Goldfish lives to tell the ‘tail’ after tumour removed

AN Omagh vets have proven that any’fin’ is possible after performing life-saving surgery on a goldfish.

Thor, the adorable eight-year-old goldfish belonging to Omagh student, Tyler Convey, had developed a tumour so large that it affected his ability to see, eat and swim – and it needed to be surgically removed with urgency.

But the diligent team at Corry and O’Hare Vets were never in any ‘trout’ about how to approach the procedure – which involves some risk in any species, never mind a goldfish!

As co-owner of the practice, Louise O’Hare explained, “In order for Thor to have any chance of survival, we knew we’d have to remove the tumour.

“While we performed this intricate surgery, our fantastic nursing team used a soluble anaesthetic through Thor’s water, and they maintained his anaesthesia by moving oxygenated water over his gills.

“The nursing team, then, used fresh water to remove the anaesthetic agent from Thor’s gills. Luckily for Thor, the operation was a great success, and he lives to swim another day.”

‘Fintastically’, Thor recovered quickly and without any issue, and Corry & O’Hare Vets are delighted to report he has rejoined his tankmate, SpongeBob. Louise has thanked Gary from ‘Happy Pets Omagh’ for providing Thor with a recovery tank to keep his wound clean and infection-free.