After years in practice, Dr. Ryan Lee, an equine veterinarian, noticed some difficult concepts in treating horses in his daily practice that centered around a lack of innovation for equine veterinary medical professionals. What started with his aptitude for making things to perform routine tasks safer, without compromising conventional principles, morphed into a company focused on equine innovations. In 2010, the pioneering concept created a nasogastric tube adapter to help him avoid safety issues commonly encountered while tubing a horse. In 2021 a patent was awarded for this device, the NGT+, and in October of 2023, the company, VetGadgets was formed. The company was founded on a solitary but important mission: to increase access to innovations in veterinary medicine with US based manufacturing. The ideas make routine veterinary procedures safer for both veterinarians and their patients. Our focus is on developing innovative, less invasive technologies that improve care, improve efficiency, and reduce unnecessary risks in the field of veterinary medicine.

The first device originated when Dr. Lee witnessed, firsthand, some of the dangers of placing nasogastric tubes in horses. Colleagues believed that getting reflux in your mouth was the only concern, but that is not it at all! Aspiration is far more common! Over the years, he saw friends and colleagues injured (several were hospitalized with pnuemonia, and another salmonella) while performing this common procedure. Now that he has traveled around the world and to most of the veterinary schools in the US, presented at AAEP, and abroad at international equine conferences, this has arisen as the bigger concern with tubing both horses and cattle. Beyond the risks to veterinarians, the process often created uncomfortable situations for clients, who would watch as foul-smelling fluids were drained from the tube and the doctors put this same tube back in their mouth. This handling of the tubing process and equipment was unsettling to the client horse owners. They’d often ask him, “Does your spouse know that you put your mouth on that tube?” or “Do you kiss your wife with that mouth?” … Dr. Lee knew there had to be a better way.

With determination and creativity, in 2010, he built the earliest version of the device using basic materials. Though primitive, it worked so well that he immediately began refining the design. With the encouragement from his wife, he started down the path to create a device. He enlisted the help of colleagues, friends & draftsmen; and after countless prototypes, that original idea evolved into today’s patented technology: a practical, effective solution that is now available to veterinarians everywhere, the NGT+

At VetGadgets, innovation starts with real-world challenges faced by practitioners. While we currently offer a single product, our second and third products will be released in 2026, each guided by the same founding principle—safer, smarter, more efficient tools for veterinarians and the animals they care for.