Surgery Suits for Giant Breed Dogs

Surgery Recovery Suits for Giant Breeds

As a Dog Mom and long-time Pet Sitter, I love the option of using a surgery recovery suit as opposed to the dreaded cone...when possible, that is. Surgery recovery suits are not just for recovery, there are other situations where these cute little onesies for dogs can come in handy. 

• Recovery from Spay or Neuter
• Incontinence
• Skin conditions/Itchy skin
• Stress relief, the Thunder Shirt concept
• And, in our case...mammary leakage

The last point is where my Great Pyrenees comes in. Jazzy came to me as a hospice foster for a local rescue, Lab Rescue of Oklahoma. When the rescue first met Jazzy, she was in poor condition. She was 1/2 the weight she should be, she had lost a lot of her hair, many of her teeth were missing, she had bad arthritis and her tummy and chest were lined with nasty mammary tumors. The rescue decided to put her in their hospice program where dogs that may have a short life expectancy can go to a loving foster home so they can finish on a happy note being loved and cared for until the end. That's how Jazzy joined my family, only no one told her she was not supposed to live more than 10 months or so...Jazzy began to gain weight, her hair began to grow back in and she flourished. I ended up adopting Jazzy after having her for a little over 2 years. During the first few months of our time together, the rescue took care of surgery to remove one side of Jazzy's mammary tumors. She had some complications so the rescue, the vet and I decided not to remove the other side. Now, two years later, those tumors have begun to leak. The leakage is more of a nuisance than anything, so for now, I have decided to try to keep her in a surgery recovery suit to maintain the leakage. Finding surgery recovery suits for Jazzy has been a challenge because she weighs 125lbs and is a big wad of fluffy hair, but we have had some success. So, this blog is to share Jazzy's Top 4 Surgery Recovery Suits...where we got them and why we like them.

Lab Rescue OK 

1) How cute is Jazzy in Pink? Of course, she would look cute in any color. This particular suit is from Chewy's. 

• Available in 3 colors
• Available in 3XS - 2XL: Always check measurements of the sizes. A 2XL from some companies fits more like a M, but this particular 2XL fits Jazzy well.
• Has a pocket where gauze or a pad can be added to help with seepage: This is a great feature for incontinence and post spay/neuter surgery.
• Nice quality
• Slips over head and snaps down at the hind-end. Heavy duty snaps. Needs to be pulled up for peeing but dogs can poop. This is good for dogs recovering from surgery or that have incontinence, but for everyday living, it's kind of a pain. 

2) Jazzy looks so pretty in purple. This suit is actually pretty small on her and looks more like a little bathing suit, but she always seems comfy in it when she wears it. It was the first one I tried from Amazon. 

• Available in 20 colors
• Available in sizes XS - 3X: This is a good example of checking the measurements of sizes. Jazzy's is a 3X and fits more like maybe an XL, but is quite stretchy.
• A little thin but it makes it more breathable, so dogs won't get too hot. 
• It slips over the head, has a zipper at the back of the neck that allows for more room to slip it over the dog's head, then has velcro straps to secure it down at the hind-end. Allows for dogs to poop but will need to be pulled up for peeing.

3) This style is my favorite...

• Available in 3 cute prints, Jazzy is sporting one with dinosaurs on it.
• Available in M - 5X: I ordered a 4X and 5X in this. Both sizes fit her pretty well. She is wearing the 4X in the picture, the 5X, of course, gives her a little more room.
• Nice quality
• Dog's step into this suit and it zips up the back. 
• This suit allows dogs to pee and poop without having to do any adjustments. This is one of the reasons why I favor this suit. She can go out and do her business without me worrying about pulling the bottom of her suit up for her. I don't always remember to do it on the other suits.

4) Another one of our favorites.  It may be gone by the time this blog hits your phone or laptop.  Looks like quantities are running low.

• Available in 4 tie dye colors
• Available in 2XS - 3XL
• Feels like heavy t-shirt material. Jazzy seems to feel very comfortable in this suit.
• Slips over the dog's head and has velcro straps to secure it at the hind-end.
• Dogs can poop in the suit and there is the option to cut out an area to allow for dogs to pee.

One Last Note

For Jazzy's situation, the surgery suit was not enough because she leaks right through the suit, so my next challenge was to find a liner for the suits. Feminine pads work pretty well, but even the longest pad was not long enough to cover all of her mammary tumors and they were too narrow to get them aligned just right. I tried cutting up a washable pee pad and securing it, but they were not absorbent enough, she leaked right through. So, I found extra long bladder pads...this particular pad is just the right width and JUST the right length for the coverage Jazzy needs.

Of course, there are many more options out there. If you have a smaller dog, you have quite a few more options. These are just what Jazzy and I have found that works best for her...and me. 

I hope this information helps and I hope you enjoyed the fun pics of my beautiful girl.

Until next time...

Give your pets extra hugs today.