25/07/2025
Meet Berlioz – One Brave Boy!
We recently visited Berlioz at home. He had gone to the emergency vet over the weekend as he'd been off his food, swallowing hard, and had vomited up some grass. They'd given him some meds to settle his stomach. Claire the vet felt he had a sore throat and prescribed medication for that, but warned his owners to watch for signs of a possible grass blade stuck in the throat or nasal passage – things like sneezing or nasal discharge.
Sure enough, later that evening and into the next day, Berlioz began sneezing continuously and was clearly uncomfortable. He came in for sedation so we could take a closer look – and there it was: a grass seed lodged in his left nasopharynx (the area at the back of the nose).
Thankfully, we were able to remove it safely. Berlioz recovered brilliantly and was soon back home, feeling much better, with very relieved and happy owners!
This is a fairly common problem in cats - they chew grass to aid various digestive issues, often resulting in vomiting. Some times, as the grass comes back up, it slips up into the nasopharynx, instead of out of the mouth!
Grass-eating is a very natural behaviour for cats, but we suggest avoiding the tougher varieties of grasses in your garden where possible!
