A 10-year-old goldfish in Australia is recovering from life-saving surgery to remove a brain tumor, BBC News reported Tuesday.

George, whose owner lives in Melbourne, underwent the high-risk procedure after being placed in a bucket of ice water that contained anesthetic, according to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital’s Facebook page.

"George had a quite large tumor on the top of his head that was growing slowly, and it was beginning to affect his quality of life," said Dr. Tristan Rich, who performed the operation.

Rich fed a tube containing oxygenated pond water and anesthetic into George’s gills to keep him sedated and alive throughout the delicate procedure. The doctor then used tissue glue, a substance commonly used on human patients, when sutures would not hold George’s scaly covering.

Following the 45-minute operation, George was given antibiotics and painkillers and placed in a bucket of clean water for recovery. Rich told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station that the patient was “up and swimming around” on Monday.

Experts say the $200 procedure may have bought George another 20 years of life.

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