to Dr Bethell.
"I love my job. We are definitely seeing pets living longer. It's really nice when you get an owner who wants to save them and great to help," Dr Bethell concluded.
