TO say that Pickles was a bit of a problem is the understatement of the year.

He had a temperament that was not conducive to veterinary examination.

He had sharp claws and teeth. And he knew how to use them. To make matters worse, this 13 year old cat's general health and attitude to life had been slowly diminished over the years by recurrent cat bite abscesses, a road traffic accident (the vehicle involved was lucky to survive) and a long term fight with herpes virus.

Herpes virus is well known (indeed ubiquitous) in the human population as the cause of cold sores, chicken pox and shingles, but in cats it is associated with respiratory disease. Typically, kittens are infected at birth with virus shed by their mothers. The virus can then lie dormant until such times as stress, other disease or just bad luck prompt it to multiply and create damage. Pickles, having experienced plenty of trauma and being naturally of an anxious and aggressive nature, has had more than his fair share of bouts of illness.

Thus it was then that his owner rang to say Pickles was sneezing yet again, the poor wee dear, with the usual horrible snotty stuff coming down his nose, and could she have some antibiotics to stop him getting worse, but could she not have to bring him down to the surgery, as it was nearly impossible to get him into his basket, without subsequently needing stitches, and he only got even more angry and we have to wrap him up in a towel, which made him stressed...She drew breath and we agreed to leave out some tablets for him. (Note: I inserted commas into this paragraph, not because she paused between phrases, but simply to make it easier to read.)

A week later she was back on the phone saying she had got most but not all the tablets down and he seemed a little better but not quite and, yes, we agreed to change the medication and try something stronger. But a week after that we said ‘No’.

Desperate not to start the fight to get him in his basket to bring him to the surgery, his owner ranted and raved a bit and demanded more tablets, but eventually, reluctantly, agreed to a consultation.

The unlucky vet who saw him probably rued that decision but, under the circumstances, made a valiant attempt to examine the old boy.

Trying to get useful information from a seething, spitting, writhing ball of fur, claws and teeth is sometimes impossible but our intrepid vet managed to note one thing; the nasal discharge, so eloquently described by Pickle's owner, was only apparent at only one nostril. One side was quite dry while green liquid goo ran freely from the other. Hardly typical of herpes virus.

And so, despite healthy cynicism, Pickles was admitted, carefully anaesthetised and a crack team investigated the back of his throat. With the use of a dental mirror and with a little tugging on his soft palate, a long, hairy blade of grass was pulled from his left nostril.

The obvious is not always the problem.