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Clearly not everyone feels there are plenty more fish in the sea... one pet owner is so hooked on his that he paid out £300 to save it.

The man, who has not been named, noticed his goldfish was in some discomfort so – fearing it was constipated – took it the vet’s.

He had hoped that a simple procedure would soon have his £3 tiddler back happily swimming in his tank.

But the company boss was in for a shock when he was told he’d have to splash out £300 for delicate surgery to remove two lumps.

At first he turned down the treatment and left his fish to its fate - but had a change of mind ten minutes later and went back to give the go-ahead.

Vet Faye Bethell, 29, of the Toll Barn Veterinary Centre was then tasked with carefully administering anaesthetic before using tiny instruments to remove a lump close to the fish’s anus.

A second lump was removed from his dorsal fin before the pet was returned to water and handed back to his grateful owner.

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Faye said the three inch fish made a full recovery after the 50-minute operation and it would have died if it was left untreated.

She said: “I have never done a procedure like that on a goldfish, although I have done it before on more valuable fish like a carp.

“The actual surgery is quite straightforward but administering the anaesthetic is quite complicated.

“The issue was the fish couldn’t poo and it would have eventually become toxic and it would have died.

“There was nothing special about the fish. He just liked it a lot. People love their pets - but that was an expensive little goldfish.”

The delicate procedure involved introducing a carefully-measured anaesthetising agent into the fish’s water at the practice in North Walsham, Norfolk.

It was then removed from its tank and placed on a waterproof drape before anaesthetic water was introduced into its mouth via a tube and bubbled over its gills.

Faye then used a miniature heart-rate monitor to check that the fish was properly “under” before using a mini scalpel to remove the lumps.

She then sewed each cut with three stitches before using a special “glue” to cover and waterproof the fish’s scales before it was gradually reawakened.

Goldfish can live up to 10 years and this ailing pet was two years and 10 months old at the time of its operation.

The Toll Barn practice opened a year ago and specialises in exotic animals as well as the more usual pets.

Faye revealed that in the past year she has carried out a string of bizarre ops including the removal of a 12g skin tumour from a two-inch long hognose snake.

She has also successfully taken out a stone from the 5mm-wide ureter of a guinea pig and last week castrated a skunk.