Читать книгу Special Report on Diseases of Cattle - Lowe - Страница 34

Hair concretions, or hair balls, result from the habit which some cattle have of licking themselves or other animals. As a result the hairs which are swallowed are carried around by the contractions of the stomach and gradually assume the form of a small pellet or ball. This increases in size as fresh quantities of hair are introduced into the stomach and adhere to the surface of the ball. These balls are found most frequently in the reticulum or second stomach (Pl. II, B), though sometimes in the rumen. In calves hair balls are generally found in the fourth stomach. There are no certain symptoms by which we can determine the presence of hair balls in the stomach, and therefore no treatment can be recommended for such cases. In making post-mortem examinations of cattle we have sometimes found the walls of the reticulum transfixed with nails or pieces of wire, and yet the animal had not shown any symptoms of indigestion, but had died from maladies not involving the second stomach.