Beloved goldfish gets operation to remove eye tumor

By Jack Evans via SWNS

A beloved pet goldfish has been saved from going blind after having a huge tumor removed from her eye.

Dotty, the 12-year-old fish, underwent a tricky hour-long operation on her left eye to
have the lump removed.

Owner Caroline McHugh, 35, a veterinary nurse, became concerned for her pet when she spotted a large red growth covering her eye.

She took Dotty to the veterinary surgery where she works and the fish received surgery.

Vet Lee Shrigley said: “The biggest challenge was getting Dotty to sleep, but once she was the surgery went very smoothly.

“We added an anesthetic powder to Dotty’s tank to make her sleepy, before laying her on a table and periodically soaking her gills to keep her hydrated."

It was the first operation of its kind to be done at McDonald Vets in Glasgow, Scotland.

Dotty's tumor. (Pets ‘n’ Vets via SWNS)

« ‹ of 10 › »

“The tumor itself was fairly big, so we used the smallest kit that we have to cut around the eye and tie off the blood vessels,"Shrigley said.

“The tumor was pulling on Dotty’s optic nerve and would have been uncomfortable for her.

“We had to be careful not to pull on it anymore as it could have caused her to go blind in her other eye."

Incredibly, just three days after the surgery earlier this month, Dotty made a full recovery.

“We put her back in her own tank water after the operation and she woke up within five minutes," Shrigley said.

“Three days after the operation, she was back to eating and causing trouble in her aquarium.”