Updated: 12.11.11 

MORE INFO.

FELINE CARE

EXTRAS!

Introducing a new style of stud pants or princess panties!
(aka cat diapers) 

After posting a video on YouTube of my stud cat wearing his harness style stud pants, I received a number of inquiries as to where they could be purchased.  I'm pleased to announce that it is now possible to have these unique stud pants made to order.  This has become possible with the help of a wonderful seamstress and friend who has helped me develop them to the point we think they can now be tried out (Beta version??) AND she has agreed to make them!  You can check out all of Nanc aka JAFO's creative works and read more about her on her website:  Granny Nanny's Hearts & Crafts

The stud pants are unique in that they are not modeled after a human baby diaper and are more easily put on and taken off the cat.

Videos

The harness style Stud Pants:

Simba Kahn modeling the latest in stud pants:

Putting on the Stud Pants:

Pad selection/use demo plus placement suggestion for females (NOTE - for heavy use you will probably need to tape the cut end closed to prevent leakage.  Most pads are too long and will need to be cut.  For the males it's possible to cut the top end under the tail in which case you may not need to tape):

Photos

The finished stud pants: Buckle at the waist, with loop-through tail strap that snaps.  Both straps have an elastic section for comfort.  The "D" ring through which the tail strap goes floats so it can easily be centered.  The waist strap passes through waist fold-over and slides freely to allow for an adjustment tri-glide hardware piece.   To adjust the waist strap, slide the the tri-glide out to make the adjustment.  Fabric is soft flannel with batting inserted inside for absorption.  Straps and buckle are 1/2" - black, with heavy duty silver snap on tail strap.   NOTE:  due to the fact that these are handmade to order and small improvements are being continually incorporated, if you place an order you may notice small differences from the photos and videos shown here.

The secret of success may be in the pad selection! - many of you are dealing with studs who are what we call "hosers" and others have come to us with neutered/spayed cats who have litter box issues and even disabled cats who are incontinent -- just remember that these pants are for urine only, for the rest you will need a full diaper kind of pant.  These cats are not your light 'marking' studs, and the question has been will these stud pants work for those cats?  The jury is still out on that, however I think they might if you can find the right pad to insert into the stud pant undercarriage.  Research indicates that an average 10 lb cat will produce approximately 3.5 oz - 6.5 oz of urine in a 24 hr period.  In researching pads, I aimed for 3 - 6 oz for one 'event.'  I believe that the way to go when you are looking for pads is the human incontinence pads as opposed to the panty liners.  In the image below, #1 is an incontinence pad (Top Care moderate protection purchased at Raleys grocery store).  It works well -- I cut a pad in half and get 2 for 1.  Figure #2 shows two different panty liners and they work fine for a light sprayer.  For the 'hosers' you are going to need to look for something that absorbs fast, is about 3 - 3.5" wide and has the capacity of 3+ oz.  I found a couple of brands of similar size and capacity that can be purchased online or at your local Target or other stores.  Below are a few online sources that show size and capacity:

http://www.northshorecare.com/pads-serenity.html

http://www.northshorecare.com/pads-poise.html#

http://www.adultdiapers.com/Product-Category/Pads-Liners_2/Active-Bladder-Control-Pads-With-Wings  (you'll have to cut the wings off these or fold them under, also note that you can order a small quantity to sample)

Below, Simba Kahn on left with his stud pants & Sequoia on right with her princess panties:

Why are we doing this and who benefits?  I'm doing this to share this solution with other breeders or cat owners who are interested.  There is no monetary gain in it for me.  You can read about Nanc's motivations on her website, but basically any money from sales goes first to cover her expenses, then what is left over will be going to our mutual favorite feline charity, The Cat House on the Kings.

Questions and Answers: 

Sizing:  We are working out sizing details and may run into some bugs in that area.  So far, from our limited experience with them, they seem to be flexible for a range of cat sizes and shapes.  The waist is adjustable via a slider much like you would adjust a collar or harness.

Escape artists:  It's early in their use, but so far it's our experience that these pants STAY ON very well.  No suspenders or additional measures are necessary.

Heavy sprayers (hosers and incontinent cats or cats who are peeing outside of the litter box with normal urine quantities):  We do not know how these stud pants will hold up with heavy urine output.  See information above on pad inserts -- a heavy duty pad inserted might work.

Males versus Females:  I have two cats using the harness style pants - one male and one female.   So far my experience has been that the pants may be a little better suited for use on the male, but is certainly working fairly well on my female with a few adjustments.  The problem is that the urethra of the female is so much closer to the tail than the male's, so you may get some urine spill over the top.  Here, again, the use of a good pad AND raising the pad above the top of the material is working well.  Nanc can also make you a female version with no dip under the tail. You'll want it adjusted as close to the base of the tail as possible and fairly tight against her butt.  Of course there is a trade off in that poop will get stuck in the pants rather than go over the top (see next paragraph).

