A trichobezoar is a strange sounding name for an even stranger condition. Tricho comes from the greek word for hair and a bezoar refers to a mass of undigested material in the gastrointestinal tract. That’s right – a trichobezoar is a scientific name for what we know most commonly as a hairball!
Hair is not very digestible (as those of you with cats well know!) but is also not easily passed along the gastrointestinal tract as it is so small and slippery. Long term ingestion of hair can therefore be very dangerous, as it can build up in the stomach over long periods of time and eventually cause a blockage. This condition is reasonably common in animals (and humans too!). Cats are particularly prone due to the way they frequently groom themselves, however they are also very good at regurgitating these hairballs before they get too big to cause a problem (much to our dismay sometimes!)
Cody is a 6 year old Moodle who we have been seeing for around a month for lethargy and inappetance. These symptoms are quite general and can be attributed to a number of conditions; however we started to worry about Cody when he stopped eating altogether and was starting to loose weight. We performed an abdominal scan and an abdominal xray, which revealed Cody had something in his stomach that was not supposed to be there! The stomach is a tricky place for a vet to examine by feel, as it is often tucked up under the ribs. Our vets could not feel this unusual mass until Cody was anaesthetised and his abdomen relaxed – however we could certainly see it on the ultrasound of the stomach and small intestine as shown below.
The large unidentified mass in the stomach can also be seen on the abdominal xrays.
With a high suspicion of a foreign body in the stomach, we decided to take Cody to surgery and performed an exploratory laparotomy.
This is an operation where we surgically check the abdomen of an animal for abnormalities. It involves a large abdominal incision and the systematic evaluation of all of the organs within the abdomen including the stomach and intestines. Due to its nature the patient is often under anaesthetic for a long period of time and therefore requires intensive nursing and monitoring as well as intravenous fluids to maintain their blood pressure. We have a wonderful nursing team whose expertise ensure the safety of our patients and a talented surgical team who make sure the surgery is done as quickly as possible while also being very thorough.
Upon examining Cody’s abdomen it became clear that there was something very large inside his stomach. After gently making an incision into the stomach, we came across a massive clump of hair and material. It was so dense that it had become moulded into the shape of his dilated stomach and duodenum! Once removed the large trichobezoar was measured and found to be 30cm in length!
After removing the trichobezoar from the stomach and gently suturing it closed again, we checked the rest of Cody’s internal organs for abnormalities (All good!). It was then time to wake Cody up from his anaesthetic.
It is amazing how well the body adapts and copes with illness, and how Cody, apart from his weight loss and general lethargy was still walking around with this giant mass in his stomach. On speaking to his owners we discovered that Cody had been in the habit of licking their floors frequently and in effect cleaning up all of their cats discarded hair! They are subsequently now going to invest in a robovac!
We are pleased to pass on that Cody is subsequently thriving and is eating like a Trojan and has regained his lost weight. Well done Cody!
