Goldfish lifesaving surgery goes swimmingly

A goldfish named George underwent surgery last week to remove a tumor from his head, according to Lort Smith Animal Hospital, a non-profit organization in Melbourne, Australia.

So how do you perform surgery on a goldfish? Tristan Rich, the lead of Smith's exotic and wildlife veterinarian team, set up "three buckets — one with a knock out dose of anesthetic, one with a maintenance level of anesthetic and one with clean water for recovery."

Rich ran a tube from the maintenance bucket into its mouth, "so that the water with the maintenance dose of anesthetic washed over his gills."

The tumor was successfully removed, according to the hospital's Facebook page.

Four sutures were put in and then the rest of the wound was closed with tissue glue, the post added.

The goldfish was then put in the recovery unit and given oxygen.

"Soon afterwards he took a couple of breaths on his own and started swimming around," the Facebook page said.