Goldfish in Australia undergoes brain surgery to remove tumor

Brain surgery is typically a long and complicated procedure - and there was no difference when the same surgery was performed on an adorable goldfish.

The 10-year-old fish named George, underwent $A200 emergency surgery for a large head tumour at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital on Thursday. The goldfish was said to be 'really suffering' and was unable to swim or eat properly due to a large tumour hanging off his face.

Head of Lort Smith's exotic and wildlife vet team, Dr Tristan Rich, performed the surgery. First, George was placed in a bucket of anesthetic, before he was moved into a bucket with mild anesthetic for the 45 minute procedure.

"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 hospital said on their Facebook page.

"Dr Tristan worked quickly to remove the large tumour, although the size of it meant that he had to use a gelatine sponge to control the bleeding during surgery."

He said George's owner, a woman, was "quite attached" to the fish, and wanted to do everything she could for him.

Dr Rich said that, after the surgery was complete, George was released into the third bucket, filled with oxygenised water, and was left to recover.

He said people often became attached to pets, "from goldfish to budgie", and that veterinarians valued the bonds between humans and animals, and did not discriminate between the species when trying to save lives.

"Every day I'll do something different like this - operate on a little frog, or treat budgies, lizards, snakes and wildlife," Dr Rich said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.