Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Ed Yeates ReportingIn veterinary medicine, we can do almost as much for a dog or cat now as we can for a human. But who could have imagined the evolution of some new pets where health care has taken on sort of a "weird" application.
It doesn't look too much out of the ordinary, but at this hospital, it's health care for dogs, cats, and much more. We thought we knew about every conceivable surgery for an animal, until we saw a very unconventional patient brought into the room.
Dr. Bronwyn Szignarowitz, a member of the AVMA's clinical practitioners Advisory Committee, came to Salt Lake to train Dr. Martin Orr and his staff how to do surgery on a fish!
Dr. Bronwyn Szignarowitz, DVM, American Veterinary Medical Association: "Fish medicine now is where avian medicine was 15 to 20 years ago. Some owners get their little gold fish, win them at a carnival, and they'll have those fish for 15 years. And when the fish gets sick, they start to panic."
So, fish surgery begins. In this case, the patient in anesthetic water becomes groggy, turns over, and goes to sleep. Doctors take him out and onto the surgical table. Instead of a mask, a tube in his mouth allows water to recycle through and out the gills.
Dr. Bronwyn Szignarowitz: "And that would keep him on a surgical plane of anesthetic just like a dog or a cat, or a person."
Mr. Gill is surgically treated, then placed back in a tank of water for post-op recovery.
We watched as some pet fish got oral exams, while tumors were removed from others.
Dr. Bronwyn Szignarowitz: "We can take these out, sew them up, and let them swim away."
Why spend $300 to $700 per surgery on a fish? Believe it or not, a Coy Carp can live up to 30 years. And the price tag, if he comes from an elite breed?
Dr. Martin Orr, DVM, Exotic Pet Hospital: "It can be thousands of dollars, anywhere from 75-thousand dollars to a million dollars."
Dogs, cats, birds, snakes, lizards, sugargliders, now fish! But even so, for Dr. Orr's practice here, the "exotics" are just beginning.
Dr. Martin Orr: "Now we're doing fish. And I even want to do more with llamas and alpacas, and animals that people haven't even thought about doing a lot of veterinary care for."
Instruments and equipment for fish surgery are being designed so veterinarians can take them out into the field, for fish too sick to come to the office.
