Warning to owners as charity pet hospital removes ten-centimetre blade of grass from cat's nose

Ginge transformed his owner's life after she was diagnosed with cancer, now a charity pet hospital has helped save his - after the cat got a ten-centimetre blade of grass stuck up his nose.

Laura Mellors rushed six-year-old Ginge to the Nottingham PDSA Pet Hospital, after her beloved puss started sneezing blood and struggling to breathe.

The PDSA - or People's Dispensary for Sick Animals - provides free or low-cost vet care to animals whose owners are struggling financially, and Ms Mellors became eligible for the charity's services when she had to give up her job at Tesco a few years ago, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It was very scary,” she explained. “Ginge was having sneezing fits and coughing, and then all of a sudden he started bringing up blood. I didn’t know what to do.”

Ms Mellors said the team at PDSA sedated Ginge, and pulled out a 10cm blade of grass from his nose. "I couldn’t believe it... You couldn’t see anything stuck in his nose or in his mouth so it must have been pretty far back."

After the vets got it out Ginge was back to his normal self almost immediately, she said. The feline means a lot to the Bestwood woman and her partner - arriving in their lives as a stray who appeared in their garden around the same time she received her diagnosis.

“I feel like he chose us to be honest. He was a stray cat who used to come and sit in our garden. One day he came in through the back door, and then he never left," Ms Mellor said. "We tried to see if he was owned by anyone – we asked our neighbours, and took him to be scanned for a microchip but nothing came of it."

Now the couple "wouldn’t be without him for the world", she said, although her experience meant she would be keeping a closer eye on his grass-munching habit. “He’s always eating bits of grass and even though I tell him to stop, I didn’t think it would cause much harm. But I’ll definitely be a lot more mindful of this from now on.”

PDSA Vet Catherine Burke said this sort of ailment was common for cats, and could be tricky to diagnose and treat.

“When a cat gets a blade of grass lodged in the back of their nose or throat, it can be very uncomfortable and irritating for them, and could cause an infection,” she explained.

“It can cause severe bouts of sneezing or coughing, and in some cases such as Ginge’s, the cat can start sneezing or coughing up blood which can be very distressing for both cat and owner."

It could also be very tricky to prevent, as cats often wandered where their owners could not keep an eye on them, she continued. "If your cat eats grass in your own garden, keep it cut short to reduce the risk of the longer grass blades getting stuck."