Intestinal Obstruction by Trichobezoars in Five Cats

Abstract

Between 1997 and 1999, five domestic crossbred cats (four long haired, one short haired) presented with a palpable abdominal mass and were shown to have small intestinal trichobezoars at laparotomy or necropsy. Hair balls were associated with partial or complete intestinal obstruction and were situated in the proximal jejunum to distal ileum. In four cats obstructions were simple, while the remaining cat had a strangulating obstruction. Three of the cats were 10 years or older, and two were less than 4 years. In the three older cats abdominal neoplasia was suspected and investigations were delayed or declined in two of these cats because of a perceived poor prognosis. Predisposing factors identified in this series of cats included a long-hair coat, flea allergy dermatitis, inflammatory bowel disease and ingestion of non-digestible plant material. This report shows that the ingestion of hair is not always innocuous and that intestinal trichobezoars should be considered in the differential diagnoses of intestinal obstruction and intra-abdominal mass lesions, particularly in long-haired cats.

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies in dogs and cats: a retrospective study of 208 cases

“…In 10 of 24 cases (42 per cent) the foreign object was subjectively judged to be causing complete luminal obstruction and partial obstruction in the remaining 14 of 24 cases (58 per cent). In one case a trichobezoar was removed from the duodenum (Barrs and others 1999).…”

Intermittment vomiting and weight loss in an old dog

“…Also, strong waves of peristalsis, known as interdigestive migrating myoelectric complexes, normally clear the digestive tract of non-digestible material. 12 In this case, the presence of the trichobezoars could be explained by the combination of copious hair ingestion (secondary to flea biteinduced pruritus) and the obstructive effects of the annular adenocarcinoma. A similar explanation would account for the presence of other foreign material detected proximal to the partial intestinal obstruction.…”

“…Trichobezoars are an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal obstruction and the condition has been reported in cats, 12,13 rabbits, 14 cattle 15 and humans. 16 Cases of intestinal trichobezoars in dogs are extremely uncommon and to the best of our knowledge there has been no published report of this condition in the English language literature.…”

Sugarcane fibre may prevents hairball formation in cats

“…Large trichobezoars are potentially the most harmful to cats because they are the most likely to induce abdominal discomfort, gastrointestinal alterations, anorexia, obstructions or vomiting in cats ( 15 , 16 ) . Thus, our study highlights the importance of the inclusion of dietary fibre in feline diets.…”