Figure 4-7.

This lateral abdominal radiograph was taken 90 minutes after the ferret was given barium. The ferret had a trichobezoar causing a gastric blockage secondary to grooming during molt. As daylight hours and environmental temperatures increase, corresponding with late spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the ferret breeding season, ferrets may lose most of their guard hairs over a period of several weeks. The use of a hairball remedy in the form of a feline petroleum-based laxative is especially important during this seasonal molt.

(Courtesy Peter Fisher.)