The heart-breaking story of a young dog who can’t swallow properly and was in danger of starving to death has had a happy ending thanks to a creative intervention by University of Nottingham vets and a product design lecturer from De Montfort University in Leicester.

17-month-old Buck the Labrador was taken in by the East-Midlands based charity Team Edward Labrador Rescue as he suffers from a rare condition called ‘mega-oesophagus’. It means he struggles to swallow enough food. Weighing just half what he should at his age, the experts caring for him feared he would not live to see his second birthday unless a way could be found to help him get more food down. 

Specially-made chairs can help dogs like Buck by sitting them upright, but none could be sourced quickly enough. So, seeing a social media post and recognising the danger Buck was in, University of Nottingham vet and teaching associate, Emma Drinkall and her fiancé Nick Rowan, a senior lecturer in product design and engineering from DMU, rose to the challenge. They designed and custom-built a new high chair perfectly fitting Buck, in just one day and in less than 48 hours from first hearing the cry for help.