A Team of Veterinarians in Scotland Performed a Set of Operations on Pet Goldfish That Cost Nearly $750

Fife, Scotland - A team of vets from Inglis Veterinary Hospital, performed an extremely tricky operation - removing the eye of “Star” a pet goldfish. They also removed a lump off his aquarium partner “Nemo”, his best friend and bowl buddy.

The difficult surgery involved an exotic consultant surgeon, a vet keeping the goldfish under anaesthetic and a nurse monitoring their heart rates. The two operations cost the owner nearly $750, but she believes they were absolutely worth it. Star came into the Gordon family after a being won at the local fair for pocket change.

Star, was won at a fairground stall 12 years ago, had to get a blind, cancerous eye removed.

The operation was carried out on the six-inch fish at Inglis’ 24-hour hospital by exotic animals expert Brigitte Lord.

She said: “This is a highly specialist field, using anaesthetic on a goldfish carries a very high risk, and I'm delighted for the owner that everything went well and the owners are happy.”

“The financial value of a goldfish may be quite small but I think the fact that someone should have paid that much for an operation reflects the true value of the bond between pets and humans.”

During the operations, the vets used Doppler ultrasound equipment to listen through earphones to pulse sounds in order to evaluate Star's blood flow. To keep the fish asleep throughout the procedure it was syringed with oxygenated water with anaesthetic in it.

After the operation, Star was delicately held in a bucket of oxygenated water and, with its mouth kept open, was gently moved (mimicking the swimming action and allowing water to flow over the gills) for around eight minutes before it effectively came back to life. Nemo had more straightforward surgery to remove a lump on him too.

Star and Nemo are kept in Janie Gordon's home in Dollar, but are owned by her 21-year-old daughter Abby, a student in Glasgow.

 “I know it seems like a lot of money to spend on an operation for a goldfish but what was the alternative? I think we've a social responsibility to look after our pets and I know my daughter would have been distraught if anything had happened to the goldfish.” said Janie.

Janie didn’t want Star to be lonely so had bought another fish in a pet shop after her daughter won him by throwing a ping-pong ball into a goldfish bowl. Both Star and his lifelong companion, Nemo, are now over their buddy surgery and happily reunited - holding pride of place in a tank in Janie's kitchen.

“Star is fine,” said Janie. “He’s swimming about happily and the vets have shown me how to give antibiotics too”.

“I probably couldn't have chosen a better vets. I'm not sure anyone else would have attempted it.” said Janie.

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10-Year-Old Goldfish Had Surgery To Remove A Tumor, Expected To Live Another 20 Years

Melbourne, Australia  - George the goldfish had a 45-minute operation to remove a life-threatening tumor at Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne last week.

George’s owners were reportedly very attached to the 10-year-old goldfish. After discovering the tumor, they opted not to put the fish down but to have him operated on.

George had to be given general anesthetic, so Dr. Tristan Rich, the veterinarian performing the operation, had George swim in a bucket of water laced with anesthetic.

When the operation was done, they put George in a bucket of normal water. He was given painkillers and antibiotics, and after a few minutes he started swimming around, good as new.

According to the hospital’s Facebook page, the surgery went “swimmingly” and George has returned home. As long as George stays in good health, he’s expected to live another 20 years.

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Huge Goldfish Invade Lake Tahoe

Goldfish the size of canned hams are turning up in Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border.

A group of researchers from the University of Nevada at Reno discovered and documented the oversized fish, including one 18-inches long. Others had apparently spotted the fish in the waters of Lake Tahoe, but Christine Ngai and fellow researchers were the first to document their existence.

Ngai told KCRA.com, "You just see this bright golden orange thing starting to float up, and you’re like, what is that? And then you take a net and you scoop it up, and you’re like, it’s a goldfish."

Experts believe that people dumping the contents of their aquariums into the lake is to blame for the problem. And it is a real problem. Researchers believe the large fish, which aren't native to the lake, could have a significant ecological impact, including creating a food shortage for native trout. Also a worry, according to Dr. Sudeep Chandra of the University of Nevada, is the goldfish's tendency to spur algae growth in a lake known for being crystal clear.

When Ngai and her colleagues examined the fish, they found that some were pregnant, meaning the problem is likely to get worse.

This isn't the first case of abnormally large goldfish showing up in a strange spot. In 2010, a fisherman in France reeled in a goldfish the size of a large dog.

Video:

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Goldfish - One Of The Most Common Type Of Pets In The World

Did you know that the goldfish are one of the  most common type of pets in the world? They were one of the first fish species to be kept in ponds by humans. By nature, goldfish are social creatures and prefer to live with other goldfish.

Many people think that goldfish are pets for someone who doesn't have much time for pet care. The lifespan of your goldfish depend upon how much care you provide goldfish.  If  cared for properly your goldfish could live for many years!

Goldfish start off small, but grow to be quite large, sometimes even a foot long, if you take good care of them. First time goldfish keepers usually buy a small tank or bowl to house their goldfish, only to discover that they need to keep buying ever-larger replacement tanks. You should buy a large enough tank at the beginning. You should provide a 20 to 30 gallon tank for your fish. Then add at least 10 gallons to that volume for each additional goldfish you might add. They grow large, excrete a lot of waste and need room to swim in order to be happy!

Food:    Goldfish like a diet of flakes, pellets, wafers and sticks

Goldfish Facts:
Do goldfish have ears? They have internal ear bones called an otolith that can feel vibrations. Avoid tapping on the glass since it will stress or even kill them.

A goldfish can survive in an outdoor pond where water temperatures dip down below 40*F (5*C). Some ponds might even freeze over during the winter and the goldfish still survive through to the spring.

      Exterior Parts of A Goldfish

                         

Goldfish Synchronized Swimming



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