<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div></div><div>Courtesy of MailOnline (London, England) at:</div><div><br></div><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091997/Cat-thought-giant-tumour-furball-stomach-size-cricket-balls.html?ito=feeds-newsxml">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091997/Cat-thought-giant-tumour-furball-stomach-size-cricket-balls.html?ito=feeds-newsxml</a><div><div> </div><div>------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="font-size: 30px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Cat thought to have giant tumour had furball in her stomach the size of two cricket balls</h1><div class="float-r hidden" id="digg-button" style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "></div><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; ">By <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Jo+Riley" class="author" rel="nofollow" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 102); ">Jo Riley</a><br></p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; ">Last updated at 10:06 AM on 26th January 2012</p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "></p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">A pet cat believed to have a giant tumour in her stomach was found to have a huge furball the weight of two iPhones.</font></p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">Ginger longhair Gemma, who is eight, nearly died after the giant mass - the size of two cricket balls - expanded to fill her entire stomach and left her unable to eat. <br></font></p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">Vets, who operated on her, said it the 215-gram clump was the ‘largest they had ever seen’.</font></p><p style="font-family: arial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-size: 12px; "><font style="font-size: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: 12px; "><div class="thinCenter"><img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/26/article-0-1172D190000005DC-556_468x352.jpg" width="468" height="352" alt="Cat's better: Long-haired moggy Gemma is recovering after having a furball the size of two cricket balls removed fr4om her stomach " class="blkBorder" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; "><p class="imageCaption" style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: auto; ">Cat's better: Long-haired moggy Gemma is recovering after having a furball the size of two cricket balls removed from her stomach</p></div><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">David Fennell, from Cromwell Vet Group in Huntingdon said: </font><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'It filled her entire stomach cavity and she had not eaten for days. It would certainly have killed her.</font></p><p></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'I have been a vet for 40 years and it is the largest hair ball I have ever seen. <br></font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'We could feel a large mass in her abdomen and thought it must be a tumour because it was so big."</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: 12px; "><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'When we opened up her stomach and found the hair ball we were stunned as we’d never seen one anywhere near that size before.'</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">Gemma was brought into the surgery after she refused to eat for five days.</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">She was given an x-ray and ultrasound and the huge mass was found.</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: 12px; "><div class="thinFloatRHS"><p class="imageCaption" style="display: block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: auto; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">The vets then carried out an exploratory operation and discovered the hair ball, which they were able to remove.</span></p></div><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">A day later Gemma was back to full health and eating normally again.</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">Mr Fennell added: 'She was very hungry but there was no room in her stomach for anything else,' he added.</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'Cats do groom a lot and they often cough up small hair balls, but none of the 20 vets in our practice had ever seen anything on this scale before.</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">'For some reason Gemma had not been coughing up the hair balls and there was no way she could do it once it had become that size.'</font></p><p><font style="font-size: 1.2em; ">He said the owners had now been given advice on how to groom Gemma.</font></p><div><font style="font-size: 1.2em; "><br></font></div></span></font></p></span></font></p></span></font></p><br><div>Seeya later, Moscow.</div><div><br></div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Post Falls, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"Gentle eyes that see so much,</div><div>paws that have the quiet touch,</div><div>Purrs to signal 'all is well'</div><div>and show more love than words could tell.</div><div>Graceful movements touched with pride,</div><div>a calming presence by our side </div><div>A friendship that takes time to grow </div><div>Small wonder why we love them so."</div><div><br></div><div>- Author Unknown</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>