George the goldfish undergoes life-saving surgery

MELBOURNE, Australia (KTRK) -- A family spending hundreds of dollars for a surgery that will save a pet is not unusual.

What is, though, is when that pet is a goldfish. But that's just what an Australian family did to remove a brain tumor from their 10-year-old fish named 'George.'

The tumor had developed on the fish's head over the past year.

"Fish was having trouble eating, getting around, getting bullied by the other fish," said Dr. Tristan Rich.

"Didn't join in as much in their afternoon party games and stuff, you know," said George's owner, Pip Joyce. "He never really said much to us."

It was a delicate procedure that lasted an hour at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, with blood loss a big concern.

"Controlling the blood loss is really important in such a small patient," said Dr. Rich. "And then closing up did prove quite difficult because there wasn't much skin to deal with."

George's owner was impressed.

"Just the way he was able to put the fish to sleep, I think," said Pip. "And then stitching it up a little bit, minute little fishy stitches."

George is now recovering at home with 20 of his closest friends. As for Pip, he talked about the surgery he chose for his pet.

"Yeah it's a goldfish, all creatures great and small," he said. "A goldfish is a pet, a family pet, just as important really. They bring a lot of pleasure these fish in this pond, they're beautiful to sit and watch."

The fish should now be able to enjoy another 20 years of life.