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Goldfish receives rare surgery to save eyesight
Pictured: Dorothy (Dotty) the goldfish.

The surgery took place at McDonald Vets in Glasgow.

The sight of a beloved 12 year old goldfish named Dotty has been saved after a team of veterinary professionals from Glasgow operated to remove a tumour from her eye, as reported by Scottish news outlet STV.

Dotty's owner, a veterinary nurse named Caroline McHugh, became concerned for her pet after noticing a large red growth covering Dotty's eye and took the goldfish to McDonald Vets in Glasgow, where she works. 

The veterinary team operated on Dotty, in the first operation of its kind to be carried out at the practice. After adding anaesthetic powder to Dotty's tank, the team began to work on her.

Dotty's gills were kept hydrated by squirting her with a syringe filled with water, whilst veterinary surgeon Lee Shrigley cut around the eye and tied off the blood vessels.

As reported by STV, veterinary surgeon Lee Shrigley commented: “The biggest challenge was getting Dotty to sleep, but once she was the surgery went very smoothly.

“We added an anaesthetic powder to Dotty’s tank to make her sleepy, before laying her on a table and periodically soaking her gills to keep her hydrated.

“The tumour itself was fairly big, so we used the smallest kit that we have to cut around the eye and tie off the blood vessels.

“The tumour was pulling on Dotty’s optic nerve and would have been uncomfortable for her.

“We had to be careful not to pull on it any more as it could have caused her to go blind in her other eye.

“We put her back in her own tank water after the operation and she woke up within five minutes.

“Three days after the operation, she was back to eating and causing trouble in her aquarium.”

 

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Voting opens for BEVA Council

News Story 1
 Eligible members of BEVA will be able to vote for their Council team until Monday, 17 August 2026. Members will have received an election email on 17 July.

There are five candidates standing for four available places on Council. They are:

  • Alexandre Triguino
  • Angela Jones
  • Beth Bryant
  • Holly Rees
  • Hugh Somerville
Full profiles for each candidate can be found on the BEVA website

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Milk recalled over presence of veterinary medicines

Graham's Family Dairy has issued a recall for its semi-skimmed milk due to the presence of veterinary medicines in the product.

In a risk statement, the Food Standards Agency said the presence of the medicines, including penicillin, make the milk unsafe to consume and 'may be a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to antibiotics'.

Customers who bought the product are advised to return it to the store of purchase for a full refund.