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George the Goldfish Swims After $200 Surgery to Remove Life-Threatening Tumor

George the goldfish
An Australian owner paid $200 for their 10-year-old goldfish named George to have surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor

Brave little guy! A 10-year-old goldfish named George can now swim again after his owner paid $200 for surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor, ABC News reports.

The Australian owner coughed up the cash for the procedure because they couldn't bear the thought of losing him, anchor Amy Robach explained. The 45-minute rare surgery included anesthesia and went "swimmingly well."

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Dr. Tristan Rich from Lort Smith Animal Hospital spoke to ABC about the successful operation, noting that there was one specific measure that proved to be difficult.

"There wasn't much skin to work with," he said. "We managed to close it up with some stitches and then managed to sew it up with some tissue."

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Further detail of the surgery was explained on the hospital's Facebook page. "Dr. Tristan worked quickly to remove the large tumor, although the size of it meant that he had to use a gelatine sponge to control the bleeding during surgery. The size of the wound meant it was difficult to seal, so Dr. Tristan put in four sutures then sealed the rest of the wound with tissue glue," it said.

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"Once that had set, George was placed in the recovery unit and given oxygen. He was given injections with long acting pain relief and antibiotics," the statement continued. "Soon afterwards he took a couple of breaths on his own and started swimming around."

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