This $12 goldfish just received an expensive surgery because pets are priceless
We all know people very attached to their pets — and maybe we’re one of those people. And why not? After all, our pets are there through us through everything, unconditionally.
We lose our job? The dog will cuddle with us when we get home. We get dumped by our boyfriend or girlfriend? We have the cat to come home to. We had a stressful day? We can decompress by hanging with our goldfish.
Emmy Marsh, 21, of Australia gets it.
She rushed her goldfish, Conquer, to Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Services when he looked unwell, and the bill was around $500, according to The Courier Mail. Veterinarian Emma McMillan discovered that Conquer was choking on a black pebble stuck in his throat, said The Daily Buzz. Marsh had purchased the Ranchu Goldfish for $12 a year prior.
So, yep, that vet bill is almost 42 times as much as the price of the fish. In other words, with $500, you can buy about 42 $12 goldfish.
But our pets are ~priceless~.
Cheers to Emma Marsh who saw her fish swallow a pebble – taking him to a vet who saved him! https://t.co/ZYASDnoEIC pic.twitter.com/1KjlV4pL2n
— PrizedPals (@PrizedPals) September 13, 2016
“I treat fish like they’re any other pet,” Marsh said.
Awww.
Why $500 though?!
The emergency consultation cost more than $100, plus another $400 for the anaesthetic and overnight hospital stay. Had the pebble not been removed, the fish would have starved, according to veterinary nurse Madeline Rienecker, ABC 13 reported.
“Most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid spending this money on a dog, cat or child, so why would we value our beautiful exotic pets any less,” said Rienecker. “While there has been quite a lot of fuss made over the cost of the procedure, we are really just focused on getting a great outcome for the pet, and their worried owner.”
And others on Twitter could relate.
One time I spent $400 on my hamster because she had a cyst that was infected. I wasn't about to watch her die okay https://t.co/87NMvSdpH0
— Liv (@Livvynicole03) September 13, 2016
Though not everybody could relate.
I wonder if that Australian woman who paid for that $500 goldfish surgery would buy me some studio time
— metemano (@ionoyoutellme) September 18, 2016
Fair warning: These images may not be for the fainthearted. But it’s what saved this little guy’s life.
Here’s how the pebble was extracted.
We’re just glad Conquer conquered this, so to speak, and that he and Marsh have been reunited.
