Cat recovers after hair-raising health scare in Warwick

A cat which swallowed more than 20 elastic hair bobbles has made a full recovery after having surgery to remove them at a Warwick vets.
Leia has made a full recoveryLeia has made a full recovery
Leia has made a full recovery

The owners of Leia, a long-haired ragdoll, took her to a routine vaccination examination at Avonvale Vets’ Warwick hospital.

A hard mass was discovered in her abdomen and an ultrasound scan showed an irregular foreign object in the stomach – resulting in her being taken into surgery.

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Veterinary surgeon Simon Davies quickly found the cause of the problem – a large ball of around 20 to 30 multi-coloured hair ties belonging to Leia’s owner’s daughter.

The offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobblesThe offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobbles
The offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobbles

Simon said: “We see all sorts of cases of animals eating things they shouldn’t, so nothing really surprises us. But it has to be said, we’ve never seen anything like this before.

“We’re pleased to report that Leia has since made a great recovery from the predicament she found herself in.

“Her owners told me Leia had shown a fondness for playing with hair ties and has a habit of putting them in her feeding bowl.

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“Of course, they had been unaware that she was actually eating them.”

The offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobblesThe offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobbles
The offending hair ball full of elastic hair bobbles

When cats eat foreign bodies, it can cause blockages if the object is too big to pass through the digestive system. In the case of Leia, it caused her to lose weight because the hair tie ball was taking up space in her stomach.

Simon added: “Fortunately, this unusual case has had a happy ending and Leia is none the worse off for her ordeal.

“But it’s a timely reminder to owners to make sure items cats may be tempted to eat aren’t left lying around the house – no matter how unlikely it may seem that your pet will eat them.”