TOXIC PRINCIPLE:
Mechanism of formation:
• Plant hairs are apparently poorly digested by ruminal micro-organisms and accumulate in especially the abomasum.
• Here under the influence of abomasal movement, innumerable hairs conglomerate (possibly around a small milk clot as nucleus) and felt together firmly in packed, dense layers to form balls of various shapes and 10 to 150 mm in diameter.
• Up to 30 balls might be present in the abomasum.
SYNDROMES:
Intestinal hair balls originating from plants.
SYSTEMS AFFECTED:
Gastro-intestinal system.
CLINICAL SIGNS:
Goats are more often affected than sheep and clinical signs and death occur in the age group 3 - 15 months.
• Inappetance
• Slow progressive loss in condition
• Ruminal stasis
• Distended abdomen (gas, hair balls)
• Faeces - foul smelling and scanty.
NECROPSY:
• Emaciation, cachexia
• Fore-stomachs thin-walled, papillae atrophied, contents watery, foul-smelling.
• Bezoars in abomasum
• Signs of rupture of abomasum or intestine may be seen.
TREATMENT:
• Purgatives are ineffective
• Balls too firm to break manually
• Surgery - consider cost effectiveness
• Diagnose through palpation of abdomen and slaughter before too much condition is lost.
PREVENTION:
Avoid exposure of lambs to only seradella pastures or camps with causative plants especially during periods when pappus hairs are prevalent.
