Fishing boats are docked at a harbour as Typhoon Matmo approaches the northeastern coastal town of Nanfangao in Ilan county, northern Taiwan, July 22, 2014. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang (TAIWAN - Tags: ENVIRONMENT)
Fishing boats are docked at a harbour as Typhoon Matmo approaches the northeastern coastal town of Nanfangao in Ilan county, northern Taiwan, July 22, 2014. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang (TAIWAN - Tags: ENVIRONMENT) REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

George, a goldfish, underwent a very risky life-saving operation to remove a tumour on its head. The goldfish has now been returned to its owner, Lyn Orton and partner Pip Joyce.

The surgery to save the 10-year-old goldfish suffering from brain tumour was very detailed and was conducted at Lort Smith animal hospital, a non-profit organisation in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Tristan Rich, who conducted the complex surgery that lasted 45-minutes, told Sydney Morning Herald that the tumour was causing problems for the fish since it was finding it difficult to swim or eat.

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Orton, who works at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital's adoption centre, said that she first spotted a white lesion on the head of the goldfish a year ago. It grew over time and ultimately became a huge tumour. "The surgery went swimmingly and George has now returned home with his loving owner," said a statement on the Facebook page of the hospital.

The cost of the operation was nearly $200, and is mostly charged depending on the duration of the surgery, and for the standard anaesthetic. "Operating on a fish is quite fiddly, as you can imagine with an 80-gram fish, and you've got to make sure you can control any blood loss. He can only lose about half a millilitre," said Rich.

As per Lort Smith's Facebook page, three buckets were used. The first bucket contained water with a heavy dose of anaesthesia, in which George swam until he fell asleep. The second bucket had anaesthetic enough to keep him asleep during the surgery. Finally, George was put into the third bucket with oxygenated water to recover.

After the fish slept off, a tube was fixed into its mouth from the second bucket, thus ensuring that the anesthetic water washes over the animal's gills. The tumour was then carefully removed, all the while suppressing the wound with a gelatine sponge to control the bleeding. The veterinarian then put four sutures and sealed the rest of the wound with tissue glue before leaving it to recover.

Antibiotics and long-lasting pain relievers were also injected into its body. "Soon afterwards he took a couple of breaths on his own and started swimming around," CBS News quoted hospital authorities as saying. According to Rich, operations on goldfish were rare, but said that if they are well looked after, they can live upto 30 years.

 Youtube/World News Headlines