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Mountainside 24/7 Animal Emergency

Smudge

Smudge (Cat)

Smudge, a gorgeous 15-year-old cat, worried her owners when she began gagging loudly. As the gagging progressed to vomiting, they decided to bring her to Mountainside to figure out what was going on. When we learned she had been seen chewing grass before the gagging began and had been stretching her neck uncomfortably, we suspected a foreign body. We performed a sedated nasopharyngeal examination which focuses on the area at the back of the throat. During our exam, we discovered the culprit: a 3-4 cm blade of grass lodged high up behind the soft palate. Once visualized, we were able to smoothly remove the grass blade in one piece. There was a mild amount of residual inflammation in Smudge's throat, which can cause some mild signs of irritation for a few days. To help prevent further nausea or discomfort, Smudge was given an anti-emetic injection. Smudge recovered quickly and is back to safely enjoying outdoor time at her cabin