A 17-Year-Old Goldfish with a Malignant Tumor Was Operated on in Ireland Under Anesthesia and Mechanical Ventilation (3 photos)

This was the first time a fish had been given general anaesthesia in a clinic, and the anaesthetic for the patient was diluted in the water he was in.





Vets in Dublin have saved a 17-year-old Chinese crucian carp, a goldfish, that almost died from a malignant tumor. Doctors performed surgery on the fish under anaesthesia and a makeshift ventilator, which supplied the patient with oxygen.

During the surgery, the veterinarian deftly cut out the deadly tumor from the crucian carp's face.

It is noted that the owners of a goldfish named Merlin turned to veterinarians for help. The pet lived with them for 17 years, but recently a tumor appeared on his head, which began to prevent the fish from eating normally.

The worried owners took the fish veteran to a clinic in Dublin, where he underwent surgery. The patient was given anesthesia, connected to an improvised ventilator system that supplied oxygen, and the growth was removed.



"Merlin's owner was worried he would have to be euthanized, but we decided to try and remove the growth, which we suspected was a tumor. The surgery itself was fairly simple, but this was our first time administering general anesthesia to a fish, which was certainly challenging. The tricky part was getting Merlin into the correct plane of anesthesia by moving him into different water baths with different levels of anesthetic added to the water," said the vet who performed the surgery.

Merlin was euthanized with anesthetized water.

The goldfish's owners are overjoyed as their beloved pet did not have to be euthanized and will be able to return to normal life.