Feline Trichobezoar Study Guide

Overview and Clinical Importance

Trichobezoar (from Greek "tricho" meaning hair and "bezoar" meaning a mass trapped in the gastrointestinal system) is the medical term for a hairball. While occasional hairball vomiting is considered normal feline physiology, recurrent or obstructive trichobezoars represent significant gastrointestinal pathology that requires thorough diagnostic workup and may indicate underlying disease.

Cats spend up to 25% of their waking hours grooming due to their fastidious nature and unique tongue anatomy. The backward-facing keratin spines (filiform papillae) on the feline tongue efficiently capture loose hair, which is then swallowed. While most ingested hair passes through the GI tract and is eliminated in feces, hair may accumulate in the stomach or intestines, forming a trichobezoar.

Pathophysiology

Normal Hair Handling

Under normal circumstances, ingested hair passes through the gastrointestinal tract and is eliminated in the feces. Cats lack interdigestive migrating myoelectric complexes (IMMC) in the stomach, which are responsible for clearing non-digestible material from the GI tract in other species. In cats, IMMC have only been detected near the ileum, which may explain their propensity for gastric hair accumulation.