Poop:  male cats can poop over top of them (see paragraph above about the females), however the poop occasionally gets tangled in fur and/or makes a 'smear' along the material or the pad just under the tail!  If your kitty doesn't use the litter box for poop, these will not work for your purpose -- you'll need the diapers that synch around the tail.

How should Stud Pants be used?  As a novice Stud Pants user, this subject was of great interest to me.  Unfortunately I could find virtually NO information nor guidelines on how to use Stud Pants.  I put the question out to a Yahoo cat breeders group I'm a member of and I received answers from all over the world.  Boiled down, the answer is that it's extremely individual and depends on the cat, the breeder, and the operation in general.  However, I will share with you a few details I gleaned.   Some stud cats are serious hosers and their breeders found that they could only manage short outings for them before their Stud Pants were soaked.  Some gave up, while others continued with short outings with perhaps one or two 'diaper' changes to extend the outing.  In other words, minimal use of Stud Pants.  Others allowed their boys out most of the time and changed the Stud Pants as often as necessary.  Quite a few breeders are using them on spraying queens and also as birth control on either gender to allow their cats to socialize together.  I don't know if this is a sure method of birth control or not - no guarantee - one breeder reported a pregnancy despite the use of Stud Pants but didn't say what kind of stud pants she was using.

I'm using these stud pants on two cats -- my male and my younger queen.  I keep 2 - 3 pair of Stud Pants / Princess Panties ready with pads inserted and change them out as necessary.  The material rarely gets wet when using the right pads.  The pants can easily be rinsed in soap and water and hung to dry to be ready for the following day.  They are also machine washable.

I would suggest one pair, or possibly two, initially to see how they work for you and your cat.  It may take your cat a while to become accustomed to them.  Both of my cats have adjusted quite well to wearing them.  They play and lead normal lives when wearing them, though my male continues to be a challenge to catch and get into them if he sees me coming with a pair dangling from my hand.  Every cat is going to be different.

The story behind these Stud Pants:

As a cat breeder, maintaining your own stud, or studs is an important decision and not a step to embark upon lightly.  Most studs (and many queens) spray to mark their territories.  The queens are a little easier to manage since most of them exhibit this behavior only when in heat.  Still, it can be a stressful time for the breeder.  It's the lucky breeder who has intact cats who do not spray.  Consequently, in most cases, the studs need their own quarters which are specifically built to be easily cleaned.  Unfortunately, this can be very isolating for the studs which can result in behavioral issues.  One solution which allows studs social time with the family is stud pants.  Stud pants are kind of like a diaper which is put on the cat so he can spend time with the family and the other cats.

I only have one stud and he is given the same freedom to roam about the house and enclosure as all of the other cats.  I thought for a while that I was going to be one of the lucky few to have a non-spraying male.  But at the age of three he began to spray and I scrambled for solutions to preserve my house and furniture yet allow him as much freedom as possible.  I began to look into stud pants.  I found that there is very little information available about them.  One website has patterns for making your own, and there are one or two people who make them for sale, but no instructions on the nitty gritty details of how to manage this whole thing.  I asked around among other breeders and found that many of them are using human baby diapers with a hole cut for the tail and seem to be happy with that solution.  Others are using doggie diapers, and many are purchasing stud pants made for cats based on the human baby diaper model. 

Although the standard stud pants seemed a little "iffy" to me as far as actually getting my stud into them, I started there by purchasing two pair of them.  It became obvious this was going to be up hill work with my little guy.  Picture yourself with no help holding down a squirming cat with one hand while you slide a pair of panties the wrong direction up his tail with the other hand.  To my surprise I actually did manage this a couple of times.  Then you dig through the long, Persian fur to fasten the Velcro around his waist -- and you're done!  Well, not quite.  What if you need to change him once or maybe twice in an evening?  It was clear that Simba Kahn was very quickly going to put a stop to this nonsense and I needed to find a better solution.    Also, the Velcro soon became terribly balled up with cat fur.

More searching on the Internet turned up one lone video demonstrating an odd looking pair of stud pants totally different than any I'd seen so far.  Unfortunately the breeder was no longer to be found, and the description simply said that they'd been 'custom made in Germany.'  The video stated that they were like a harness.  I immediately cannibalized a few of my cats' collars and harnesses and made a prototype, then my first 'real' pair which I proudly showed on YouTube.  A number of inquiries resulted from that YouTube video to which I had to sadly inform them that I had simply made myself a couple of pair and was not set up to make them for anyone else.

Since that time, I've enlisted the skill and expertise of a wonderful seamstress who loves a challenge, and together we have refined the design.  She has made them into a professionally made item, adding her own ideas and touches,  AND is willing to make them to order for people who would also like to explore this solution.

Art, photography,
& web design
by Molly Barr

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