This breaking news story seems as if it were ripped from the tabloids, but sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction!
As reported on The Lort Smith's Hospital Facebook page, Dr. Tristan Rich performed surgery on a beloved goldfish named George, removing a life-threatening tumor from his head. Just how is surgery on a goldfish possible? Scroll down a read the wonderful article. It's not often you hear wonderful stories of survival like this.
The 10-Year-Old Goldfish is expected to live another 20 years! Please SHARE George's story with all of your friends.
Many - myself included! - wondered how surgery on a fish was even possible.
Dr. Tristan Rich, head of Lort Smith’s exotic and wildlife vet team, set up three buckets. One contained a dose of anaesthetic to knock George out and another held a maintenance level of anaesthetic. He also set aside a bucket of clean water as the recovery unit.
Here, we see Dr. Tristan allowing the maintenance bucket to flow from a tube into George's mouth to keep him asleep during surgery.
Even with the anesthesia working as planned, Dr. Tristan had to work quickly to remove the mass. Because poor George's tumor was so huge, the wound was difficult to seal.
A close-up shows just how large George's tumor was in relation to his body.
Doctors held their breath – would George lose too much blood and tissue to survive?
It was touch and go for a while...
Immediately after the tumor was removed, things were understandably tense.
Good news: George pulled through!
George was placed in the recovery unit and given oxygen. He was given injections pain medicine as well as antibiotics to fight infection. It took him some time, but soon he was swimming around, as happy as any little goldfish could be!
We thank Dr. Tristan for his innovative work with unusual pets and wildlife. Thanks to his careful study and training, he has found ways to help these tiniest critters. Please SHARE if you think the little things in life…like this…matter the most.
