A starving dog with a rare medical condition can finally eat his dinner after vets built him a HIGH CHAIR.
Patch, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was a ‘walking skeleton’ but has made a miraculous recovery after RSPCA staff built the child-like contraption.
The poor pup was rescued after he was left to starve by his cruel owners, but he can now tuck into his tea thanks to his fancy chair.
He has a rare throat condition that means he cannot eat like a normal dog and needs to be sat on his bottom in order to keep food down.
Mona Jorgensen, Southridge deputy manager, said: “Patch needed a very special, patient owner who could dedicate the time and care he needed to feed him properly so he wasn’t sick.”
Patch weighed less than 10kg when he first arrived, which was around half of what he should have, but vets provided round-the-clock care to get him up to 16kg.
He then moved to the RSPCA’s Southridge Animal Centre in Potters Bar, where staff fed him in an upright chair so his food could move down into his stomach.
Patch’s condition, megaesophagus, means that his oesophagus does not function properly, making it hard for him to eat, which made staff worried about finding a suitable home for him.
RSPCA Inspector Rachel Hayward said: “They were walking skeletons and their owners just sat there and did nothing.
“They kept them locked inside their flat, hidden away from view and watched them slowly die.”
He was given to Ambleside Vets in Worcester severely emaciated, but RSPCA staff managed to nurse him back to help – and prosecute his former owners.
Mona knew it wouldn’t be easy to find him a home where his new owners would be able to continue with this unusual eating routine.
But the centre were won over by Lulu Jenkins, who lives in St Albans, and Patch has now moved in with her and her six other rescue dogs.
Mona added: “When Lulu came along, we knew she’d be able to give him the care he needed.
“Patch is doing absolutely amazingly and his recovery is a real miracle. We’re so pleased he can now lead a happy and healthy life, he is a truly lucky hound.”
Patch is now happy with new friends Wilbur and Treacle the mastiffs, great dane Scooby, Jack Russell terrier Buster, Staffy Harry and Aggie the mongrel, as well as horses, donkeys and alpacas.
Lulu said: “He is great and lives life to the full.
“He has settled in really well and gets on well with the other dogs and animals.
“He can eat normally and enjoys having treats and chews.
“He is utterly ball obsessed and loves chasing feathers from the geese when they’re floating around the garden.
“He is such a character and we love him to pieces.”
His former owners were convicted of two Section 4 offences under the Animal Welfare Act of causing unnecessary suffering to the two dogs and are due to be sentenced next month.
