Cheeky cat named Riker is taken in for surgery after vet discovers a lump on its stomach – and what he found in the X-ray left him gobsmacked
- Queensland vet discovers mysterious orange-sized lump on cat’s abdomen
- Vet rushed the feline into surgery, discovering he had ingested 61 hair ties
- Hair bands had combined over time to create a ten by seven centimetre ball
- Vet says the cheeky cat would have swallowed the hair accessories over time
A Queensland vet got more than he bargained for after discovering a mysterious orange-sized lump on a cat’s stomach during a routine check-up.
Michael Burke, from the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery in Harristown, Queensland, was examining Riker the cat when he felt a hard lump on the animal’s abdomen.
Fearing the worst, the veterinarian rushed the feline into surgery, while his worried owners anxiously awaited their cat’ss diagnosis.
In an unexpected twist, Mr Burke discovered the eight-year-old cat had swallowed 61 hair ties which had formed a large ball about ten by seven centimetres.
Riker, a white and ginger domestic shorthair had swallowed 61 hair ties (pictured) over time, that had combined in a hard orange-sized ball in his stomach
‘Riker came in for his annual check-up and vaccination and he had no history or symptoms to indicate he was feeling unwell,’ Mr Burke told the Courier Mail.
‘When we investigated we found a whole lot of hair ties had conglomerated together along with food and other things.’
The Queensland vet said Riker would have ingested the hair accessories over time, rather than in one sitting.
Mr Burke said the elderly cat most likely suffered from a syndrome called Pica, where cats become obsessed with chewing on household items.
‘Riker does have a history of chewing foreign objects – a couple of years ago he ate a corn cob and had to get it surgically removed but he hadn’t any problems since’, the vet said.
Despite the strange discovery, Mr Burke said it was just another day at the surgery, having removed odd socks, underwear, large bones and even nectar seeds from the stomach’s of both cats and dogs.
The Queensland vet discovered the eight-year-old cat had swallowed 61 hair ties which had formed a large ball about ten by seven centimetres (pictured)
‘If you have a pet that is into chewing things try and lock it away and keep it out of reach’, the Queensland vet advised.
‘But this also just shows the importance of getting your annual health checks and vaccinations because you never know what you’re going to find and it would have only got worse until there were issues.’
The West Toowoomba surgery posted a photo of the individual hair-ties recovered from the feline’s stomach on their Facebook page.
‘How many hair bands can one cat swallow without being sick? Apparently 61! One of our lovely (but crazy) cats came in for vaccination’, the caption read.
‘Michael felt this mass in the abdomen and we thought the worst. But it was a tangle of hair bands and food.
‘Riker recovered beautifully but it shows the value of annual health checks.’
Michael Burke from the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery said Riker would have ingested the hair accessories over time, rather than in one sitting
Social media users rushed to the comments to share similar stories of their own cats ingesting the strange item.
‘We had a similar case in the last month. Cat that intermittently vomited for two years came in for an annual check-up. Stomach was full of hair ties’, one user wrote.
‘We had to change hair ties from rubber to stretch material after watching our cat throw up at least a dozen a day’, another shared.
‘Poor little buddy. The owner must have been wondering where the hell she lost all her hair ties’, a third commented.
‘That’s stretching it! One life down perhaps?’, another user joked.