In today’s adorable news, a goldfish with an incurable bladder disorder has been given it’s very own “wheelchair” to help it swim again.
Needless to say, the internet is besotted.
The inventor of the device, Derek, works in an aquarium and was presented with the fish by a customer whose pet had a permanent bladder disorder.
The condition meant the fish was unable to hold itself upright and was often stuck to the bottom of the fish tank.
“So I made him a wheelchair and he loves it,” Derek wrote in a message to his friend.
Derek also shared a photo of the goldfish whose “wheelchair” is attached to a piece of styrofoam, which helps it float.
His friend Taylor Dean, a ‘full-time pet mom’ who vlogs about animals on YouTube, shared a screenshot of their text message conversation on Twitter and it wasn’t long before the internet had fallen in love with the tiny fish.
After her tweet went viral, Taylor shared an update to say the fish was “doing well”.
Today she shared another tweet featuring a photo of the fish with an upgraded model: this time, a “more comfortable wheelchair”.
Derek told BuzzFeed that he made the initial “wheelchair” using airline tubing, which he carefully wrapped around the fish.
“I added some valves to the bottom of it, which acted as a ‘chair’ to prop him up,” he explained.
“I added weights to the bottom of the ‘chair’ and something to keep him afloat on top (styrofoam), and slowly removed pieces until I achieved just the right buoyancy to make it easy for him to swim around without feeling like he’s dragging around a chair.
“The bottom weight is almost equal to the pull on top so it works quite well for him!”