Goldfish's recovery going 'swimmingly' after operation

Vet Emer said Merlin's owner feared he'd be "put to sleep but we mentioned the option of trying to remove the growth"

A vet in the Republic of Ireland has saved the life of a "starving" goldfish after carrying out a rare operation to remove a suspected tumour from his face.

Merlin, who is 17-years-old, developed the growth under his left eye and it had become "so large it was preventing him from eating".

Merlin’s recovery is now going "swimmingly" after vet Emer O’Reilly performed the operation in Lucan in County Dublin.

She said the operation was a challenging "fish out of water" procedure.

'Tricky'

Emer hadn't performed this type of "anaesthetic treatment" on a fish before

Emer told BBC News NI that Merlin's owners "were delighted and surprised that we could attempt" to remove the growth.

"Merlin had the growth on his face for several months... and it was a question of putting him to sleep or getting rid of as much of it as possible".

How does a vet perform surgery on a goldfish?

Emer said cutting the suspected tumour away was not the most difficult part of the procedure.

Emer described working on such a tiny animal as "tricky", especially as she hadn't performed this type of "anaesthetic treatment" on a fish before.

Merlin was moved "into different water baths with different levels of anaesthetic added," Emer said.

After he fell asleep, a syringe with a tip was put into his mouth to keep him breathing, while Emer "set about debulking the tumour".

'Back to his normal self'

Emer said this was "our first case of administering a general anaesthetic on a fish"

The size of the growth meant that Emer was unable to "remove it entirely".

This means the owners will have to monitor him in case it grows back but "are delighted Merlin didn’t have to be put to sleep and is now able to eat normally again".

After surgery, Merlin was placed in a recovery bath and is now his "normal self" and "eating happily".

Emer described Merlin as a "youthful little fish for his age".

'He looks really happy'

Siobhan Lynch, whose granny owns Merlin, said he's “much happier now that he can see properly again"

Eileen Lynch, from Castlebar, is Merlin's owner.

Her granddaughter Siobhan Lynch said: “We were all concerned when the tumour on Merlin’s head meant he wasn’t able to see properly.

“He couldn’t see his food or reach it at the bottom of the fish tank because the growth was always getting in the way."

“We feared it was cancer because of his old age and we were really worried about him as we have had him for so long," she said.

Siobhan said her family "didn't know" the operation was an option for a fish, so they “were relieved to find out that something could be done to help".

She also said her family is "so thankful" to the vets who travelled over to Lucan to perform the surgery.

“Merlin is much happier now that he can see properly again.

“He’s a real character. He comes up to the glass when he sees anyone coming into the room and it’s almost as if he talks to you," she said.

“His hobbies include listening to the radio and eating probably too much but he looks really happy swimming around in his tank once again.”