Killer hairballs caused by excessive licking

Dear Daktari, I must say I like your articles, which are very interesting. Now, I had a very interesting calf which I lost because we acted too late. This calf was a good Friesian cross in which I had seen lots of hope in my dairy farming. We thought it loved itself so much because it used to lick itself a lot. We did not know this was a bad thing and as such, I did not point it out with my veterinary doctor. Now, it suddenly stopped eating feeds and refused suckling and then died. When the veterinary doctor did a postmortem that is when he said the calf was killed by a hairball. He asked if we had seen it lick itself and that is the time we realised we were living with a fatal behaviour which we entertained but killed our calf. Kindly let us know how this can be prevented or treated. [Emmanuel Pulei, Isinya, Kajiado County]

Thank you for the complement Pulei and sorry for losing a promising calf.

What are Hairballs?

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As the name suggests, this is an accumulation of hair into a ball in the gastro-intestinal tract. Hairballs are also referred to as trichobezoars, a special kind of bezoar: a firm mass found in the gastro-intestinal tract formed by a concretion of swallowed material usually plant or animal in origin. They normally originate from an animals own hairs which is ingested when the animal licks itself. Animals normally groom themselves by licking their skin in the process ingesting hair. When this is overdone, the result is normally ingestion of a lot hair that rolls into a ball. The condition is common in calves but has also been reported in rabbits, goats, sheep and cats.

Clinical signs

They cause death through obstruction of the digestive system; commonly in the small intestines. This results in lack of appetite, absence of faeces in the rectum and a history of not passing faeces for the last 24 hours, dehydration, pale mucus membranes, bloating and reduced or no suckling response. The severity of these clinical signs will depend on the degree of blockage. Death normally results from prolonged anorexia (lack of appetite) and metabolic imbalance.

Treatment and control

When diagnosed early, hairballs can be treated medically through enzyme therapy. Liquid paraffin can be used to dislodge hair balls. Surgical operations can also be carried out to remove the hairballs. To avoid the condition, give an animal good quality feeds always and adequate water at all times. Grooming of animals can reduce the licking behaviour and subsequently reduce amounts of hairs ingested. Good animal husbandry can also reduce licking behaviour especially one caused by injuries or wounds. But it must be noted that most hairballs cause death because the farmer is unable to observe the abnormal behaviour and, therefore, does not give an adequate history to help the veterinary doctor to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis. Just like happened with Pulei, most hairballs are diagnosed at postmortem.

[Dr Othieno is a veterinary surgeon and the head of communications at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Kenya. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of FAO]