Big cats get big hairballs, which I suppose we might have guessed. Ty the tiger, from Widlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, was clogged up by a hug hairball (he lost 100 pounds), which had to be surgically removed.
WTSP News has the story, pictures, and a video:
The hospital says Vernon Yates with the not-for-profit Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. brought in the 17-year-old male jungle cat to see a specialist on Monday, after the tiger had not eaten on his own for nearly two weeks. Dr. Brian Luria performed an ultrasound and took X-rays before using a scope with a camera to determine the problem, which appears to be a giant hairball.
Yates says Ty sheds quite a bit this time of year, which may be why the hairball is bigger than usual.
The hairball was too large to be removed using the scope, so Ty was scheduled for surgery.
The hospital tells 10 News Wednesday afternoon that the surgery appears to be a success and Ty is resting comfortably. And that hairball?
It weighed in at four pounds and was approximately the size of a basketball.
Yates estimates Ty, who is pretty old as far as tigers go, lost about 100 pounds, and he has been force-feeding the animal.
Ty goes under the knife:
Success!
It’s huge (4.01 lb = 1.82 kilo):
The announcment: Ty is okay.
A big groggy, but on the mend:
h/t: Amy
Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.
Glad Ty’s OK. I wonder what a tiger sounds like trying to hack up a hairball?
Answer: angry. 🙂
That may very well be the remains of Punxsutawney Phil.
Imagine stepping on that in your bare feet in the middle of the night.
one interwebs for you today!
Ewwww!
sadly, I am familiar with that sensation.
Lost a hundred pounds? Didn’t eat for two weeks? Why’d they let this go on for so long?! Poor Ty.
Looks as though the scale was set to measure in lbs. and was registering 40.15, not 4 !
The scale sez “Baby Scale”.
I’m pretty certain that it is “4.015” pounds.
If you’ve ever hefted a full, 5 gallon pail, 35 pounds, you know that if it weighed “40 pounds” the Doc couldn’t hold it like he does.
Either that or you really don’t want to arm wrestle with him.
Nope. You are being misled by the 7-segment display. The gap between the 0 and the 1 doesn’t hold a decimal point, it is just where the unused segments are when displaying a 1.