A woman from a suburb in Brisbane, Australia did not hesitate to dish out $500 just to save her beloved pet, which as it turns out to be a $12 ranchu goldfish.
According to the report from Time, Emma Marsh, 21, said she treat fish like they are any other pet. This is very apparent when Marsh rushed her one-year-old goldfish named Conquer to Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service in Greenslopes after noticing excessive movement in Conquer's mouth.
Doctors at the veterinary clinic who checked at Conquer discovered that the goldfish has consumed a pebble that was about a fifth of its body length. The pebble got stuck lengthways across the side of its mouth, making it difficult for the fish to spit it out. The excessive mouth movements noticed by Marsh turns out to be the Conquer's way of trying to dislodge the pebble. If left unnoticed, Conquer could have difficulties in chewing, eating and swallowing, which could potentially lead to death.
"He [Conquer] is 13g and only 5cm long," explained Emma McMillan, a veterinarian at Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service, in a report from the Courier Mail. "The pebble was about 8 or 9mm long and was stuck lengthways across the side of his mouth, which is why he couldn't spit it back out. If we did nothing he would have starved to death."
To remove the pebble, the veterinarians dripped anesthetic into Conquer's water until it fall asleep. They then tilted its mouth and carefully dislodge the pebble using forceps. The operation was successful but Conquer remain in the hospital for the night to recover from the anesthesia.
Marsh paid more than $100 for the emergency consultation and another $400 for the anesthetic used in the operation and the overnight stay.
Other might find it excessive, especially when Conquer's intial cost is only $12. Now, after the surgery, Conquer's cost would be roughly the same as a 13-gram 18-carat gold.