Chinchilla

　　Hairball Gastritis

　　Cause: Mainly when cats groom their fur, they lick the shed hair into their stomach. The hair accumulates in the gastrointestinal tract forming hairballs. Due to certain reasons, hairballs cannot be expelled in time, causing repeated irritation and forming foreign body gastritis or obstruction in the stomach. This disease is more common in long-haired cats than short-haired cats.

　　Symptoms: Cats with hairballs in the stomach show dry heaving, some show appetite but eat just a few bites and then stop, severe cases do not eat, gradually lose weight, and exhibit sensitivity when the stomach is palpated.

　　Treatment

　　① Induce vomiting with apomorphine 0.08 mg/kg body weight, intramuscular injection.

　　② Oral administration of 5–10 ml mineral oil.

　　③ For severe cases, gastrotomy is required to remove hairballs.

　　④ Provide feed rich in crude fiber, allow cats to often eat some grass-type plants or orally administer 3–5 ml vegetable oil, which has a certain preventive effect against this disease.