Have you ever seen a 3.6-pound "big orange" fur ball?

The tiger in the picture below is called Ty, let’s call it Tai.

(Image source: dailymail)

Tai lives at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Florida, USA.

In 2013, when Ty was 17 years old, he became ill and hadn't eaten for about two weeks. Vernon Yates, his keeper, treated him like a son and was very worried when he saw how sick he was, so he took him to the vet right away.

17 years old is puberty for humans, but it is old for tigers. Tai is already a grandfather. Generally speaking, the life span of tigers living in the wild is only about ten years at most.

The doctor immediately performed a gastroscopy on it, and the whole process went smoothly. Tai was very well behaved and didn't struggle at all. In the doctor's words, "This tiger is a very, very, very, very cute cat." No exaggeration, the original words used 4 verys.

Yeats caresses Tai as veterinarians prepare to perform surgery on the tiger

(Image source: dailymail)

During the gastroscopy, the doctor found a huge hairball in Tai's stomach and arranged a laparotomy.

(Image source: dailymail)

There are a total of 4 balls of hair, and they are really big. After taking them out and putting them on the scale, wow, they weigh about 3.6 pounds. The 4 balls together are as big as a basketball.

(Image source: dailymail)

Previously, a long-haired cat in the UK had its stomach blocked by hair, and it couldn't eat or drink, which almost killed it. In the end, it was arranged for surgery to remove the hairball. The hairball of this cat weighed a full 215g (0.25 catties).

A ball of hair is already very big for a cat, but it is dwarfed by a tiger's. It takes 14 cat hair balls to equal one tiger hair ball.

(Image source: Mercola Healthy Pets)

Tai will need time to recover after the operation, but he has a breeder who loves him very much, so there is no need to worry about this problem.

The question we may be more concerned about is: Why do tigers also vomit hair balls?

Domestic cats spend 25%-30% of their time licking and grooming their fur. A cat's tongue is like a barb, so it is easy for the fur to be rolled into its stomach while licking.

(Photo source: inf.news)

Scientists have found that an average short-haired cat loses 28g/kg of hair each year, 2/3 of which is found in feces.

If the amount of hair eaten is not too much, it is not a big deal, as it can all be excreted through the feces. However, for some cats that are prone to hair loss, if they lick too much hair, it is very likely that the hair will accumulate in the digestive tract and form hairballs.

Tigers are also cats, so it is normal for them to lick and comb their fur. Their tongues have barbed papillae, just like cats.

(Image source: Wikipedia)

Especially tigers like Tai, who are under the intensive care of humans and have little to do, will spend more time grooming their fur (similarly, indoor cats will spend more time grooming their fur than stray cats).

As long as there is hair in the stomach, if you eat too much, it will turn into hair balls. Small hair balls will be vomited out, but large hair balls may cause blockage.

The hair ball below is what the lion spit out. To be more precise, it should be called a hair stick, after all, it is not spherical.

(Image source: dailymotion)

Not only Tiger Tai, other big cats will also encounter the problem of not being able to vomit out hairballs.

The leopard in the picture below was about to spit out a ball of hair when it was captured.

(Image source: dailymotion)

In 2015, veterinarians in Colorado removed a hairball from the stomach of a young African lion. Coincidentally, its hairball also weighed about 10 pounds.

If you want to find a photo of a tiger vomiting hairballs on the Internet, you will find that it is a difficult task. Maybe it is because the king of beasts has an idol burden, so he usually spits hairballs quietly and will not let people take pictures casually.

If we were to find evidence to support the idea that “tigers are just enlarged cats,” vomiting hairballs would definitely be one of them.

References:

1. Do Big Cats Get Hairballs?

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/animals-lions-cats-health-pets

2. The cat's me-OUCH: Ty the tiger has giant basketball-sized HAIRBALL surgically removed from his stomach

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329397/Ty-tiger-basketball-sized-hairball-surgically-removed-stomach.html

3. The effects of diets varying in fiber sources on nutrient utilization, stool quality and hairball management in cats

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpn.13289

4. Influence of the dietary fiber levels on faecal hair excretion after 14 days in short and long-haired domestic cats

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/vms3.6

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Produced by: Su Chengyu

Producer: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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